Government plans to drop BREEAM assessments for school construction projects have sparked a wave of criticism from industry experts, including the CIOB’s Alan Crane.
The Department for Education is proposing to scrap BREEAM requirements for new schools under its £2bn priority schools programme in a drive to streamline procurement and reduce costs outlined last year in the James Review.
But the move has triggered angered responses from industry heads including Robin Nicholson, chairman of the previous government’s Zero Carbon Schools Task Force, Paul King, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, CIOB president Alan Crane and Charles McBeath, managing director of Ramboll.
Robin Nicholson has written a letter to education secretary Michael Gove urging the government not to scrap green requirements, saying the BREEAM regime was “far from being a major burden”. He called for the government to reconvene a meeting of the Zero Carbon Schools Task Force “so we can explain to you and your officials how
Energy and Carbon Savings can be made at little or no additional cost to prepare your estate for a more sustainable future”, reports Building.
An earlier letter from UK-GBC and the Aldersgate Group, copied to the prime minister, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and five other cabinet ministers, said the move to drop the BREEAM requirement for schools was “deeply concerning” and would send a “terrible message” to the UK construction industry.
Later in the week Alan Crane, CIOB President, joined the growing chorus of dissent, saying: "This is a misguided move that contradicts the coalition’s statement that they aim to be the ‘greenest government ever. Designing, building and operating to BREEAM standards yields hugely beneficial energy savings for minimal capital cost, reducing both operational expenditure and carbon emissions," reports Construction enquirer.
Charles McBeath, managing director of Ramboll also voiced concern: “We would strongly advocate maintaining some form of environmental assessment obligation as part of the coalition government’s continued investment in school buildings.” He continued: “We are not aware that a replacement to the existing BREEAM assessment process for school buildings has been prepared, and your current proposals to scrap BREEAM will therefore leave a void in the Department for Education-driven obligations to embed sustainable design into any new or refurbished educational building.”
The government’s green policies suffered a second blow this week when it lost its appeal against a High Court decision that it acted unlawfully in slashing solar Feed-in Tariff rates, reports Construction News.
In a move that could see thousands of homeowners receive higher subsidies, the government has also been told to pay costs for the legal hearing, which was taken by environmental charity Friends of the Earth and solar firms Solarcentury and HomeSun.
The High Court ruling stated that a reduction in FiTs from 43p per Kilowatt hour to 21p for solar PV panels installed on or after 12 December 2011 was unlawful. The ruling means that, subject to any further appeal to the Supreme Court, solar tariff payments will remain at 43.3p p/kWh until 3 March 2012 when they will fall to 21 pence.
