A majority of UK companies are not convinced that energy infrastructure will improve over the next five years, despite a pressing need for investment in new networks that are cleaner and greener, according to a CBI survey.

In a survey of business views about the state of Britain’s infrastructure, the UK’s leading business group found that around two-thirds (67 per cent) of companies believe the UK’s energy infrastructure is unlikely to get any better.

Confidence is also ebbing away over improvements to Britain’s water, transport and building infrastructure. The survey of 568 businesses, conducted jointly by the CBI and professional services firm KPMG, found businesses were concerned improvements were not happening quickly enough and a lack of Government action on policy was holding up investment.

The UK's first building to be made onsite entirely out of waste is to be built in Brighton this autumn.

Designed by Brighton-based architect Duncan Baker-Brown, it will be built on the University of Brighton's campus in the city centre from waste and surplus material from local building sites and other local industries.

The walls will be made of waste timber products. Ply "cassettes" containing waste material will be slotted in between the timber structure. These cassettes will be removable so that new building technologies can be added easily.

The Green Deal, the Government’s flagship energy efficiency programme, which is being launched to insulate millions of UK homes and businesses and drive green growth and jobs, officially gets underway today.
The scheme, which has been described as the biggest national improvement programme since the Second World War, is now open for business, but only partially and with many question marks still hanging over it.

The Green Deal aims to cut energy bills and carbon emissions from buildings by making energy efficiency easy and affordable for householders and businesses. The Government aims to insulate 14 million homes by 2020 through the Green Deal and says it should deliver energy efficiency and heating measures worth an estimated £1.3 billion. It also expects it to double the number of insulation jobs to 60,000 by 2015.

Industry confidence in the Green Deal is melting away with the stark warning that the insulation industry will contract by almost half unless the Government reforms its flagship energy efficiency scheme.
The warning from the £700 million insulation industry was made in an open letter to Energy Secretary Ed Davey. It claimed 16,000 jobs in the industry are under threat in the next year, based on the Government’s own figures.

Subsidy hiatus
The IIF is claiming the number of people employed in the insulation sector will fall by 45 per cent from 36,000 to 20,000 in 2013 because of a hiatus between the ending of the Government existing insulation subsidy scheme, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), and the full launch of the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO). The latter will see consumer energy companies providing £1.3 billion a year in energy efficiency upgrades for low income and hard to insulate homes under the Green Deal. But the CERT is set to close at the end of 2012, while the Green Deal is not expected to reach full-scale for another 18 months.

Inishbofin (Inis Bo Finne, or the Island of the White Cow), an island just off the coast of Connemara, County Galway, is home to a unique fencing project built from next-generation pressure-treated TANALISED timber supplied by Aughrim-based Woodfab Timber. The 3 km long coastal fence was put together by Kilkenny fencing contractor Brennan Fencing from timber shipped from Cleggan and protected with Lonza Wood Protection’s cutting-edge TANALITH E 8000 wood preservative to the farm fencing specification IS436.

Eco-friendly Midlands’ landlord whg is celebrating after its iconic new office building achieved a global environmental accolade.

The landmark Walsall building - 100 Hatherton Street - has been awarded a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating in recognition of its green credentials.

BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation and is the world’s foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings.

Chief Executive Gary Fulford said: “whg is fully committed to leading the renewable energy revolution and to be awarded the BREEAM excellent rating for our new office is a real achievement.

Following the successful launch of its renewable energy business, Leeds based construction services group GMI has now refocused this arm of its organisation to provide clients with a total energy management solution.

Having delivered an extensive range of solar photovoltaic schemes for major clients including Tesco, Town Centre Securities PLC, JCT600 and Pavers Shoes, GMI has continued to find ways of adding value for clients. The existing ‘GMI Renewable Energy’ business has been renamed to trade as ‘GMI Energy’ providing a better representation of the wider scope of capabilities offered by the group.

An opportunity to work in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland to design and build an exemplar housing model to showcase how the latest principles in resource efficiency can be applied in house-building is being offered to architects, builders and developers, it has been announced today (Tuesday 17 April).

Zero Waste Scotland aims to drive innovation and change in the house-building market by supporting a development partner or partner group to demonstrate how resource efficiency measures can be included within the design and construction, and how this can contribute towards a resource efficient lifestyle for future occupants.