Entries for December 2007

“The number of new homes that we hope will be achieved by then [2016] is in the region of 240,000. We are starting at zero now. Our ambition is that they all should be zero-carbon by then. We are setting the policy in place, along with a number of others to affect the markets in different ways, to help us get there and to boost activity. I could not say how many there will be this year, next year or the year after,” Kitty Usher MP, Economic secretary to the Treasury, oral evidence before Delegated Legislation Committee examination of the Draft Stamp Duty Land Tax (Zero-Carbon Homes Relief) Regulations 2007, 4 December

Increasingly people are questioning what they call the current obsession with carbon reduction, seen in government based initiatives – the Code for Sustainable Homes and initiatives such as the Carbon Challenge.

The Glasgow Institute of Architects Supreme Award 2007 has been presented to Elder & Cannon Architects for Castlemilk Stables Block in Glasgow.  The project was recognised for restoring the building externally while creating a contemporary design internally, and also won the award in the Conservation category. 

Gordon Proven has won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Scottish Renewables Green Energy Awards 2007.   He has run a business in the sector for 30 years, having set up Proven Energy, which manufactures small scale wind turbines, in the 1980s.  Edinburgh based Repower UK won the Best New Business Award, and the EMEC Tidal Test facility on Orkney won the Best Renewable Innovation Award.  A full list of award winners can be found at www.scottishrenewables.com

Crest Nicholson PLC and Bioregional Quintain have been selected as the lead developers for the £100 million Rochester Riverside project.  They were chosen from a shortlist of four by Medway Council and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).  600 homes will be built on seven hectares, as well as parks, shops, offices and cafes.  The buildings will use the ten One Planet Living principles developed by Bioregional and WWF-International, and will reach high sustainability standards with some at Code of Sustainable Homes Level 6.  The proposals include a car club and local organic food as well as grey water recycling and renewables.

RIBA has announced the winner of its competition for architect led teams todesign a new office block for a private client in Preston. The client was looking for a strong visual presence, imaginative use of materials and the use of technology and techniques to maximise sustainability. 

RIBA has announced the shortlist in the Birnbeck Island and Pier Competition in Weston-super-Mare, which was organised by RIBA and Urban Splash working with North Somerset Council, Birnbeck Pier Regeneration Trust and the Prince's Regeneration Trust.

RIBA has announced the result of the competition to design a house for various species of bat to be built at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust London Wetlands Centre in Barnes, London.  The winning design was by Jorgen Tandberg and Yo Murata, fourth year undergraduate students at the Architectural Association, who entered in the Student/General Public Category.

Southern Waste Management Partnership (SWaMP) and the North West Region Waste Management Group (NWRWMG) in Armagh are looking for a contractor to collect, transfer and recycle timber from designated points in Northern Ireland.  The successful contractor will process the timber in a sustainable manner with a known, secure and long term end market.

Stoford Developments are looking for a design and build contractor to construct a new head office for Severn Trent Water in Coventry city centre.  The building will be an exemplar sustainable building and must achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating.  In addition, there is a requirement for specialist services working on this building: architectural services, project management and quantity surveying, civil/structural/geotechnical engineering, sustainability consulting and services engineering.  Those interested in being considered for one or more of these lots of work must obtain and return a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) by the closing date.

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council is looking for a contractor for the detailed design and construction of  a new visitor centre in Bickershaw Country Park, which is on the site of a former colliery in Leigh, Greater Manchester.  The work includes a golf clubhouse and maintenance building to be constructed to high quality sustainable standards. 

The Yorkshire and Humber Sustainable Futures Company, through its business unit Future Energy Yorkshire (FEY), is offering funding for projects which will develop grid-connected renewable energy generation in the Yorkshire and Humber region.  Funds are managed through four streams: emerging technologies, flagship projects, building integrated renewables and the community ownership of renewables.  An important selection criterion will be the cost effectiveness of projects in bringing CO₂ savings (in tonnes displaced per £ of funding).  Larger scale projects which result in a financial return to FEY are preferred.

English Partnerships is looking for a developer partner for a site at Tattenhoe Park Heights, Milton Keynes.  The development will be an exemplar scheme with 30% flexible extendable housing and 10% of units achieving Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes (remainder to achieve Level 3 of the Code). 

Dublin City Council is looking for consultants to enter into a four year framework agreement to participate as and when it has a requirement for services in 11 service areas. 

Proposed changes to DCLG technical guidance* for the Code for Sustainable Homes will have substantial implications, not least where community-scale generation is under consideration, but not all will be satisfied. In the third part of an investigation into CSH and associated guideline proposals, Dr Paul K Hatchwell assesses the impact of proposals to change technical guidance covering criteria for sustainable energy.