Members of the Jewson team will be guest speakers at this years Greenbuild Expo 2011 to talk about sustainable building solutions and how the construction sector is aiming towards implementing greener practices. As industry experts, Jewson will host two separate guest speaker appearances over two days. Steve Millward, Malcolm Gough and Steve Warwick will be talking about ‘The role of builders’ merchant in delivering the green agenda’ and ‘The Greenworks Training Academy’ to showcase how their academies offer the very best in renewable energy training.

The event will host seminar programmes, innovative technology showcases and workshop sessions for all to get involved. There will also be training sessions available to all that attend, aiming at all disciplines which include the built environment, installers to planners and giving visitors the chance to gain skills needed to build and refurbish in a more eco-friendly way.

The event has grown in popularity in the last few years, and a great majority of past attendees deemed that the event catered for their needs with solutions, research and information for current and future projects. The event will also provide Jewson with a chance to promote, develop and encourage sustainable construction and refurbishment, as well as further raising the profile of the Jewson brand and sister brands, such as Greenworks.

The event will be held from 29th-30th June 2011 and will be held in Manchester Central, Manchester.

To find out more, check out the Greenbuild Expo website by clicking here.

- £860m government scheme expected to increase green capital investment by £4.5 billion up to 2020, stimulating a new market in renewable heat.
- Incentive to increase number of industrial, commercial and public sector installations by seven times to 2020.
- A full system of RHI payments will be available to households from October 2012.
- In the interim, more than a quarter of the first years budget to be guaranteed for up to 25,000 household installations through a “RHI Premium Payment” to encourage take-up.

Half of the UK’s carbon emissions come from the energy that produces heat and 95% of heat in the UK is currently produced using fossil fuels. It is hoped that the new scheme will encourage the installation of equipment such as renewable heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal panels to reduce emissions and support the existing 150,000 jobs in the heating industry.

The government will pay out for the tariffs for 20 years to eligible technologies that have been installed since 15th July 2009 with payments being made for each kWh (Kilowatt hour) of renewable heat produced. The tariff payments will start for homes alongside the Green Deal from 2012 to allow a more whole-house approach to heat production and energy saving.

Since the launch it has been decided that Air Source Heat Pumps will not be included in the scheme as they need ‘to better understand the costs associated with the technology’ before they can be included in the RHI. The government explained that ground source and water source heat pumps would attract the initial incentive which starts in July 2011, but ground source heat pumps will now not be considered as part of the scheme until at least 2012.

To read the Press Notice in full, simply click here.

The guide offers advice on legislation and government incentives as well as providing an overview of sustainable products and practices for both new build and RMI projects, which has been promoted and was available at this year’s EcoBuild event.

Malcolm Gough, Market Director of Sustainability at Jewson commented on the announcement, stating:

“Sustainable building is quite literally in the hands of our construction professionals and as such, we developed the Jewson Sustainable Building Guide to provide clear and unbiased guidance on how to adapt day-to-day working practices to ensure a more sustainable build.

By helping make sense of sustainability – the Jewson Sustainable Building Guide can encourage industry professionals to build better, look to new markets and make the changes the UK requires. We are absolutely delighted that the Jewson Sustainable Building Guide has been recognised and shortlisted in the Climate Week Awards. It has proved hugely popular with customers and it will continue to play an integral part in Jewson’s drive to promote and support sustainable building.”

The Sustainable Building Guide is one of four finalists in this category and the winner will be announced on 21 March at the official Climate Week launch event.

Download your copy of the Sustainable Building Guide by clicking here.

Jewson, the UK’s leading supplier of timber and sustainable building materials, was present last week at the esteemed EcoBuild 2011 event. The event was a chance for Jewson to showcase the future of design, construction and the built environment, as well as their latest developments and new product launches. The event took place in the ExCeL arena in London, and Jewson were joined by 1,300 exhibitors which shows the sheer magnitude and popularity of the event.

The Jewson stand was accompanied by sister brands in the Graham Group and Greenworks which collectively formed a giant triangular maze which visitors were able to work their way through whilst finding different sustainable building and product solutions along the way, such as sustainable building fabric solutions, solar panels and water saving products.

Jewson and Greenworks Stand at EcoBuild 2011.

The Jewson team we celebrating trading for 175 years and were adopting the celebration logo, they had 1,500 copies of the new Jewson Sustainable Building guide to give out to visitors of the event, but demand soon outstripped supply, meaning extras copies had to be shipped in. All in all, a staggering 3,500 copies were distributed during the 3 day event.

Malcolm Gough, Market Director of Sustainability at Jewson attended the event and managed the stand stated “Overall the event was a roaring success for Jewson and all connections to the company. The event was a great way to showcase our offer and commitment in leading the market and being able to boast one of the busiest stands, this clearly positioned Jewson as the leader of the supply of sustainable building solutions and the merchant choice at the event.”

Download your copy of the Sustainable Building Guide by clicking here.

Back in October 2010, the coalition government backed plans in its comprehensive spending review to go ahead with a new Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). Now the plan is expected to go ahead in June of this year, but what exactly is this new scheme?

The RHI has been designed to reward individuals, communities and businesses who switch from using fossil fuel for heating to renewables such as wood fuel. The scheme is very similar to the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT), which was another energy saving incentive that was introduced through the same legislation – The Energy Act 2008, with the RHI offering a greater rate of return. The RHI will also help to develop industry and support jobs in the forestry industry, which supplies fuel.

The concept is that you replace your existing fossil fuel heating system (such as gas, oil or coal) with a renewable heating technology (such as wood fuel). If these changes are made then you should expect to see a set paid amount arrive in to your bank account every year as an incentive for your sustainability efforts, and for reducing your personal carbon footprint.

The government are not proposing to measure the heat generated from installations. Instead, an estimated figure will be used to work out payments, which will represent the amount of heat energy needed to warm up your home and/or water (so the amount you receive will be dependent on the size of your home/building, its age, and any technology within your household/offices).

Some of the eligible technologies included in the scheme are:

• Solar thermal
• Air to water Heat pumps
• Ground-source Heat pumps

If you have any further questions regarding the scheme, then check out these FAQs in relation to the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Jewson, the UK’s leading supplier of sustainable timber and building materials, will be in attendance at this years EcoBuild event, in which members of the Jewson team will be demonstrating the vital role it plays in helping customers to understand the process of building new and renovating existing properties, using sustainable products and building methods.

The Jewson stand will take a great deal of inspiration from their already popular Sustainable Building Guide, which was launched back in November 2010. The guide offers advice on legislation and government incentives and provides an overview of sustainable products and practices for both new build and RMI projects. Visitors to the Jewson stand will be able to pick up a free copy of the guide and have a chance to talk to the team about the best ways to combat sustainability issues.

Ecobuild has also presented the opportunity for Greenworks to feature alongside Jewson. Greenworks will have the chance to present their training and consultancy support on a variety of sustainable solutions via e-leaning and practical multi-disciplinary courses. There will also be more details available on the Greenworks Training Academy, which has recently opened in Birmingham, providing multi-disciplinary courses for enhancing existing skills and acquiring new ones.

“Sustainable practices need to be adopted throughout the entire supply chain and merchants are in an ideal position to play a pivotal role,” commented Malcolm Gough, Market Manager for Sustainable Solutions at Jewson. “As the leading sustainable builders’ merchant, our presence at Ecobuild is a reflection of our commitment to sustainable building and the promotion of greener building practices to the industry.”

If you are interested in talking to the Jewson team, then visit them at stand N1830 of the Ecobuild event and you will also be able to collect a copy of The Sustainable Building Guide.

Currently, over a quarter of the UK’s CO2 emissions come from homes and the government plans to cut these emissions by 80% by 2050.

In a summary of his statement, Mr Shapps stated that “This Government is committed to ensuring that new build homes post-2016 do not add extra carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere – whilst ensuring that the costs of building new homes do not prevent appropriate and sustainable development.”

The Housing Minister also shed some light on the research conducted, which started back in July when the Government assigned The Zero Carbon Hub to achieve the target, with the help of the Hubs developers, green groups and partners. The Government will have to consider decisions on the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Climate Change Committee’s recent advice on grid decarbonisation before announcing their conclusions next year.

Furthermore, Mr Shapps declared that: ‘Many interested parties have argued for a community energy fund, enabling zero carbon to be met partly through contributions to a fund used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, allowing developers to meet their carbon obligations cost-effectively.’

‘It will be important that any approach operates in a way that demonstrates transparently that real carbon savings are achieved. We will now work with local authorities and industry on how best to do that.’

Recommendations put forward from The Zero Carbon Hub were to look beyond energy efficiency measures to reduce CO2 emissions and to start building homes with renewable energy technologies on site.
Further to his statement, Mr Shapps declared that a similar process will be called into action for non-domestic buildings, as well as new homes, which demonstrates “the Governments intentions to raise the national regulatory requirements for non-domestic buildings between now and 2019, enabling them to be zero carbon from 2019.”

Just as importantly for a sustainable future, 88% of farmers are considering installing renewable systems on their farms.

There is great potential for farmers to create plenty of energy from solar panels as their large buildings and empty spaces can provide space for numerous solar panels.

Madeleine Lewis, Strategic Advisor for the Farming Futures campaign, commented: “We have seen a real appetite for investing in solar this year, and it’s great to see so many farmers recognising this opportunity to create an income and diversify – as well as contribute to developing a low carbon economy in the UK.”

This follows another study carried out earlier this year, also by Farming Futures, which revealed that 1 in 4 farmers had observed increased interest from customers in their environmental performance.

With farmers’ profit margins from food sales under constant pressure from their buyers – the powerful supermarkets – producing renewable energy is likely to become a highly valuable source of income for farmers. As the evidence shows, not only is there profit to be made directly from the energy production, but consumers are more likely to buy from environmentally friendly farms.

Farmers’ interest in generating clean energy has soared following the government’s introduction of the Feed-in tariff (FIT). However, the new survey reveals that the way the Feed-in Tariff works and the incentives offered from it are in fact poorly understood. The tariff, introduced in April 2010, means that farmer’s are paid for all renewable or low carbon electricity generated and consumed, as well as that exported.

With the renewable energy market expanding rapidly, there are now many quality and reliable suppliers on the market for clean energy and environmentally friendly solutions. Greenworks provide a whole host of sustainable solutions, from solar panels to wind turbines to high efficiency boilers.

The benefits of investing in environmentally friendly projects, such as solar panel installation, are potentially huge. So don’t delay, make a difference today! Contact Greenworks here [link]

Due to the success of the other conferences in the series, Jewson have bowed to popular demand and confirmed that they will be hosting another conference on sustainability – this time at the Hull branch. The Conference is scheduled for the 21st September and will be on throughout the duration of the day.

Similar to the previous conferences there will be over 20 leading sustainability suppliers present, along with some scheduled specialist presentations happening throughout the day;

• 9.15 – 10.15am – Nibe
• 10.30- 11.30am – Grant
• 11.45am – 12.30am – WPL
• 1.00 – 2.00pm – Solar Century
• 2.15 – 3.00pm – Wavin
• 3.00 – 4.00pm – PPL
• Note: there will be a CPD ISOVER Presentation given in conference room 2 at 1.00 – 2.00pm

In addition to the presentations, there will be a training room dedicated to Grant online training courses. Each training course will last 40 minutes and topics will include Solar PV, Solar Thermal, and Air Source Heat Pumps.
We received extremely positive feedback from visitors to the previous conferences and are confident that this one will be equally useful.

The day is part of a national programme of events to give builders, developers and architects all the information they need to meet the challenges of building more sustainably.

The special sustainability day was open to all local construction professionals from across Manchester and the wider county. At the event experts from Jewson, the Energy Savings Trust and over twenty leading suppliers of sustainable products and building solutions were on hand to talk about the many products that are available to help builders reduce the carbon footprint of what they build. Those in attendance were also able to learn how to take advantage of government funding which incentivises the installation of “green” products.

Mark Padden, Area Director for Jewson was delighted with the turnout:

“Anyone involved in our industry needs to have a full understanding of the sustainable solutions that are available on the market and how these solutions can help builders. I am delighted so many of our local professionals took advantage of the day – at one point I counted over sixty people in the seminar about photovoltaic cells! I must also thank everyone who participated in the raffle and raised over £200 for Help the Hospices”

Colin Price from Congleton found the day really useful:

“I only came for one seminar and I have been here all day it has been so useful. We are getting more and more requests from clients to install sustainable solutions and it is great to be able to talk to all these experts first hand and in one place.”

The next Jewson sustainability open day is to be held in Oxford on July 20th.

For full details of all the sustainable products available from Jewson go to www.jewson.co.uk or to find your local Jewson branch call 0800 539 766.