NEWS | DIGEST Invest is best for green future IN BRIEF Plan to build 40 hospitals by 2030 The government has announced a 3.7bn down payment towards the building of 40 new hospitals by 2030. A further eight could be added once future funding has been allocated, and the full programme could eventually cost up to 20bn. The Health Infrastructure Plan has been described as the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. It launched last September with a 2.8bn investment, which gave six new hospitals the funding to go ahead, alongside seed funding for trusts to work up business cases. We welcome the governments focus on investing in replacing and refurbishing the NHS estate, as for a growing number of trusts this has now become an urgent problem, said NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery. Building a new, average, mid-sized, hospital costs around 500m, so this is just an initial down payment. Research predicts 7% cut in greenhouse gas emissions if policy-makers adopt global low carbon recovery strategy Economists have called for policy-makers to focus on stimulus packages for low carbon technologies to re up the green recovery, rather than cutting VAT and providing grants to householders. The We Mean Business coalition says investment in low carbon technologies and The coalition says backing wind and solar capacity would create millions of jobs REGISTER FREE AT: bit.ly/cibsewebinars AND JOIN OUR CPD WEBINAR Staying in control of design to value pumping solutions Thursday 19 November 2020, 13:00 (GMT) Brought to you by: infrastructure will generate more income, jobs and gross domestic product particularly if it backs energy efciency improvements, increased wind and solar power capacity, and electricity grid upgrades. After modelling both approaches in a number of countries, researchers from Cambridge Econometrics said a green recovery strategy would have a consistently larger impact than a standard stimulus package. This report conrms what many companies already know investing in the zero carbon future is the best way to ensure business success, said Mara Mendiluce, chief executive of We Mean Business. Spending and tailoring policies in a way that boosts green technologies and innovation brings benets to businesses, economies and people, as well as cuts emissions. To invest in any other way would be to set the world on course for economic and environmental disaster. The research suggested a green recovery plan would create two million more jobs in the EU and one million in the US. It also predicted a 7% cut in greenhouse gas emissions. Sign up to benefit from new improvement grants CIBSE members have been urged to register to deliver the Green Homes Grant scheme. Green Homes Grants will fund up to two-thirds of home energy efciency improvements worth up to 5,000 or 100% of works costing up to 10,000 for homeowners on low incomes. CIBSE said the works should be in line with PAS 2035, and a building passport with a long-term plan for zero carbon should be produced for each home. This would help identify the most appropriate measures to implement as a rst step. It would also contribute to the governments objectives of energy efciency, digitisation, and supporting jobs and skills development in green construction. With 1.5bn available through vouchers, the scheme aims to improve the energy efciency of more than 600,000 homes and support around 100,000 jobs in green construction for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople across the UK. Businesses must be certied and register with the governmentbacked quality assurance scheme TrustMark. Once accredited, they will be added to a directory of certied installers on the Simple Energy Advice website. Homeowners can contact these installers to obtain a quote and, after the work is completed, the government will pay for costs covered by the voucher. Grants will be offered to cover primary green home improvement measures, including the insulation of walls, oors and roofs, and low carbon heating, such as heat pumps or solar thermal. They will also be offered for secondary measures, such as the installation of double or triple glazing when replacing single glazing. 10 November 2020 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Nov 2020 pp10 News.indd 10 23/10/2020 15:35