Tag: PAS 2030

A Green Deal that could have done so much. RIP

~ martin brown

It could have been such a good deal, but it now seems the Green Deal, the green flagship of our current government is dead.

Going back to 2011/12 – the concept of a scheme that promised to reduce fuel poverty, reduce carbon,  improve our housing stock, and create a vibrant, certified (PAS2030) market sector – Green Deal looked brilliant. It certainly put sustainability thinking on the agenda of many organisations in the construction, maintenance, services and built environment sectors.

My workshops and presentations at that time, More Than Just a Green Deal tried to widen the debate – embedding more resilient and sustainability thinking into green deal. (see related Green Deal blog posts here)

But somehow along the way Green Deal got lost, became mired in politics, in energy company greed and bureaucratic red tape. The company set up by the Government to aggregate loans for the Green Deal was bailed out recently with a multi-million-pound loan of public money.

‘In a parliamentary inquiry held in September, MPs called the Green Deal a “disappointing failure”, with flawed planning that has left consumers without promised cashback and improvement works’

And plans for non domestic Green Deals seems to have quietly fizzled away in the corner …

A recent article in the Telegraph Your Money section Householders See Red Over Green Deal catalogued problems of the scheme

‘The Government’s flagship energy efficiency policy has become a headache for thousands of householders left with bungled installations or waiting for promised cash back payments that fail to materialise. In some cases, the energy companies responsible for carrying out the works have left householders with botched improvement works in the rush to meet energy efficiency targets’

One of the organisations supported to attain PA2030 under the MCS scheme has had certification for the last few years, yet has never had the opportunity for any installation under the scheme, yet must undergo re-accreditation on an annual basis. In light of the effort, system development and training the organisation went through, this is now a big frustration and laughing matter, making them very suspicious of further government backed green schemes.

Consequently Green Deal is unlikely to appear on any of the main political party manifesto for the coming election – and therefore most likely to be dismantled.  But of course it should be there, we need to be addressing one of the big sustainability issues in domestic building stock.

Back in 2012 I posed the question “how did we get to 2012 and still not have a viable solution to housing building performance”? We now need to ask the question – “how did we get to 2015 and still not have a viable solution DESPITE 2 years of promises, effort and funded approaches”?

A pity, a real pity and wasted opportunity.

Innovation Voucher Provision

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mb-m-and-c-1-blueThe Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is making Innovation Vouchers available worth up to £5000 for construction and built environment companies. Applications are due to open on the 10th of December and close on the 23rd of January 2013.

Fairsnape in association with IBE-Partnership is delighted to assist you  in preparing and submitting your application for Innovation Vouchers in the following topics that we offer as your innovation provider to improve your construction performance.

  1. Social Media – Awareness, Getting Started, Developing, Strategy and Policies, Measuring,
  2. CSR – Awareness, Developing Strategies, Integrating and aligning systems, Measuring.
  3. Sustainability (1) – Awareness, Strategy, Policies, Aligning / writing systems, Measuring
  4. Sustainability(2) – (Beyond Waste) – Awareness, circular economy, cradle to cradle thinking, healthy products innovation, measurement,
  5. Construction Carbon – Awareness, Strategies, Measuring and Improving, Application of wold class tools
  6. Benchmarking – (Beyond KPI’s) – Awareness, Strategy, Benchmarking Project, Measuring, Application of world class tools
  7. Business Strategy – (EFQM) Awareness, Improving overall and holistic strategy, facilitation, measurement
  8. Collaborative Planning / Last Planner – Awareness, Strategies, Training, Guidance, Facilitation, Application of world class tools
  9. Lean Construction Techniques – Awareness, Strategies, Training, Guidance, Facilitation, Application of world class tools
  10. Collaborative Working – Awareness, Strategy, Principles, Training, Facilitation, Preparation for BIM
  11. BIM – Awareness, Strategy, Policies, Preparation Plan, Facilitation,
  12. Customer Management– Awareness, Strategies, Training, Guidance, Facilitation, Application of world class tools
  13.  ISO14001 – Awareness, Strategy + Policies, Improving/Writing EM system + process, training, readiness for assessment
  14. ISO90001 – Awareness, Strategy + Policies, Improving/Writing QM, training, readiness for assessment system + process
  15. PAS 2030 – Awareness, Strategy + Policies, Improving/Writing Green Deal system + process, training, readiness for assessment
  16. Bidding – Awareness, Strategy, Process/Approach, Support,

mb-m-and-c-1-blueThis is a great opportunity for you to innovate and improve your effectiveness and efficiency, improve attractiveness to clients  and of course improve the bottom line at no cost to you. If you are interested in progressing further please call or get in touch to discuss.

00 44 7776 234702

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Building Down Green Deal Barriers

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Themes covered in the Cumbria Green Deal workshop yesterday, both within round table groups and in general discussions were strikingly familiar, being the age old improvement issues that the construction and built environment sector has been trying to address for the last few decades.

It is encouraging that Green Deal is raising these themes with a new audience, and reinforces the point that Green Deal is another important improvement step on route to construction excellence. However, it is also a reminder that Green Deal may be doomed to failure it its just another sticking plaster applied over our industry core problems

So, forgetting for a moment the mechanics of Green Deal, what are the underlying themes …

Collaborative Working – the need to work together, across supply chains and in consortia is emerging as a pre-requisite for Green Deal.  The six principles of Collaboartive Working, (Compete on Value, Relationships, Integrated Working, Collaborative Cost Management, Continuous Improvement and People Development), first developed under the Building Down Barriers are very appropriate to Green Deal today.

Added Value and Lean Construction – the need to reduce costs whilst improving value. The need to be lean across the Green Deal process. The first Lean Management principle of identifying and stripping waste out is key to effective Green Deal delivery

Open and Transparent Costing – essential to get back to real costs, adopting new and radical approaches to pricing and dealing with risks, and the need to eradicate competition by profit / lowest cost.

Communications – across Green Deal players, with customers and consumers to the way in which we market and promote ourselves.

With the main root of construction problems being related to communication issues, effective approaches to Green Deal communication is vital

Sustainability and CSR – from technical sustainability of how to improve performance of hard to treat properties, to green skill development, to procuring local and appropriate resourcing all get a good outing in Green Deal discussions

Value Management – the need to evaluate between differing Green Deal Plan options, products and quotes across a differing range of criteria (cost, life cycle, replacement, appearance, performance etc) will benefit from robust value management approaches.

Quality Management – our industry SME resistance to adopting processes and certification that applied correctly will improve quality and consistency, reduce errors, reworking and costs, but importantly offer confidence to clients now shifts from ISO 9001 to PAS 2030.

Automation – will automating processes without loosing face to face relationships usher in a world of iPads, social media and improved streamlining of routine / back of house processes?

What will Green Deal do for your organisation?

Related:

On this blog:  Where Greendeal will succeed …

See Su Butcher’s Just Practising blog and comments to What will the Green Deal do for us?

Building Down Barriers Supply Chain Handbook 

FMB to offer Green Deal Installer Certification from Sept 2012.

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The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is launching FMB Certification, a ‘complete solution’ registration and certification service to companies committed to delivering the highest standards of customer service and workmanship in the building industry. The FMB is pleased to be able to offer these services through a new agreement with NAPIT Group Limited, a UKAS accredited certification body for Green Deal, microgeneration and Competent Person Schemes.

FMB Certification will offer Green Deal Installer Certification for companies that want to be part of the growing energy saving refurbishment market. The Green Deal will allow the owners of homes and businesses to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties at no upfront cost, and will be supported by a new Energy Company Obligation to help deliver energy efficiency and heating measures across Great Britain, where they are most needed. In total, the Green Deal and ECO are expected to drive significant levels of spending on energy efficiency over the next decade creating new work for companies in the building industry.

Brian Berry, FMB Chief Executive, said:

“The Green Deal is an exciting prospect for the building industry and will create new business opportunities for a wide variety of trades, but companies must be approved to carry out work under the Green Deal scheme and that’s where FMB Certification comes in. As the Green Deal takes off we expect Green Deal certification to become a recognised mark of high quality service and workmanship among homeowners and other clients. The FMB has been providing information and training to its members to ensure they have the skills and knowledge required for Green Deal work and now they can prove it by becoming an approved installer with FMB Certification.”

Berry continued:

“FMB Certification will also offer Competent Person Scheme Registration and Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) Installer Certification. This means we can provide a complete solution certification service to companies seeking new opportunities across a range of disciplines and building types. It is important to remember that there are plenty of excellent builders in the UK but proving it isn’t always easy. Our aim is to help smaller companies to do just this by managing all of their certification needs.”

FMB Certification will start to process applications from September 2012. Interested businesses can register their interest now to receive a priority application pack without any obligation by visiting www.fmb.org.uk/certification, emailing certification@fmb.org.uk or calling 020 7092 3881.

When our Green Deal and BIM worlds collide

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Rushing from a Green Deal event in Lancashire to the ThinkBIM BIM event in Yorkshire has me thinking of when and how these two seemingly separate worlds and agenda will collide.

Green Deal, if successful will drive mass refurbishment of domestic, non domestic and commercial existing properties with an objective of reducing energy costs / use and carbon.

Not dissimilar to Building Information Modelling (BIM) objectives of reducing waste, energy, costs and carbons in a truly collaborative manner.

Within Green Deal there will be the need to model energy efficiency options and solutions, to really collaborate across green deal players, and importantly capture all building improvements within CoBie style BIM’s for future improved approaches and solutions.

Perhaps if we were to adopt the Americanism of ‘Re-Modelling’ rather than ‘Refurbishment’ the synergies may be more transparent.

Please share your thoughts and examples of GreenDeal meeting BIM

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Summary of Green Deal Consultation Responses

~ martin brown ~ 3 Comments

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 – heading for failure or success?

~ martin brown ~ 1 Comment

There has been a spate of interesting “Green Deal will fail articles” recently, for example

DECC research suggests Green Deal will flop from Business Green

Green deal suffers setback as loft insulations set to plummet from the Guardian

and on George Monbiot’s Blog: The green deal is a useless, middle-class subsidy

It is great that we debate the issues around green deal, in particular mechanics of funding and energy performance of building, and I must agree with Monbiot

“Even if we agree on nothing else, can we agree that a policy is not green if it discriminates against the poor?”

Based on this Greenest Government Ever track record to date who knows?

However, as I mentioned on my last blog  “Where Greendeal will succeed …” debate is good and there are some certainties emerging, like for example the Green Deal Code of Practice, and,  PAS 2030, at the moment a poorly crafted document but one that should put some control on cowboy builders, protect clients and improve the image of installation.

The arguments to date focus on domestic Green Deal, I await with interest for the same debates to kick off within the commercial and private sectors…