Site search:
-
What’s new?
Energy for London Tags
Brent Buildings Camden Carbon Emissions CHP Cities Climate Adaptation Community Heating Community Initiatives Croydon Data DECC Decentralised Energy Distribution ECO Energy Costs Energy Efficiency Enfield FIT Fuel Poverty Funding Green Deal Hackney Haringey Housing Islington Lambeth Library Local Authorities Mayor Newham Ofgem Olympics Photovoltaics Planning RE:FIT RE:NEW Renewable Energy Retrofit Southwark Tower Hamlets Transport Waltham Forest Waste WestminsterEnergy Archives:
- February 2021 (1)
- January 2021 (15)
- December 2020 (15)
- November 2020 (9)
- October 2020 (3)
- August 2020 (5)
- July 2020 (3)
- June 2020 (4)
- April 2020 (10)
- March 2020 (5)
- February 2020 (2)
- January 2020 (3)
- October 2019 (1)
- September 2019 (4)
- August 2019 (2)
- July 2019 (1)
- August 2018 (1)
- November 2016 (8)
- October 2016 (8)
- September 2016 (2)
- August 2016 (8)
- July 2016 (14)
- April 2016 (12)
- March 2016 (16)
- February 2016 (8)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (1)
- November 2015 (1)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (3)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (1)
- April 2015 (1)
- March 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (18)
- November 2014 (4)
- August 2014 (8)
- July 2014 (7)
- June 2014 (25)
- May 2014 (8)
- April 2014 (4)
- March 2014 (12)
- February 2014 (7)
- January 2014 (13)
- December 2013 (11)
- November 2013 (15)
- October 2013 (15)
- September 2013 (18)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (20)
- June 2013 (33)
- May 2013 (8)
- April 2013 (16)
- March 2013 (25)
- February 2013 (14)
- January 2013 (20)
- December 2012 (23)
- November 2012 (23)
- October 2012 (25)
- September 2012 (14)
- July 2012 (12)
- June 2012 (43)
- May 2012 (20)
- April 2012 (8)
- March 2012 (40)
- February 2012 (39)
- January 2012 (40)
- December 2011 (22)
- November 2011 (40)
- October 2011 (33)
- September 2011 (48)
- August 2011 (40)
- July 2011 (58)
- June 2011 (41)
- May 2011 (80)
- April 2011 (38)
- March 2011 (33)
- February 2011 (25)
- January 2011 (24)
- December 2010 (3)
- November 2010 (7)
- October 2010 (6)
- September 2010 (7)
- August 2010 (1)
- July 2010 (2)
- June 2010 (4)
- May 2010 (1)
- March 2010 (3)
- February 2010 (3)
- December 2009 (5)
- November 2009 (2)
- October 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (3)
- June 2009 (1)
- April 2009 (1)
- March 2009 (1)
- February 2009 (1)
- January 2009 (1)
- December 2008 (2)
- October 2008 (1)
- September 2008 (1)
- July 2008 (1)
- March 2008 (2)
- January 2008 (2)
- October 2007 (1)
- September 2007 (3)
- July 2007 (1)
- March 2007 (1)
- February 2007 (3)
- November 2006 (3)
- August 2006 (1)
- February 2006 (1)
- May 2005 (1)
- February 2004 (1)
News
Camden Climate Change Alliance workshops
June 2012: The Camden Climate Change Alliance have announced that they will be hosting five environmental workshops which will take place between 9am-11am on June 21st including sessions on ‘carbon footprinting’ and raising ‘staff engagement’. Full details here – the workshops will take place at the Council’s Garden Court Chambers, WC2A 3LJ (map here).
Tools for Cooling Urban Heat Islands
June 2012: The Clean Energy Solutions Center (cleanenergysolutions.org) is hosting a series of free webinars including one entitled ‘Global Cool Cities: Tools for Cooling Urban Heat Islands’. Chapter 5 of London’s ‘Climate Change Adaptation Strategy‘ provides detailed information on the challenges faced in urban areas as a result of increasing temperatures and the webinar hosted by Clean Energy Solutions Center will focus on“how cool roof and pavement materials can mitigate urban island heat effects, lower energy costs, and improve the environment.” The webinar takes place on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM BST – the link to register is here. Further information on climate change adaptation issues and London can be found here.
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
May 2012: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
Carbon savings achieved under RE:NEW; the number of homes treated to date under RE:NEW; timetable for the formal evaluation of RE:NEW; access to the the Mayor’s climate change strategy data; the use of the London Energy Efficiency Fund to support energy efficiency in social housing; data on achievements under RE:NEW; information on Phase II of RE:NEW and also delivery of the programme to older people; the Centre for Carbon Measurement; the Mayor’s commitments to his environment commitments; details on whether the Mayor will update other London environment strategies; the number of homes which will not reach the Decent Homes standard by April 2015; the funding of Decent Homes now it has moved under the Mayor’s control; Hybrid Buses target as set out in the Mayor’s Electric Delivery vehicle plan and the number of buildings treated under the RE:FIT programme.
Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.
‘Agreement struck to prepare communities for climate change’
May 2012: Defra report that “Homes, roads and parks could all be better protected from the effects of climate change after an agreement was struck between ministers and local government.
An agreement between Defra, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Local Government Association (LGA) called for vital public services to be better protected and emergency planning and social care made more resilient after signing a joint statement showing their commitment to adapt the country to climate change.
The agreement was reached at a Climate Summit hosted by the LGA in response to the impacts identified in the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2012, published earlier this year.”
The agreement states that “Councils have a critical role to play in working with partners and communities to plan and ensure the UK is better prepared and resilient to climate change” and that potential activities include:
- planning for the long term by reflecting climate risks and sustainable development in Local Plans
- increasing organisational resilience to extreme weather by building climate change risks into corporate risk registers
Read the Defra press release and the full commitment by the LGA, CLG and Defra here.
Changes in Mayor’s Environment Programmes
May 2012: The Mayor has appointed Matthew Pencharz as the new lead in City Hall to deliver on his environmental pledges. Pencharz already sits within the Mayor’s team of advisors and, as reported in a BusinessGreen article, he will be responsible for “delivering a high quality of life in the capital through the continued protection and creation of green space, boosting recycling and turning London’s waste into a resource, planting more trees and delivering further improvements to air quality”.
However, BusinessGreen also reports that the responsibility for the scaling up of the RE:NEW and RE:FIT building retrofit programmes will shift from the Mayor’s environmental lead to Richard Blakeway, now promoted to the position of Deputy Mayor for Housing, Land and Property.
Sky Studios wind turbine spins into action
29 May 2012: Sky have announced that they have installed a wind turbine at its West London campus. “The 55-metre Northwind 100 turbine is expected to provide over 133 MWh/year of clean energy to Sky Studios – enough to meet its annual office lighting requirements. The new wind turbine will operate in conjunction with Sky’s recently-commissioned [biomass] Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CCHP) plant.” Read the full news release here.
London to host new Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities
May 2012: Energyefficiencynews.com reports that” Computer giant Intel has announced a five year collaboration with two UK universities to use smart technology to tackle urban issues like energy supply and environmental problems. The Intel Collaborative Research Institutes (ICRI) with Imperial College London and University College London will turn the capital city into a test bed for an urban cloud platform to manage realtime data to help deal with energy and water supplies, extreme weather events and transport, as well as other issues.”
Imperial College say that the “new London-based institute will be Intel’s first research centre and global hub dedicated to exploring how technology can support and sustain the social and economic development of cities worldwide. The launch of the centre was unveiled at an event in 10 Downing Street.” Further information can be found on the following Intel news release and blog.
Research into building low carbon cities
May 2012: Researchers at four universities – including University College London – have secured a £6m grant that will help “study visions of an alternative urban future with drastically reduced CO2 emissions then develop realistic and radical engineering solutions to achieve them in a socially acceptable way.” Further information on the following ESPRC news release.
Update on London Power Tunnels project
May 2012: An update on the London tunnelling project reports that “significant milestones in the construction of three deep level tunnels as part of the London Power Tunnels contract for National Grid” have been reached as part of a project to build new high voltage electricity cable tunnels between Hackney and Willesden (via St John’s Wood) and Kensal Green and Wimbledon. Read the full story here. Further information on the London Power tunnels project can be read here.
Updated FIT Tariff Table
May 2012: Following today’s announcement by DECC over changes to the FIT programme for photovoltaics, Ofgem have published a table which sets out the tariff rates for the Feed-in Tariff scheme from 1 August 2012, for non-PV installations only. Download here.
Europe’s future depends on cities resilient to climate change
14 May 2012: European Environment Agency (EEA) report launched considering the response required by EU cities to rising temperatures as a result of climate change. “In Europe, temperature is increasing, precipitation is changing and sea level is rising. However, the effects will not be uniform across the continent, according to the EEA report, ‘Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe‘. The report is the first Europe-wide assessment of urban vulnerability to climate change.” Read the full press release here.
London Low Carbon Buildings: video case studies
May 2012: Regeneration and construction experts Wilmott Dixon have posted videos on Youtube of two developments that they have been working on in London with a specific brief to reduce energy and carbon emissions. These are:
Retrofit Case Study of a London Victorian Property – a good example of the type of activity that will need to go ahead under the Green Deal in London, with extensive use of IWI (internal wall insulation) resulting in a reduction of 50% in the energy baseline of the dwelling.
Building the zero carbon ‘in use’ Crouch Hill Community Park, Islington – An update on the Crouch Hill Community Park project, developed with Islington Borough Council, which is to be the UK’s first zero carbon ‘in use’ school with a community energy centre that will also provide heat to an adjacent housing estate.
Posted in News
Tagged Buildings, Energy Efficiency, Green Deal, insulation, Islington, Schools, Solid Wall Insulation
Leave a comment