SCALA/SCEME/CLAW Study Day 2010
“Are we ready for the challenge of a new decade”
The fourth joint study day was held on Friday 11th June, Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, mid Wales In the morning there were five presentations:
- Keynote Address - Jane Davidson A.M. Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Welsh Assembly Government
- Zero Carbon Britain 2030 – How we can sustainably meet our energy, building, transport and food requirements in a resource constrained world – Paul Allen, CAT
- A resume of the Governments energy performance commitments that are planned to come into effect in the decade to 2020 – Ted King,OBE CEng FCIBSE
- Facing the challenge of energy conservation, energy efficiency, micro generation and combating fuel poverty in the next decade – Andy Bray, British Gas
- If sustainability and its cost is inevitable, what do today’s architects and engineershave to do to future proof our environment within a restricted budget – Brian Mark, Fulcrum
In the afternoon there was a choice of workshops:
- A perspective on sustainability from within the supply chain – Paul Reeve, ECA
- Low energy retrofitting of existing stock-design and conservation implications – Jean-Pierre Wack, Eight Associates
- Ensure compliance, achieve BREEAM targets and specify sustainable buildings in an ever changing regulatory environment – Bill Clark, NBS
- Early Streamer Emission Lightning Protection – efficient systems of protection– Vincent Crevenant, ABB
- Creating inspirational environments for lifelong learning – John Rawlinson, Morgan Sindall
- Biomass Heating – market and policy development – Chris Miles, Econergy
The day before there was the opportunity to visit “Canolfan Hyddgen”, a post-16 training and education centre. The £1.2million new building was officially opened in March last year and has been awarded BREEAM Excellent standard. It is also the first public sector building in the UK to be certified by the Passivhaus Institute. Passivhaus principles – high levels of insulation, solar gain and efficient heat recovery systems ensure low energy use – are more commonly used in continental Europe.
After this the delegates visited the Wales Institute for Sustainable Education (WISE) at the Centre for Alternative Technology to take part in the closing stages of the official opening of the WISE building and listen to a presentation by Pat Borer, the architect for the project, who gave delegates a presentation on the design and construction of the new building.
SCALA, SCEME and CLAW are very grateful for the support of their sponsores for the event - British Gas, ECA, NBS, Morgan Sindall and Plastics in Construction.