NEWS | DIGEST 50M REGENERATION SCHEME COMPLETES IN LEICESTER Property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard has delivered the building services, civil and structural engineering as well as sustainability and quantity surveying to a 50m mixed-use development that is considered central to the regeneration of Leicesters Waterside area. The firm worked with the main contractor, Morgan Sindall Construction, Charles Street Buildings Group (CSB), and Leicester City Council to deliver Great Central Square. The four-and-half-acre site includes two major new hotels operated by the Accor hospitality group. Local authorities need power to tackle IAQ A report by leading health professionals has confirmed the link between polluted indoor air and the dramatic rise in asthma cases, and the severity of asthma attacks. Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution, published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians, said children were suffering from impaired lung function and, potentially, reduced life expectancy because of poor indoor air quality (IAQ), which is also linked to a range of allergic conditions, including conjunctivitis, dermatitis and eczema. According to the report, British children spend, on average, just 68 minutes a day outdoors, so the issue of IAQ should receive much more attention. Too many of our homes and schools are damp and poorly ventilated this is adversely affecting the health of children, said RCPCH paediatric respiratory consultant Jonathan Grigg. He said local authorities should be given the power to make schools and other public buildings carry out urgent air quality improvements. Smart ambient heat network planned for Islington GreenSCIES to harness waste heat from Tube in 5th-generation system Plans for smart energy grids based on low temperature heat networks have been revealed. A network in Islington, North London, will provide heat and power for 33,000 residents and 70 local businesses, and be connected to charging points for electric vehicles. The Green Smart Community Integrated Energy System (GreenSCIES) is a partnership between London South Bank University, Islington Council and Transport for London. It works by sharing heat and cooling between buildings using a low temperature (5thgeneration) heat network, in conjunction with heat pumps that raise or reduce the temperature according to buildings requirements. The system will take secondary waste heat from the London Underground and other facilities, such as offices and data centres. It will be connected to the electricity network and use artificial intelligence to draw low-cost electricity from renewables and thermal stores when electricity prices are high. Director of the GreenSCIES consortium Graeme Maidment said: GreenSCIES provides a brilliant opportunity to deliver low carbon energy in urban areas. We did some comprehensive modelling in Islington and are predicting an 84% reduction in energy use compared to gas, Grid electricity and conventional fuel vehicles. GreenSCIES is also working with the Birmingham West Midlands Combined Authority (BWMCA) on a potential site. What were trying to do is develop schemes that are generic and replicable in any urban setting, said Maidment. GreenSCIES partner Phil Jones said: It will become a template for high-energy density areas, particularly where there is a good balance of heating and cooling. GreenSCIES is one of 10 local smart energy projects awarded 21m of funding last month by UK Research and Innovation. Councils dont know their carbon footprint Almost half of all local authorities in England do not know their carbon footprint, according to a freedom of information request by the trade body ECA. Of 214 local authorities, 93 (43%) said they did not measure all energy use linked to their built assets, and 47% do not have a plan for reducing it. Even so, 166 councils (78%) said they were planning to be net zero by 2050 and 49 (23%) claimed they would be carbon neutral by 2030. 12 March 2020 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Mar20 pp12 News.indd 12 21/02/2020 14:40