Modern Building Services

INDUSTRY NEWS MODERN BUILDING SERVICES FEBRUARY 2021 7 New report outlines path towards decarbonisation for the off-gridmanufacturing sector A new report released today by Liquid Gas UK (LGUK), the trade association for the LPG industry in the UK, outlines the route to decarbonising manufacturing off-grid businesses using LPG and bioLPG. The report found that LPG and bioLPG have the potential to replace one-third of all the coal and oil currently used to heat non-domestic buildings as well as for industrial processing, saving 3.5million tones of CO2 - equivalent of taking over 240,000 cars off the road. LGUK’s latest report highlights how there are an estimated 62,000 non-domestic buildings off the gas grid that are being heated by oil, coal or LPG. It explored a range of options toward decarbonising off-grid non-domestic buildings and found that 100% electrification through heat pumps was not a credible option for off-grid buildings as around half (48%) of all non-domestic retail businesses were built before 1919 and lacked thermal insulation to ensure sufficient heating. With thousands of businesses facing tough years ahead of them as they recover from the impact of Coronavirus, the cost of decarbonising their business will increasingly become a challenge. The cost of a commercial air source heat pump would on average cost a business £14,000 while a commercial LPG boiler is around £4,300. The report also found that while both biomass and bioLPG boilers emit low levels of CO2, air quality damage costs are 24 times worse when using biomass than when compared to LPG or bioLPG. The application of biomass on this scale would result in a cost damage of £730m, compared to just £30m for LPG and bioLPG. Based on a lifetime modelling study if the fuels were used in a distillery, biomass would produce 250 times more Particulate Matter 2.5 and 60%more Nitrogen Oxide than LPG and bioLPG. Specialist lighting guide for FM’s The Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) has published its first guidance document designed specifically to address the key lighting tasks required of facilities managers. Lighting is absolutely critical to providing a safe and productive working environment and much of the management required to procure, maintain and optimise lighting systems falls to facilities managers. The SLL Lighting Guide (LG) 20 sets out a logical approach for non-specialists to identify and undertake the tasks required in order to “provide the right amount of light in the right place for the right amount of time.” LG20 includes guidance on energy consumption and assessing the maintainability of existing lighting installations. This information is often required in relation to service level agreement, or can create a compelling argument for upgrading lighting systems, in terms of investment in energy savings, reduced carbon footprint and increased reliability. The guide includes three case studies, providing practical examples and context. These look at lighting for a data centre; upgrading emergency lighting in a 6-storey building; and the circular economy and repurposing luminaires. There is a growing interest and need for a circular economy approach, meaning that future lighting installations may be made up of refurbished, or even leased products. www.sll.org.uk The Construction Playbook - Improving standards in public projects: Faster, greener, better The Government has recently published a Construction Playbook outlining how government will work with the industry to improve standards in public projects with the objective of delivering these faster, better and greener. Construction will be key to the UK’s recovery from Covid-19 and this follows Boris Johnson’s announcement to “build, build, build” while also recognising the importance of building back better to bring down emissions for greenhouse gases and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Joint Industry Board (JIB) has been speaking to government, through the Department for Business, Energy, Innovation and Skills, and the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), about the gold standard for employment JIB member companies achieve operating under the National Working Rule Agreements. This includes the excellent reputation JIB member companies have for direct employment, apprenticeships and training and JIB member companies are well placed to meet the terms of the Construction Playbook. The Construction Playbook also references the minimumweighting of 10% social value which should be applied to procurement for central government contracts under Procurement Policy Note 06/20. Which again puts JIB member companies in a strong position to highlight the benefits of direct employment, apprenticeships, industry recognised terms and conditions, modern slavery and skills development. More information about client recognition of JIB member companies can be found here ( https://www.jib.org.uk/ client-recognition ).