The Green Register of Construction Professionals

The RIBA Journal wrote to 50 practices of varying sizes asking them what CPDs they thought were most beneficial for their practices. Among the responses was that of Elizabeth Kavanagh from Stride Treglown who nominated Cath Hassell of the Green Register Network for her CPD on covered solar thermal systems and their ability to reduce CO2 emissions from a dwelling.

For the full article see http://www.ribajournal.com/index.php/feature/article/makers_dozen_AUGSEPT09

BSD feature a very interesting interview with Lucy Pedler, Director of The Green Register, this month.

Read it in full HERE

York architects Native have continued their winning streak with an award at the 2009 North & East Yorkshire LABC Building Excellence Awards.  The firm was commended in the Best Sustainable Project category for its work on Welburn Village Hall near Malton. 
The success follows their two accolades at last year’s York Design Awards where, at their first attempt, the firm won an award in the New Build Residential category as well as the Lord Mayor’s Award.

The LABC (Local Authority Building Control) organisation, which represents council building control departments, organises the annual competition in England and Wales with regional winners going through to a London final in October.  The LABC's mission is to ensure that buildings are healthy, safe, sustainable and accessible for all users and tenants whether domestic, commercial or public service.

Native, whose offices are at Crockey Hill, near York, were commended for “their high standards of construction and workmanship” on the Welburn project.

The timber frame village hall incorporates many eco-friendly technologies to help attract initial funding as well as reduce the building’s future running costs and carbon footprint.   These include a recycled aluminium roof insulated with recycled newsprint material as well as good natural lighting and ventilation including sun pipes which direct natural light to windowless areas. In addition, the hall has a heat pump and timber cladding from sustainable sources. 
The hall has rentable office space, a permanently accessible WC facility for passing walkers and tourists and can be used as a base for the International Rescue Service.  

Native co-founder Sally Walker, RIBA, said: “Competition was very intense for these awards and therefore I am delighted to receive this commendation.  I believe the design of Welburn Village Hall has set a new benchmark in the use of recycled material and I am sure it will prove a useful asset for both the local community and visitors alike.”  

In June TGR's new Accredited Eco-refurbisher seminar in Bristol was a complete sell out.

The course was set up to help address slowing workloads by equipping industry professionals with the skills and knowledge they need to meet the growing demand for advice on refurbishing houses using eco-principles.

Following the success of the course Lucy Pedler, TGR's Director and head trainer, is offering the following top tips for achieving the best results from your eco-refurbishment projects:

1.   Get the most ‘bang for your buck’ by making sure that your decisions reduce the maximum CO2 emissions per pound spent. In other words, spend your money where it makes a difference, e.g. more insulation rather than expensive renewable energy technologies.

2.   If possible, measure how the house performs in reality to see how it compares to the intended improvements (i.e. post occupancy monitoring).

3.   Don’t forget that water use has a carbon impact so try to reduce water use as well as gas and electricity.

4.   Be aware of houses in Conservation Areas – the rules can be very frustrating!


***Look out for more eco-refurbisher courses coming soon***

The Green Register is launching a new Foundation course to give the UK construction industry the chance to reskill during the current downturn. The one-day training session is designed to equip delegates with a practical knowledge and understanding of the essential issues surrounding green building practices as well as the opportunity to network with like-minded individuals across a range of disciplines.  In addition to the main subjects presented – energy, water and waste minimisation – relevant legislation and Contraction and Convergence as an important social issue are also covered.

The Foundation course has been running since 2000 as the first day of The Green Register’s Sustainable Building and Services (SBS) course but is now a stand alone course offering a more flexible route to Green Register membership. Potential members can attend the Foundation course plus one other one day course at a time convenient to them (including the second day of the standard SBS course) and then apply for membership.

This course and a series of complementary one day courses are held several times a year throughout the UK - for full details please see the events page

Lucy Pedler, director of The Green Register, is speaking at an event organised by The CREATE Centre team aimed at homeowners thinking of renovating/refurbishing their homes in a sustainable way.  Further details about the event are as follows:

The CREATE Centre, Bristol Tuesday 2nd June
6.00 - 8.30 pm
Tickets: £5
with Dave Hampton, 'The Carbon Coach'
and Lucy Pedler of The Green Register

In these times of recession why embark on refurbishing or making changes to your home?
Does it make sense to sit on your savings or begin an eco-renovation project?
 
This event will address the key things to consider at the outset, and hear from those who have taken on these construction and lifestyle challenges.  Whether your interest is saving energy or finding alternatives, reducing water usage or making other greener living improvements, come along to find out more.  Those attending will receive a FREE copy of the new edition of 'The Sustainable Home' advice leaflet.
 
To book email: create@bristol.gov.uk
Tel: 0117 925 0505

(Please note this event has not been organised by The Green Register and therefore places cannot be booked through us)

The CREATE Centre
Smeaton Road
Bristol
BS1 6XN

We are absolutely delighted to announce that the wonderful Green Building Store are now offering discounts to Green Register members!

Green Building Store is a specialist manufacturer/ supplier of sustainable building products, including: timber windows & doors; water-saving sanitaryware; passivhaus products; and natural building materials. Green Building Store recently won a Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development 2009 for its 'pioneering approach to sustainability' and for providing 'cutting edge sustainable products'.

Members should login to our Members Area now for full details of this offer

We have recently been looking into potential funding opportunities for those interested in attending our two-day Sustainable Building and Services course, but who are perhaps feeling the pinch of the current economic climate.

For businesses in Wales, the Welsh Assembly has a Workforce Development Programme in place which can offer funding towards re-skilling or 'up-skilling' employees in the current difficult economic climate.  There is also specific funding available for businesses that are contemplating redundancies or short-time working to help them retain skilled staff who might otherwise be made redundant - this is called the 'ProAct' initiative.  Further details about either of these potential sources of assistance can be obtained from Mel Matthews at the Welsh Assembly on 01686 620250, or by email at melanie.matthews@cymru.gsi.gov.uk

If your firm is based in the South West of England, you could qualify for funding of the entire course cost (£295) through Business Link South West's Leadership and Management Advisory Service.  In order to qualify, you must be the Director or a senior manager/decision maker of a South West business which employs 5-249 staff and is not part of a larger parent company or group.  Call them on 0845 600 9966 to find out more.

Similarly, Business Link West Midlands have a funding programme called the Director Development Programme – any firm who are based in the West Midlands, have staff of 5-249 and aren’t part of a bigger parent company/group can get up to £1000 of funding to send their directors/senior managers on training courses. If you’re in the East Midlands area you could try looking into Business Link East Midlands’ programme Leaders First which is offered in conjunction with Train to Gain.  As long as the firm has more than 2 staff you can apply for the funding – give them a call on 0845 057 1817, or the main Business Link East Midlands number is 0845 058 6644.

Those in the East of England could be eligible for funding through Beyond 2010, and should contact Anne Williamson for further information - a.williamson@screeneast.co.uk

Best of luck and we hope these suggestions will be useful to some of you and enable you to attend one of our courses soon.  To see a list of our courses over the next few months please click HERE

Sustain Magazine are now offering a fantastic discount to Green Register members when they subscribe to Sustain, OSC and Self magazines together!

Members should log in now to find out more.

www.sustainmagazine.com

The Green Register and The Converging World can offer you a socially and environmentally responsible way to compensate for your carbon emissions, click here for more info