Tag Archives: greendeal

Lancashire: Green Deal, BIM, Green Building and Social Media events

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Hi, here is a quick update of Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club related events in the NW region over the coming months which may be of interest:

Green Deal: If you have been following the news you will have seen that £3.5m has been released for Green Deal training and news is expected soon from Ed Davey MP on Green Deal for Busineses.

Our timely Introduction to PAS 2030 session is scheduled for the 30th March as part of our Green Deal Initiative, with monthly sessions thereafter. Also CSkills are holding an Employers Advisory Forum on March 28th, at St Helen’s Rugby League Stadium which will feature Green Deal

Bidding: The Association of Interior Specialists (AIS) are hold a A free webinar  Improve your Bids: 13th March 27th March and 17th April

BIM: Unfortuntaley we have had to push the LCBPC BIM event back until June, however, there are a lot of BIM events happening regionally.

There are Events across in Yorkshire on the 15th March looking at BIM impact on Regional SME’s and on 4th April looking at BIM Level 2.

And in Manchester BIM – Software with Tough Choices Workshop 29 March 2012, 08:30 – 11:00 at the and BIM Compete or collaborate? 16th May. You may also find this “What is BIM, and why should we care” item of interest.

Waste: Waste update will be the topic for the LCBPC event. Details to follow.

Green Building: Again there is a lot happening on this theme as you would expect: What is your Green Vision? is a Global TweetChat (online, via twitter using the #GVisChat hashtag) hosted by Green Vision on 20th March 8pm to coincide with Eco Build. In addition Green Vision Leeds 29th March will feature the lessons learnt from the greenest building on earth, live from Vancouver

Green Build Expo Returns to Manchester on 9th /10th May, I will be there with Be2camp on the 9th and talking Social Media on the Green Deal  as part of the Green Deal Debate stage the 10th, and if you are going to EcoBuild, 20-22nd March in London do let us know via twitter @fairsnape + @lcbpc or on the linkedin Lancashire Construction group

Social Media: Su Butcher and myself will be running a Linkedin and Twitter Workshop for built environment professionals in the NW on 8th May.

Finally, Progress in Procurement: the Effectiveness of Frameworks is at the CUBE Manchester 19th March, and the RICS in the NW have a full programme of events on their calendar.

If you know of any events then please do flag them on the Lancashire Construction group linkedin or in comments below and we can share across the club membership.

You can get details of club membership here and application form here

Is this the Green Deal tipping point?

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Building broke with the following news today (16th Feb), which can only serve to increase the importance of preparing for Green Deal, attaining PAS 2030 and creating Green Deal consortia to deliver.

“Local authorities team up to issue large-scale retrofit schemes initially worth £1.7bn

Billions of pounds worth of retrofitting work is set to be procured by some of England’s largest regional cities in response to the government’s flagship Green Deal scheme.

Councils across the north-east of England, as well as in the Greater Manchester, Leeds and Bristol city regions, Nottingham and West Sussex, are prepping plans to invest more than £300m in the government’s Green Deal over the next few months – a figure that could rise to billions as the schemes are rolled out.

The councils’ plans follow those of Birmingham council, which is currently shortlisting firms for £1.4bn of Green Deal work – bringing the total initial work to £1.7bn.

The push from local authorities to lead on the Green Deal came as retailer Marks & Spencer’s enthusiasm for delivering the scheme appeared to be cooling. Rowland Hill, M&S corporate social responsibility manager, told Building the retailer would not be interested in providing services for the Green Deal “if it goes too far from our core business”.

The government has been keen to involve major retailers in the delivery of the scheme in order to boost its take-up and M&S had previously indicated an interest.

Newcastle council, working with a number of other authorities across the North-east, is set to issue tender documents within the next three months for £80m of work to retrofit 15,000 homes. Leeds council, in partnership with nine local authorities across the Leeds city region, is drawing up plans that could see it leverage up to £75m to start retrofit work in a market it estimates could have a total value of £3.4bn.

Across the Pennines, the 10 councils that comprise Greater Manchester are considering investing £50m in a Green Deal programme, while Nottingham council is planning an £80m Green Deal contract.

Bristol council along with a range of partners is considering investing £34.6m in a programme, while West Sussex council is preparing a business case for a scheme that could see investment in the tens of millions”

Cities plan to invest billions in Green Deal retrofit work Building link

#Greendeal and the @LCBPC balanced view

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The following great article written by David at DIEMLtd appeared on his blog (well worth reading, liking and subscribing to by the way)

The impending Green Deal is really whipping some people up into a frenzy, but I’ve been here before.  Without naming names and these people should have had some professional responsibility, many years ago I attended a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) and Home Information Packs (HIPs) briefing where these persons were saying you could earn £150 per energy assessment and do up to 8 a day.

I knew at the time that these fees were way off the mark and qualified as a DEA expecting a sensible rate, in line with other work I do. Well, lots of people were whipped into a frenzy and bitterly disappointed when there was little work, which was down to the housing market’s problems and the disgraceful management of and dithering with the scheme of the last government.  People got trained, then it was delayed by the politicians, but wages needed to be paid. In the meantime, until some more stringent quality approval arrangement were brought in, which actually penalises the ones who do things properly, there were people doing a DEA for as low as £30 (minus about £7 lodgement fee for the report, travel etc which doesn’t leave much profit) and stories about people doing them over the telephone and Google maps.

That wasn’t meant to be a rant, but set the scene to where we are today with Green Deal.  As someone thinking of applying to be a assessor, it’s difficult to write a business plan as nobody knows how much certificaiton will cost, or will the market be swamped by people looking for a fast profit, or assessments being done as a loss leader, making the small firm or sole practictioner be cast adrift.

I was very pleased that RICS addressed some key problems of impartiality of assessors and other factors in their consultation response to DECC (available from www.rics.org and a very good read), but it is an unknown and people do feel slightly lost.

Yes there are Green Deal web domains registered, but the quality of content varies greatly and some could be deemed to lack transparancy on some websites in terms of ownership and professional standards. 

I’m most encouraged about an initiative launching locally to me in the North West by Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club who are looking at setting up a Green Deal Club which will bring interested parties together at UCLan in Preston on 22 February 2012. More details can be found at:

http://greendealclublcbpc.eventbrite.com

I’m very enthusiatic about this Green Deal Club as it’s not suggesting any immediate answers, but are going to address the unknowns and the solutions as they happen in an open, balanced and honest environment.

The only certainty the club is offering is that Green Deal will happen and Construction organisations wanting to become involved in this, and maybe other eco refurbishment schemes, will need accredited certification to PAS 2030, which the club will be looking into giving support.

So, there are more questions than answers with Green Deal, but I’m convinced that we can seek the answers more effectively working together rathern than in isolation.

Green Deal Thoughts: Is green deal missing the behaviour measure?

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Could Green Deal fail it its core objective of reducing CO2?

Green Deal is a necessary and welcome approach to funding improvement to our built environment fabric, increasing the use of renewable energy, and importantly providing structure to eco-fit work via the awaited PAS 2030 standard.

Yet, could the Green Deal approach be seen as ‘too’ technical and not addressing user and occupant behaviour, increasingly recognised as the key ingredient to CO2 reduction in the built environment.

I was reminded at the recent Lancashire Best Practice Club green deal event that our comfort levels within homes and buildings has increased by around 7 degrees over the last two decades or so.

Those of us who grew up in the 60’s will recall the infamous morning frost on the inside of windows, since when, building insulation has improved, but at the same time we use more and more energy to improve our comfort levels.

There is a danger that, as Green Deal makes home and workplaces more energy efficient, users and occupiers, especially older and vulnerable tenants, will simply take advantage of the increased comfort level and keep their energy levels and costs as before. (And coupled with the Green Deal Loan charge could increase energy bills and repayments) There is also research that suggests what we save on heating bills we spend on other high CO2 emitting  gadgets or travel.

Alongside the measures within Green Deal we need user behaviour measures.

Perhaps one of the easiest would be the ability to openly benchmark our homes or offices against a CO2 league table of homes in the street, offices on a business park.

The technology and devices exist, see Pachube, the EPC iphone app I blogged on in 2010 and for example I can now easily and freely track my cycle rides against other riders on the same segment of road, on the Strava cycle app. Why not track my energy use against other homes and premises?

This behaviour approach now needs the promotion alongside Green Deal technical measures. And Green Deal Assessors have a prime opportunity to introduce such measures.

Related good reading

CIRS – Where occupants are seen as inhabitants and required to sign a sustainability charter

Tenant Behaviour: Five Keys to Meeting Environmental Performance Goals

Summary of Green Deal Consultation Responses

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A Summary of Green Deal Consultation Responses collated via twitter:

The public consultation process for Green Deal closed last Wednesday with DECC reporting over 600 responses. It will be interesting how DECC make sense of all. A quick read through those made public via twitter (listed below) indicate:

  • A general agreement for the Green Deal process and benefits for industry.
  • Need for more clarity on funding mechanics and links to other initiatives
  • Concerns for SME’s
  • Concerns for generating demand
  • Little mention of timescale (although there is a call for delayed introduction for commercial sector)
  • More than one of the response listed below call for the introduction of a Green Deal Project Manager, to site along site the Provider, Funders and Installers.
  • SME’s in particular should prepare for Green Deal if they dont want to miss the boat.

Next step in the Green Deal run-up is the issue of PAS 2030, expected during January.

These responses indicate that Green Deal will happen, most likely in October, the orginal commencement date but that DECC have a lot of refining to do, in a very short time. In the meanwhile SME’s should start preparing for Green Deal.

Recommendations for preparation include:

  1. Understand your clients intentions – this will be your Green Deal workflow.
  2. Understand PAS2030 and skill levels required, without which you cannot deliver Green Deal any work.
  3. Look at your own organisation – is it a good example of being green, sustainable?
  4. Be visible – engage with events, get involved with green deal conversations across social media eg twitter, shout out about your preparation and achievements

…….

Links to public responses: (if you know of any more please add in comments)

For more information please do not hesitate to get in touch, join me in green deal conversations on twitter, and if you like this blog article please subscribe or share using the buttons below …

Green Deal Update Sources

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Slowly green deal details are emerging.  A number of people and organisations have asked me for good reliable Green Deal update sources.  Across the web the situation still seems very patchy and I guess will remain so until we have further news from the government on the Energy Bill and release of PAS 2030 for consultation for example.

UPDATE: PAS 2030 Issued for Consultation

However, here is my list of sources as a starter for 10.  If you have any to add (that are informative rather than outright service/product/training ‘sell’) please add to comments and I will incorporate.

DECC Green Deal 

DECC Green Deal Advisory Forums

Energy Savings Trust Green Deal 

Green Deal Guide Green Deal Guide

Microgeneration MCS Certificate Scheme

Asset Skills – Green Skills

The Guardian Sustainable Business Built Environment Hub

Social Media (Blogs, Forums and Twitter):

Green Deal Linkedin Forum

Fairsnape (this blog)  eg: CSR – the hard, the soft and the CSR

Great Green Deal (PB Energy Solutions Blog)

Green Deal Twitter List (curated by me @fairsnape)

Green Deal News Weekly (Twitter  based Paper.li) (curated by me @fairsnape)

Green Deal Providers (Blog)

Future Fit Blog 

Ten tips: building green for contractors on a budget

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Ever-changing regulations surrounding environmental policy require contractors to re-examine business practices on a regular basis. Unfortunately, contractors are left to interpret a great deal of industry regulations on their own. Among these confounding regulations are those concerning environmental protection.

Guest blogger, Kirsten Bradley, working to educate professionals and their lawyers about construction industry regulations in the USA has the following advice … and although USA focused, these tips make good sense elsewhere … 

Once contractors have worked their way through the legal jargon found in many environmental policies, they might feel overwhelmed about what exactly their responsibilities are. Fortunately, however, a number of services and products have been created to help eco-friendly contractors.

The National Association of Home Builders plans to roll out the first and only national ratings standard for remodeled homes this year. Contact them for more information on how green products will affect ratings. (In the UK we wait for the Green Deal installers’ Code of Practice and a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for the retrofitting of energy efficiency measures in domestic and non-domestic buildings)

  • Taking advantage of tax credits and other applicable programs, contractors can offset some of the additional costs they might incur by using eco-efficient approaches to building.
  • Enroll in green building event, training seminars and/or certification programs. (For example, the U.S. Green Building Council backs the LEEDHomes Raters program Home Raters are qualified to assess the degree to which a home has been constructed according to accepted standards of environmental sustainability)
  • Educate yourselves. Sign up for REGREEN, a program that distributes information about how to build green on a smaller scale. The U.S. Green Building Council partnered with The American Society of Interior Designers Foundation to create REGREEN, the first countrywide green residential remodeling manual for existing homes
  • If you think your customers don’t know or care about green building initiatives, think again. A February 2011 poll of Angie’s List members found that 50% of respondents plan to include green building elements in their home this year, but first they want to learn more. Educate yourself so that you will be able to educate your customer and market your services better.
  • According to some estimates, existing homes account for 94% of buildings in the U.S. The average age of these homes is 30 years, which means they often have drafty doors and windows as well as poorly insulated walls, attics and crawl spaces. Additionally, these properties are responsible for 21% of the nation’s carbon emissions. Herein lies a huge profit opportunity for contractors who educate themselves on green remodeling and market themselves to the right crowd.
  • Look at purchasing a green performance bond for your projects in addition to required contractor license bonds . Clients prefer working with professional contractors who are licensed and bonded because they appreciate the extra layer of financial protection
  • For smaller projects, check out the Habitat for Humanity ReStore as a resource. ReStore resale outlets sell reusable and surplus building materials to the public at low costs. Merchandise at the restore is especially good for home remodeling projects
  • Draw up window plans that take full advantage of passive solar energy and help maintain proper indoor temperature. Contractors should always verify that all windows are strategically placed in beneficial locations. This is a great example of implementing inexpensive, eco-conscious design that has a real impact on sustainability.
  • The cost of renewable products like solar platforms decreases as the technology gains traction with the buying public. Installing new products in today’s construction projects will play a large role in increasing eco-friendly building and, in turn, drive down costs.
  • Consider that building a completely new structure using eco-friendly processes might be easier and cheaper than retro-fitting an existing structure that has inherent design flaws.

Contractors who take advantage of green building will not only save money over the long haul, but also promote health benefits from building structures without toxic, energy-wasting materials.

What do you do – do you have any tips for improving green build?

 Kirsten Bradley is working to educate professionals and their lawyers about construction industry regulations through SuretyBonds with a special interest in helping contractors access more green building resources. Follow Kirsten on twitter @suretybond