June 2005 - News from the UK

News: Timber Frame, Construction & Property News

• ECA questions corporate manslaughter proposals
  (16 June 2005, Contract Journal)
  The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) has today (Thursday) admitted its concern that the government’s legislative proposals for corporate manslaughter will only apply to the UK.
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• FSC Sales Worldwide Exceed $5 Billion
  (15 June 2005, Green Building Press)
  The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an independent international organization whih promotes responsible management of the world's forests through standards setting, certification, and labeling of forest products, has estimated the size of the global market in FSC-certified products to be in excess of $5 billion.
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• Malaysian Timber Certification Meaningless say Greenpeace
  (15 June 2005, Green Building Press)
  Greenpeace has released Missing Links, a report that identifies serious gaps in the certification standards of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC), and highlights its lack of credibility as a certifier of legal or environmentally responsible forest management.
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• Morley to set out measures to meet emission targets
  (13 June 2005, Financial Times p3)
  Fiona Harvey reports that in a quest to tackle climate change the government this week will announce tougher environmental standards on house-building, increased wind farms and measures to make businesses more energy efficient. This announcement forms part of a government drive to make progress on climate change ahead of the G8 summit in July.
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• Lack of skilled workers threatens capital's historic buildings
  (9 June 2005, Contract Journal)
  Research by the National Heritage Trust Group (NHTG), published today (Thursday) has revealed that there are about 1,600 people qualified to maintain the 891,000 buildings built before 1919. An extra 500, including carpenters, bricklayers, slate and tile roofers, stonemasons and joiners, must be recruited in the next year to meet demand.
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• City now believes rates have peaked
  (3 June 2005, The Herald)
  A SLOWDOWN in the pace of British economic growth will likely keep base rates on hold for the remainder of the year, and most City economists expect the next move by the Bank of England to be a cut, a Reuters poll indicated yesterday.
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• Green task force targets procurement shake-up
  (2 June 2005, Contract Journal )
  Major changes to the way the public sector procures its services are on the cards following the formation of a sustainable procurement task force, led by former Carillion chairman Sir Neville Simms.
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News: Environment, Climate & Attitudes

• Government attacked over inadequate green energy policies
  (24 June 2005, Guardian p22)
  Government policies to develop renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions have been branded "totally inadequate". Terry Macalister adds that the Renewable Power Association (RPA), the green energy generators’ trade body said there was a significant gap between rhetoric and reality in Britain. Philip Wolfe, RPA chief executive said: "The 2003 energy white papers set out clearly the rationale for adopting renewables. But the white paper and the Energy Act which followed it were devoid of policy measure to make it happen."
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• Africa ‘on front line of climate change’
  (20 June 2005, Financial Times p7)
  A new report will be presented to the Group of Eight nations today warning that efforts to eliminate poverty in Africa will fail unless serious action is taken to stall dangerous climate change. Fiona Harvey adds that the report, ‘Africa: Up in Smoke?’ produced by a group of aid and environmental non-governmental organisations in the UK, says that because Africa "lives on the front line of global warming", attempts to solve the problem of poverty in isolation will be undermined by the ill effects of climate change.
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• Top 100 UK carbon emitters named as warning to investors
  (17 June 2005, EDIE)
  Shell has been named as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the UK. The oil company is responsible for 23% of all emissions from FTSE 100 companies, closely followed by BP and Scottish Power who account for 17% each, while the Corus Group and BHP Billiton are responsible for 6% and 4% respectively.
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• EU in sight of emissions trading plan completion
  (16 June 2005, Financial Times p9)
  The EU’s carbon dioxide emissions trading scheme is expected to be completed on Monday when Brussels is due to approve Greece’s national plan to cut emissions. Raphael Minder adds that the scheme which was launched in January has been hindered by the lack of urgency from the 25 EU member states as the European Commission struggled to get them to join on schedule and in some cases was forced to threaten legal action.
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• Government Announces More Funding For Solar Power
  (15 June 2005, Green Building Press)
  The government has announced another round of funding for photovoltaic installations. More than a million pounds has been awarded to a range of solar energy projects across the UK. Public buildings, including churches, schools and museums, will be able to use the latest environment-friendly technology to tackle the impacts of climate change. Photovoltaic systems convert sunlight directly into electricity, even on cloudy days.
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• New Campaign For Climate Change law
  (15 June 2005, Green Building Press)
  Radiohead front man, Thom Yorke, is calling for thousands of people across the country to back The Big Ask, a new national climate change campaign to make the government legally responsible for reducing the UK's impact on global warming. It comes as a NOP survey shows that nearly three quarters of the public believe the government is not doing enough to tackle climate change.
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• Biggest wind farm could power one in four London homes
  (8 June 2005, Financial Times p2)
  A quarter of London homes could benefit if plans for the world’s biggest wind farm went ahead reports Fiona Harvey. The 270 turbine London Array project, if successful, would generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 750,000 homes, the equivalent to a quarter of London or all the households in Kent and East Sussex.
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• UK Homes Waste £5bn in Energy A Year, Campaigners Claim
  (3 June 2005, The Scotsman)
  Homes in the UK waste £5 billion worth of energy every year, even though this is equivalent to increasing annual spending on UK environmental protection by 75%, campaigners said today.
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• Companies want Blair to act over climate proposal
  (1 June 2005, Cambridge Evening News)
  Bosses from 13 major UK and international companies have written to the Prime Minister with proposals to tackle climate change.
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News: Responsible Business and the Community

• Businesses must report impact on green issues
  (27 June 2005, Financial Times p2)
  Businesses have been asked to report their impact on the environment with set of voluntary guidelines that will become compulsory if not followed reports Fiona Harvey. The guidelines which have been published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and drawn up with Trucost, an environment consultancy, will cover 25 areas on which businesses should report. These include waste management, greenhouse gas emissions and the use of resources such as water and fuel.
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• Royal approval for BT boss
  (25 June 2005, The Western Mail)
  One of Wales' leading executives was yesterday recognised by Prince Charles for her contribution to responsible business and support for communities. Ann Beynon, BT director Wales, received a special HRH Ambassador Award at the annual Business in the Community Excellence Awards for Wales held at Cardiff's St David's Hotel and Spa.
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• Drive to boost voluntary work
  (21 June 2005, The Times p24)
  A government led initiative to raise one billion minutes of volunteered time for good causes by the end of the year has been announced by the Home Office. Alexandra Frean adds that the aim of the ‘Give a Billion Minutes’ programme is to create a log of voluntary acitivity completed in England and Wales as part of the celebrations for the ‘Year of the Volunteer’. Volunteers in England and Wales already contribute an estimated £23 billion to the economy.
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• CBI to canvass members on total smoking ban
  (20 June 2005, Financial Times p2)
  Cathy Newman writes that the CBI, the employers group are to canvas support of their members for a total ban on smoking in public places. The group said the "writing on the wall" suggested the government is preparing to toughen its approach on the issue ahead of a three-month consultation on a partial ban which will commence today. The CBI said: "A total ban is the way the wind’s blowing."
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• Scheme offers small businesses equity boost
  (17 June 2005, Financial Times p5)
  A new project of Gordon Brown’s could mean a boost of up to £200milllion for small businesses, writes Jonathan Guthrie. This scheme is modelled on a US forerunner and if successful more money for small businesses could be made available.
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• Businesses debate whether to shape the future or adapt to coming changes
  (10 June 2005, EDIE)
  A lively debate over whether we should try to forestall climate change by reducing emissions or accept it as an irreversible reality and prepare for the worst it can throw at us was at the heart of a conference looking at business and the environment.
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• Business pushes G8 on global warming
  (10 June 2005, Financial Times p1)
  Business leaders of some of the world’s biggest businesses increased pressure on the Group of eight industrialised nations yesterday with a call for action on climate change ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles. Fiona Harvey reports that leaders from companies such as BP, Ford and British Airways have urged the G8 nations to set up a global system for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
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• Employee sickness ‘largely subjective’
  (9 June 2005, The Telegraph p9)
  Two-thirds of people off work due to long-term sickness fall into two categories that are hard to diagnose and depend on the individuals own account of what they are suffering according to a study published today. Celia Hall adds that the survey of 600 British companies found that 39 per cent of problems were musculoskeletal while stress accounted for 30 per cent. The study by Mercer Human Resource Consulting says 41 per cent of employers provided no occupational health services, that two thirds had no stress management support and 70 per cent of employers did no pre-employment health screening of new employees.
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• UK fends off threat to working hours opt-out
  (3 June 2005, The Times)
  Britain yesterday lined up with eight other EU member states to save the UK’s opt-out from Europe’s 48-hour working week.
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News: Finance & Economy

• Bush refuses to give way on Blair's plan for aid
  (3 June 2005, Guardian Unlimited)
  George Bush has dug in his heels ahead of Tony Blair's visit to Washington on Monday, when the prime minister will attempt to convince the US to accept a new action plan on Africa that would require a doubling of American aid.
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Feature Article of the Month - Builder & Engineer Magazine; Timber Frame Supplement

Seasonal, 2005

Expert Viewpoint: Dr Michael Benfield

Dr Michael Benfield is one of the leading Timber Frame Construction Experts. He spoke to Builder & Engineer about how the Construction of more Timber-based buildings will help meet the ambitious carbon emission targets set by the Government...