NEWS IN BRIEF Scotland ups pace on low carbon heat New regulations are being developed to ensure all new homes in Scotland use renewable or low carbon heating systems from 2024. The rules will also be phased in for non-domestic buildings given consent to build from 2024, according to Scotlands Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse. Scotland has pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2045 and to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030. The pace of decarbonising Scotlands buildings has to increase significantly to achieve those aims, and emissions from our buildings will have to fall close to zero, said Wheelhouse. The Scottish government said it was also reviewing building regulations to improve the energy efficiency of new buildings. Refcom welcomes greater certainty An agreement between the EU and the UK to continue the mutual recognition of professional certification should put the refrigeration and air conditioning industry at ease, says the UKs primary F-Gas register, Refcom. Months of protracted negotiations have produced clarity and certainty for firms that operate in different parts of the EU, who feared their proof of competence would cease to be recognised after the UK formally withdrew from the EU at the end of January. Refcom registration will continue to be accepted throughout the EU during the transition period which will last until the end of this year and probably beyond, as the UK and the EU thrash out a longer-term trading agreement. New refrigerants transforming market Alternative refrigerant options are starting to reshape markets, claims a BSRIA report. Sales of systems with capacities of up to 50kW rose to 11.5bn across Europe last year. While R410A was still the most commonly used refrigerant, R32 with lower global warming potential had increased its market share to around 37% of all split systems. That share is expected to reach 80% by 2023. Last year, 80% of heat pumps sold in Europe were designed for R410A, with R134A units second. Three-quarters of new houses should not have been built Less affluent areas 10 times more likely to get poorest-quality designs, said UCL Most new housing developments in England are mediocre or poor, according to a national audit by University College London (UCL). The exercise, undertaken on behalf of charity CPRE and the Place Alliance, looked at 140 projects built since 2007. It concluded that 75% should not have been allowed to go ahead as designed, while one in five should have been refused planning permission because they did not comply with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). More than 50% should not have been given planning permission without significant improvements to their design, according to the study. UCL also found that less affluent communities were 10 times more likely to get the poorest-quality designs. Planning authorities are under pressure to deliver new homes and are prioritising numbers in the short term over the longterm negative impacts of bad design, said Matthew Carmona, who led the research on behalf of UCLs Bartlett School of Design. A report by the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission said the government should create a fast-track planning system for well-designed schemes as part of a wideranging reform of the development process. The commission, set up by former housing secretary James Brokenshire, recommended changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that would make it easier to turn down planning applications on design grounds. It also attacked the permitted development policy, which it said had led to hundreds of slum developments. One in five developments built since 2007 did not comply with the NPPF Offices waste energy worth 60m UK businesses are wasting 60m on excessive energy bills every year, according to a new report by Green Alliance. Offices in the City of London alone are losing 35m and the energy wasted by 3,300 offices in Manchester, Bristol, Leeds and Birmingham is worth 25m annually. We all work for or know businesses that waste energy whether its leaving lights on at night or wasting heat. Its hard to see why dealing with this problem isnt yet a priority for companies, in terms of cost savings, or for the government in reaching its carbon targets, said the Green Alliances senior policy analyst Caterina Brandmayr. Digital technology is an obvious and inexpensive way to track and control energy use, cutting business costs and carbon emissions. Cities will play a leading role in cutting emissions and would be a great place to start the UKs business energy efficiency revolution. The Green Alliance has also called for wider adoption of smart sensors and algorithms that can track and modulate energy use, as well as more investment in existing artificial Intelligence optimisation systems that could cut energy use in commercial buildings by 14%. 10 March 2020 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Mar20 pp10-11 News.indd 10 21/02/2020 14:39