Confused about the ESOS compliance deadline? We have put together this handy guide below, which contains some good news for ISO 50001 users! Environment Agency (EA) advice on 5 th December deadline If an organisation makes a late notification they would be expected to keep records in their evidence pack of their efforts towards ESOS compliance, including appointment of a lead assessor, prior to the deadline. If your organisation cannot comply fully by 5 December 2015, you will need to inform the EA of this by the same date via an online portal, giving information on why you have been unable to comply and when you expect to submit your notification of compliance. Details of how to do this will be made available on the DECC ESOS webpages and via the ESOS newsletter nearer the deadline. Such organisations are advised to do as much as they can before the deadline. Subject to the above enforcement action will be deferred until 29 January 2016 or if the ISO 50001 alterna...

On October 1, in an event designed to showcase the talents of Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) members and the lighting community, teams of dedicated lighting designers shone a ‘new light’ on UNESCO World Heritage Sites across the UK and Ireland. The Night of Heritage Light (NoHL) aimed to promote lighting as both an art form and a science by illuminating 9 World Heritage Sites in the UK and Ireland. Starting at William the Conqueror’s Tower of London, the NoHL worked its way up the country as the natural light faded. This is the second of our two part preview of some of the stunning photographs captured on the night, showing off the stunning locations and, most importantly, the power of light! The Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland The Giant's Causeway, ©Don Kinghan The Giant's Causeway, ©Gareth O'Cathain Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire Ironbridge Gorge, ©LITE ...

On October 1, in an event designed to showcase the talents of Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) members and the lighting community, teams of dedicated lighting designers shone a ‘new light’ on UNESCO World Heritage Sites across the UK and Ireland. The Night of Heritage Light (NoHL) aimed to promote lighting as both an art form and a science by illuminating 9 World Heritage Sites in the UK and Ireland. Starting at William the Conqueror’s Tower of London, the NoHL worked its way up the country as the natural light faded. This is part one of our two part preview of some of the stunning photographs captured on the night, showing off the stunning locations and, most importantly, the power of light! Blaenavon Ironworks, Wales   ©Kenton Simons Blaenavon Ironworks Balance Tower,  ©Kenton Simons Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire Blenheim Palace, ©Steve Allum Blenheim Palace, ©Steve Allum Edinburgh Old Town, Scotland Edinburgh old town, ©Ro...

By Professor Andrew Geens, Head of CIBSE Certification Following the announcement that CIBSE Certification have received the necessary accreditation to certify energy management systems against ISO 50001 , CIBSE's Head of Certifcation Prof. Andrew Geens takes us through the reasoning behind the move. We at CIBSE Certification were delighted by the news that the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) has granted CIBSE the right to certify energy management against ISO 50001, having applied in December last year. This accreditation represents another great string to the bow of CIBSE Certification, and a great asset for CIBSE members to draw on. But what exactly does ISO 50001 accreditation mean for CIBSE Certification, and why did we pursue it?  The obvious reason is that it’s a great solution to those looking to comply with ESOS standards before the December 5th deadline, or for those who want to increase their energy efficiency for other reasons: The first certificate is...

Earlier this year CIBSE released the first update to its foremost publication on environmental design, Guide A, in nearly a decade. We spoke to the Chair of the Guide A steering Committee Derrick Braham , to find out the whole story behind the changes to the Guide . What is different about the new guide? First and foremost, the new Guide A is a holistic and comprehensive update of the old. It’s taken nine years of hard work to achieve, but as our flagship guide on environmental design, it’s imperative that care is taken to ensure all the changes of the past decade have been taken into account. And a lot has changed; from new EU regulations to altered Government targets, new research and new techniques, and these all must be taken into account in each chapter to ensure that there is consistency in the design process. There has also been a second driver behind the process of updating Guide A: The building services industry’s response to climate change. This is an aim that...

By Geoff Prudence, Chairman of CIBSE Facilities Management Group The task of a Facilities Manager is often a challenging one. Over the last 20 years, the increasing number and complexity of systems in place to operate, control and support systems within buildings has made it necessary for the FM to have a wide range of understanding in more and more areas. The CIBSE Facilities Management Group have long promoted the need for greater understanding and collaboration with the controls industry to improve the operation of buildings. An added complication is the continuum of flaws within a building’s design or materials that make the FM’s job harder, once buildings are in their operational life. Small changes during the design process will have a greater positive or negative impact (and cost) in the operational life, but is an opportunity that must be taken. Some buildings have inefficiencies baked into the design When CIBSE’s President Nick Mead also supported the need for...

Mark Hawker of Sainsbury's With August’s announcement of the official programme for CIBSE Building Performance Conference and Exhibition , the countdown to the grand opening begins here. On the 3 rd and 4 th of November, more than 300 of the world’s leading experts in building services engineering will pack the Queen Elizabeth II Exhibition Centre in Westminster along with top manufacturers and leaders in other disciplines related to the built environment. Their focus at this iteration of the Conference will be ‘Working Together for Resilient, Efficient and Healthy Buildings’, and attendees will see talks on security, BIM and performance evaluation amongst others, all tied together by the theme of Nick Mead’s presidency: Collaboration, and how it can improve building performance. In the first of our series of blogs on the upcoming Conference, we spoke to Mark Hawker, Senior Engineering Design Manager at Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd about the session he will be lead...