The consultation document "Building a Greener Future: Towards Zero Carbon Development" has been launched by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly .

• From 2008 all new homes will have a mandatory rating under a new Code for Sustainable Homes.
• A Planning Policy Statement on climate change will require planning strategies to optimise carbon performance and be resilient to climate change.
• A framework for progressively tightening building regulations up to 2016 to increase the energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of new homes will be put in place.

The announcement defines a "Low carbon development" as one that achieves a reduction in carbon emissions of 50 per cent or more from energy use on site, on an annual basis.

A "zero carbon home" is one with ‘zero net emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO²) from all energy use in the home’. This could be at the level of the individual home or "site-wide strategies".

The Code for Sustainable Homes is based on the BRE's EcoHomes system, which BRE will maintain during the transition to the Code.

As 70% of all homes that will exist in 2050 have already been built, the existing housing stock also comes under the spotlight, with the Energy Efficiency of Dwellings - Initial Analysis forming the basis for developing proposals to improve the existing housing stock. It is essential to consider the existing stock if long-term targets for carbon reductions are to be met.

News Release
List of documents released

A Science Policy for Wales (the Welsh Assembly Government's Strategic Vision for Sciences, Engineering and Technology) has been launched, with research in low carbon energy systems forming one of its three main strands. Launched at a time when the costs of sustaining research facilities in the South East are becoming harder to maintain, the policy is intended to capitalise on the opportunities to build a vibrant science research sector in Wales.
www.welshenergy.org/news.asp?id=36

"In Wales we now have interest free loans for non-SME’s. Loans are available for between £5k and £100k for projects with a simple payback of fewer than 5 years (subject to a Carbon Saving Threshold). A limited ‘pot’ of money is currently available, projects would need to be committed by March ’07 and will be allocated on a ‘1st come 1st served basis’. It is an unsecured, interest free loan and repayable over a period of up to 4 years.

Energy-Efficiency Loans are intended to encourage qualifying companies to invest in energy saving equipment that either upgrades or replaces existing facilities. Examples of the type of equipment that can be supported include:

• Energy saving lighting
• High efficiency electric motors and drives
• Boilers and heater controls
• Building insulation
• Compressed air systems and fittings
• Insulation for boilers, hot water tanks, and pipe work
• Heat recovery systems
• Lighting controls

Note also that the loan may be used to cover, for example, installation and commissioning as well as the capital cost of the equipment provided the payback criteria are still met.

You can register your interest and request an application pack from our helpline – 0800 085 2005."

Labels: funding

In a Guardian interview, David Milliband discusses the possibility of individual carbon allowances linked to personal accounts and accessed through a carbon "credit card" - possibly within 5 years.
Guardian story

The second phase of the Low Carbon Building Programme is now open for applications for grants for the installation of microgeneration technologies in public sector buildings (including schools, hospitals, housing associations and local authorities) and charitable bodies. The official website for phase 2 can be found at:
www.lowcarbonbuildingsphase2.org.uk/

Labels: funding

Olympics
Delivering the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will be a massive undertaking, requiring goods and services from an enormous range of firms - and firms from Wales can get a slice of this work.
The easiest way to find out what’s coming up is to get email alerts of tendering opportunities as and when they arise - just register on the London 2012 website. Click HERE to go straight to the registration page.

Pembrokeshire’s buyers get together
The key public sector bodies in Pembrokeshire - the Council, the NHS Trust, the College, the National Park and the Housing Association - have got together to produce a 20-page ‘How to Tender for Our Work’ Guide. This is part of their commitment to the Opening Doors Charter and is intended to make it easier for you to bid for their work. You can download a copy of the Guide (pdf file) by clicking HERE.

In addition to waiving stamp duty on new "carbon neutral" homes from 2007, the Chancellor in his Pre-Budget statement announced his desire that all new houses built by 2016 to be "zero carbon". Ruth Kelly, the communities and local government secretary is expected to outline what "carbon neutral" means in the context of these announcements, as well as other details of the scheme, next week.
Guardian Online story

SustainWales is a "new website designed to help you live in a more sustainable way through discovering shops, businesses, projects and organisations that support sustainable development right up your street."

There are opportunities to register your business and projects on this site, and a number of GEC companies already feature here.

http://www.sustainwales.com/home/en/

The November edition of the GEC Newsletter is now available. (pdf, 106kb).

www.wda.co.uk/resources/news-GEC_Nov_06.pdf

Labels: downloads