Energy

4th July 2018

5 years on and the futures bright for BRE National Solar Centre

In 2013, Greg Barker, the then Minister State for Energy and Climate Change officially opened the BRE National Solar Centre, the UK solar industry was flourishing with approximately 8,800 new PV systems being installed every month adding over 1.1GW of capacity within the year. A lot has changed for solar over the last 5 years.  … Continue reading “5 years on and the futures bright for BRE National Solar Centre”

8th May 2018

BREEAM UK New Construction 2018 continues to drive energy performance improvements

Significant changes have been made to the way in which energy performance is assessed under the BREEAM UK New Construction 2018 scheme within Ene01 – Reduction of energy use and carbon emission. In order to address the energy performance gap, new criteria rewarding more detailed energy modelling, encompassing regulated and unregulated energy uses has been … Continue reading “BREEAM UK New Construction 2018 continues to drive energy performance improvements”

12th April 2018

Sustainability in New Homes: Guidance for Local Authority stakeholders on carbon reduction, overheating and assuring performance

The end of the financial year saw the launch of the Sustainability in New Homes Playbook – v1 to approximately 180 cross sector delegates including housing developers, consultants and local government representatives. The playbook is the output of a UKGBC collaboration and forms a part of their Core Cities Programme intended to catalyse partnerships and … Continue reading “Sustainability in New Homes: Guidance for Local Authority stakeholders on carbon reduction, overheating and assuring performance”

11th April 2018

The Romanian Energy Performance of Buildings Conference (RCEPB)

BRE and in particular BREEAM have long standing relationships with the Romanian construction industry; especially with respect to sustainability and energy use in buildings. I have supported the Romanian Energy Performance of Buildings Conference (RCEPB) since 2013. It is a multi-disciplinary international conference having, this year,  as main topics: Implementation progress of the EU Directives … Continue reading “The Romanian Energy Performance of Buildings Conference (RCEPB)”

11th April 2018

Solar, energy storage, and electric vehicles – joining up the clean technologies

A few eyebrows were raised when in 2015 the Renewable Energy Association (REA) launched its representation of the energy storage sector, and again in 2017 when it did the same for electric vehicles. “What does this have to do with renewables?” Is a question we have been asked often. The answer is key to where … Continue reading “Solar, energy storage, and electric vehicles – joining up the clean technologies”

12th March 2018

New good practice guidance looks at the best way to deliver multifunctional solar car parks

As the UK Government seeks to include more renewable energy in the energy mix, solving problems associated with intermittent renewable generation will become more imperative due to the capacity issues in our electricity distribution network (BEIS, 2017) . Low carbon solutions which balance electricity supply and demand are required to achieve this, and multifunctional solar car parks can be part of … Continue reading “New good practice guidance looks at the best way to deliver multifunctional solar car parks”

5th January 2018

Home Quality Mark ONE Consultation – we are listening.

Since the launch of Beta we have engaged with many different HQM stakeholders, including developers, assessors, consultancies designers, consumer groups, representative industry bodies, manufacturers, academics, regulators, planners, agents and various parts of the financial sector.   Most have been supportive in the aims of Home Quality Mark, with firm commitments from many via project registrations, recognition, … Continue reading “Home Quality Mark ONE Consultation – we are listening.”

31st October 2017

Getting Green Finance and Mortgages right with the Home Quality Mark.

We have a great opportunity in linking finance with the quality and sustainability of how we build homes, this should be maximised so we can deliver positive outcomes for consumers, the financial sector, developers and regulators.  The Home Quality Mark is the tool to do this.  10 years ago the news was full of stories … Continue reading “Getting Green Finance and Mortgages right with the Home Quality Mark.”