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HIPs are go

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A House of Commons vote today backed the introduction of Home Information Packs on 1 June. Not sure where that leaves the RICS's judical review instigate yesterday. Pro-groups were obviously pleased with the result - Stephen Callaghan, Director of Domestic Energy Assessor provider energy-assessors.com said:

More HIP anger

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Energy-assessors.com has come out fighting this afternoon against the RICS's decision to challenge the Home Information Pack legislation. Stephen Callaghan, director of the training outfit for those wishing to become energy assessors has a right old dig at the institution. He says:

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"RICS' announcement... is nothing more than the latest knee-jerk reaction from the politically-motivated anti-HIPs brigade. Furthermore, it is a strange call from an organisation that has been given status as one of five accreditation bodies for the training of Domestic Energy Assessors.

Tony's legacy poses major problems

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My worries about the performance of Tony Blair in his ten years in office from the sustainability side of things are ably encapsulated by Larry Elliott, the economics editor of the Guardian, in his column yesterday. It underlines how far New Labour are from grasping how to deal with the UK's environmental footprint in its attempt to mollify business and consumers, and to behave in a spend-spend fashion itself. Elliott dubs Blair's legacy as creating a "fantasy island". I'll let him sum up:

Stop HIPs, stymie energy performance certificates

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Tomorrow's House of Commons debate on Home Information Packs promises to be heated affair. The RICS today further engulfed the scheme, due to come into force next month, in crisis by commencing judicial proceedings against the Government "for its failure to carry out proper consultation" before implementing the legislation. This is a despite a strong warning from the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) that ditching HIPS could seriously stymie the future of Energy Performance Certificates.

Office workers shun green responsibility

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Interesting new survey released this week by design outfit BDGworkfutures. It confirms behavioural problems amongst office workers, claiming that of those staff who have environmentally-friendly initiatives happening within their company 70% feel it's not up to the individuals themselves to be responsible for them. They expect responsibility to lie with directors and facility or office managers.

Gordon's half-hearted green push

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I was wondering when our leader in waiting would address climate change. Not much of a mention when he launched his offical leadership push last Thursday. He saved the big environmental announced for the Sunday, revealing (or reheating?) plans to build five new eco-towns amounting to 100,000 new houses. The Spectator's political editor Fraser Nelson claims in the magazine's blog that Brown is not a full paid-up member of the urgent action school of politicians. "He has so far proved himself a bulwark against climate change alarmism. He’s fighting hype with hype, bangs the drum but does very little," he says.

Ken's new low emission zone - chaos for construction traffic?

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Ken Livingstone's laudable attempt to control polluting vehicles from central London could spell crisis for construction traffic. He announced the plans yesterday - it's the first such scheme in the UK and the largest planned in the world. As of February 2008 pollution-spewing lorries will face charges of £200 to travel in the Low Emission Zone. Transport for London has mor information on the scheme at its site.

US targets carbon neutral buildings by 2030

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News out of US this week - six industry and Governmental bodies signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of creating "carbon neutral buildings by 2030". A statement by the World Green Building Council defined carbon neutral dwellings as using "no energy from external power grids and can be built and operated at fair market values". The groups represent architect engineers, the US Green Building Council and the US Department of Energy. "The task is daunting," says founder of Architecture 203 Edward Mazria. "But by working together we actually have a chance to influence the course of history - and we will."

The sustainable skills crisis

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Good event last night organised jointly by sustainability networking outfit Sponge and engineers Atelier Ten. Mobilizing the New Environmentalists looked at the skills crisis facing the engineering profession from two perspectives: the sheer lack of numbers in the first place; and the different skills needed by engineers to respond to demand for more sustainable buildings. These were via a practicing engineer, Atelier's managing director Patrick Bellew, and architect Paul Monaghan, partner at Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM).

Government relaunches household renewable grants

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The DTI has relaunched its grant schemes for householders wanting domestic renewables. This was suspended some weeks ago after the system was overloaded with applications. The funds for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme will be available from 29 May and will have a total of £11.9m of funds to dole out. There are also changes to the application process, which are: