The UK must prioritise growth in “green industries” such as energy efficiency and renewable energy, David Cameron said on Monday.
‘The economies in Europe that will prosper are those that are the greenest and the most energy-efficient’ says prime minister.
Read The Guardian article here
Save money, save the world. The promise and problems of getting people to stop wasting energy was the topic of a Stanford conference that gathered business people, government representatives and scholars from the United States and Australia. Read the full article at Stanford website here.
* Proposed target of 3 percent of public buildings per year
* Construction firms would benefit
The European Union may pass a triple whammy environment policy in the first half of this year that would bring a rapid jobs boost, cut energy bills and improve the environment by one simple measure: keeping Europe’s buildings in good repair.
Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said the EU Energy Efficiency Directive includes a commitment to retrofit a certain number of public buildings each year, improving insulation and stopping leaks.
Read the full news at Reuters here
Green Growth Energy Services has been retained by a major bank to carry out an Energy Audit of four office buildings. The planned duration of the project is ten weeks. At the end of the project a separate Energy Opportunity Assessment report including costed action recommendations will be issued to the client for each of the four buildings.
Green Growth Energy Services has successfully bid for and completed work on behalf of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics for a Building Energy Performance Certificate. The work identified a number of opportunities for improvement in energy performance.
Building Energy Performance Certification is now required by law for permitting new buildings or obtaining a planning permission for major changes to existing buildings. It involves the use of standardized software and standardized assumptions to benchmark a theoretical version of the building under study against a similar, virtual “reference building”. The process deliberately sidesteps the operational aspects of the use of a building so as to yield an energy performance rating class for the building that is independent of the energy consumption habits and preferences of any particular user or owner of that building.
Unlike the Building EPC process mandated by law, an energy audit is unconstrained and in the hands of experts, the audit will usually uncover all efficiency opportunities that would be missed by the Building EPC process and also correctly estimate payback periods. For example, lighting that is typically left on 20 hours a day, e.g in a hotel lobby, is a much better candidate for replacement with more energy efficient lighting than lighting in the conference rooms which is on only when the room is occupied. The Building EPC process is rigid in such things, and will not allow the user to vary the number of hours that lights are turned on.
Licensed under the Creative Commons License
For more by the same creator see the Flickr page of RedMonkRed
In order for the UK to reduce its carbon footprint, Britain’s businesses must focus on green growth and sustainability. British firms bold enough to join the low-carbon revolution early have already reaped the benefits.
Full coverage, with a number of related articles and essays sponsored by The Carbon Trust can be found here on The Telegraph’s website.
Quoting from a blog post on SmartPlanet:
Austerity is the new watchword in a Europe that’s encumbered with massive public debt. Governments are now turning to “green” bonds to cover the cost of transitioning Europe to clean sources of energy.
The most common urban legend standing in the way of higher energy efficiency is the false choice between an increase in prosperity or reduction of carbon footprint. Now, this study attacks the legend, by benchmarking the economic and energy performance of global cities, including New York, Tokyo, and Cape Town against each other. The results were interesting: Continue reading
Our Energy Efficiency consultancy practice, carrying out energy efficiency audits and providing system solutions for leading corporate clients, is looking for a qualified Mechanical and Electrical Engineer to join the team. The role is to provide design and technical services to the operations team. Continue reading
Green Efficiency Energy Services Ltd 