News

There is now a wide governmental and scientific consensus on the need to shift to a low-carbon economy. The UK has set itself the target of a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050.   Nearly one third of UK carbon emissions are from housing. We can and should build new houses to rigorous energy efficiency standards and the recent amendments, in October 2010, to Part L of the Building Regulations are to be welcomed. They represent an average 25% improvement in efficiency over th...

As the saying goes, practise what you preach. Councillor Peter Bear, Vice Chairman of the Environmental & Economic Development Committee on Suffolk County Council, is certainly one to stand by this tenet. A prominent member of Sudbury & Cornard County Council for the last 35 years, Mr Bear is committed to helping create a greener environment. When the time came to replace his gas boiler, he had already carried out plenty of research into the more eco-friendly, energy saving heating produc...

Wadworth Farm was in need of a serious, Grand Designs-inspired renovation. Fortunately, installer Craig Hewitt was ready for a challenge when he embarked on his ambitious ‘makeover' project. With affordability and energy efficiency at the heart of his approach to providing heating and hot water to his new home, Craig was conscious that while he wanted to adopt the latest in technology, it still needed to be financially viable and practical. "Nowadays, there are plenty of ‘green' opt...

October is a momentous month for the domestic heating industry. First up, amendments to Part L of the Building Regulations will come into force in England and Wales on 1 October 2010. The revisions to Part L introduce new energy efficiency requirements and have been revised as part of the government's drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They represent an average 25% improvement in efficiency over the 2006 regulations. One of the ways that the Part L amendments will bring about this 25%...

A General Election is rarely a cause for great excitement. With the accuracy of today’s exit polls, the results are often known before the count has even been conducted.   And the pattern tends to be predictable. The electorate gets bored, the presiding party panics, the opposition sees an opportunity to grasp power and, following an uninspiring and poorly supported election, a swathe of MPs find themselves out of a job as the two major parties swap roles once again.  ...