Graham has taken part in a technical interview for Crompton Solar Controls’ website. Click this link to U tube to view (The whole article a bit long so go straight to 4 mins to see the best bit);  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEb8tT8skhg

To return Edward Architecture website, go to;    www.eas-limited.co.uk

Graham Edward, Managing Director of Edward Architectural Services Ltd  is seen here presenting a book commemorating 150 years of Big Ben to The Mayor of Leeds and City Councillors. 

The practice was approached by St James House following their successes in urban design, masterplanning and sustainability and they were keen to get involved.  Graham Edward said ‘we were thrilled to be asked and delighted to support this major event’.  The celebratory event was held at the Palace of Westminster and was hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

visit our website; www.eas-limited.co.uk

‘On Site Renewable Energy’ New Planning Legislation – How will it affect you?

Despite the recent pessimism towards global warming, the green issue is not going to go away and we should all expect an increasing burden of environmental policy coming out of Whitehall.  Recent central Government planning guidance on mandatory renewable energy for new developments is gradually being adopted by our Local Authorities.  Its effects are far reaching and all property professionals should be aware of the implications.

The new requirements necessitate another planning consultation process and will add to build costs.

Currently there is no fixed national set of rules or parameters with many local authorities interpreting central government guidance differently.

Climate change is a problem of international significance. The UK has signed up to a number of international agreements beginning with the 1997 Kyoto Protocol targeting the UK to reduce greenhouse gases to 12.5% below that of 1990 levels by 2008-2012.  This prompted the Energy White Paper (which committed the UK to delivering 10% of electricity from renewable sources by 2010 and 20% by 2020) and the release of Planning Policy Statement 22 (Renewable Energy) 2004, these targets and policies are necessary for the world to develop sustainably

Through Regional Special Strategies, individual local authorities publish their formal renewable energy policies, and in these early days, each authority is treating the guidance in their own way, with some insisting on a renewable energy provision and some asking for them to be considered.  Over 80 Local Authorities though, have based their own policy on Merton Council’s 2003 planning policy, now referred to as the ‘Merton Rule’ where;

• Major employment, retail and residential developments will be required to incorporate on-site renewable energy generation’ the threshold being; 10 homes or 1,000m2 of non-residential development
• 10% of predicted energy requirements up until 2010, 15% up until 2015 and 20% up until 2020 should be renewable.

This article is not intended to discuss the detail of each type of renewable energy option, though the main renewable energy sources can be summarised as:

• Solar
• Biomass
• Hydro
• Wind
• Landfill Gas
• Municipal and industrial waste
• Heat exchange/transfer

For all developments above the relevant local authorities threshold, a sustainable energy statement will be required as part of the planning application submission.  Our own statements refer to relevant policy, assesses the predicated energy consumption for the development and from this the relevant renewable energy commitment is calculated.  The statement also includes a discussion of the potential renewable energy sources together with output performances and finally demonstrates how the requirement could be achieved.

Each site is unique with its own characteristics and will suit some types of renewable energy rather than others, e.g. only a site with a water source can consider Hydro energy and many sites have limited opportunity to economically place wind turbines.  Different building types require different energy needs, i.e. a large proportion of a hotels energy use is for water heating where-as an office uses more energy in lighting and cooling.  It is therefore difficult to predict the additional building cost for the integration of renewable energy sources, though we are aware that one house builder is budgeting £3-5k per house and that an Industrial development we are involved with increased by £1 per sq ft when using a combination of ground source heat pumps and solar water heating to achieve the 10% commitment.

A sensible approach in most situations at the initial design stage is to reduce the developments energy demand through optimising the design, whilst being aware of the additional construction cost that this will bring.

This can be done in a 3 stage approach by considering;

1. 1. Envelope Efficiency; lower U-values, reducing Air Permeability and designing to robust details.
2. 2. Improved Building Services; High efficiency heating and hot Water, Good controls to the BMS system and high efficiency lighting and controls
3. 3. Renewable Energy Solutions; Once stages 1 & 2 above have been completed, the anticipated energy consumption will have been reduced, therefore the 10% renewable commitment for that development will be lower.