FAQs
What is the Carbon Reduction Commitment?
The CRC is a new carbon emissions trading system introduced by the Government to capture many of the organisations not included in the large European trading schemes for heavy energy consumers.
5,000 different commercial and public organisations, including schools, are expected to be included and all will need expert help on reducing their carbon emissions from next April when the CRC comes into force.
They will all have to buy carbon credits at a cost of £12 per tonne of carbon - Tesco has already stated it will have to spend £40 million on credits.
For more information view our news story 'Businesses to appeal against carbon commitment' by clicking here.
When will the new Part L come into force?
The new Building Regulations are due to come into force next April, but the consultation period that was due to begin at Easter has been delayed. This has led to speculation that the revised regulations will not take effect until next October (2010).
When they do take effect, our sector will note some major changes - particularly the 25 per cent step up in energy efficiency from the 2006 regulations and the requirement for building services designers to submit a commissioning plan with their design plans to local authority building control.
For more information take a look at the news story 'Part L faces further delay' here.