Here at BuilderScrap.com we like to pass on information we hope that our readers will find useful. This post comes from the BBC News Website 1/01/2010. We’re not sure if you’re local Builders surplus stores have any Solar Panels going spare….

Plans to reward eco-friendly householders for the green energy that their solar panels produce have received a muted welcome. The clean energy cashback plan, known as “feed-in tariffs”, offers incentives from April for those who install small scale renewables on their homes. The government claims one in 10 homeowners could fit panels or small wind turbines by 2020. But the scheme has been criticised as not generous enough.

Payments

The UK gets about 5.5% of its electricity from renewable sources and, in order to hit green targets in 10 years’ time, this would have to rise to 30%.

Under the programme, people will be paid a fixed rate by their energy provider for electricity from small renewable power sources. They could also save money on their bills. Homeowners who install photovoltaic panels could earn £900 a year when they first put in the technology, along with saving £140 a year on their bills, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said. Renewable energy groups suggest people will have a 5% to 8% rate of return on their initial green investment for up to 25 years, although this technology remains relatively expensive to install.

Solar panels and wind turbines of up to five megawatts will be paid for the electricity they generate, even if the homeowners used it themselves.

“The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past,” said Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

However, the cost of the scheme will come from higher charges for other customers who do not fit renewable energy sources. The typical customer will face an extra £11 on their annual bill by 2020, DECC said.

Lack of incentive

While many consumer groups have welcomed the move, they have also criticised the level of incentive payments provided under the scheme.

“Ministers have been far too timid with a policy that could make a significant contribution to cutting emissions and boosting energy security,” said Dave Timms, of Friends of the Earth.

The Solar Trade Association said the rate of return was half of that seen under other schemes.
And Liz Laine, of watchdog Consumer Focus, said that the scheme could help people make big savings and cut carbon emissions, but more ambitious targets were needed from the government.

“It needs to offer more attractive cashback rates to overcome the cost-barrier of installing this technology and provide better information and advice to consumers,” she said.

Proposals for a second incentive scheme for renewable heat, which will pay people to install technology such as ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers, have also been published. Details will be published in the 2010 Budget.

Thanks to our colleagues over at BuilderBusiness for this article. 

As the economy starts to show tentative signs of recovery, many involved in the industry will be wondering how they are going to get an edge over their competitors throughout 2010.

Keeping a focus on the job in hand is quite rightly the number one priority however it doesn’t mean the other elements of running a successful business can be let to slip. So builders wanting to make the most of 2010 will be interested to hear of a new club that will provide them direct and easy access to a whole host of services, information and advice.

Called Builderbusiness Club, those who sign up online at builderbusiness.co.uk will automatically become part of the UK’s biggest buying group with members also getting free access to a range of building support services.

The brainchild of builder Adrian Wild, who, with over 25 years experience of running a design and build company is all too familiar with the frustrations and pitfalls of the construction industry and knows how important it is to have the right suppliers, support, tools and finance in place at the right price.

Being first to enquire on a new planning application, finding the best van insurance, getting advice on how to improve your image, getting help on securing finance or making sure your VAT payments are up to scratch are all areas this new club will benefit builders.

Club Helps Builders Keep On Top Of New VAT Rules

An example of how the club is already helping builders is with the new rules on VAT that are being introduced by HM Revenue & Custom (HMRC) from 1 April 2010.

The new legislation means that from the new financial year, some businesses will have to file their VAT returns online and pay any VAT due electronically.

The new rules will apply firstly to businesses that are VAT registered and have a turnover of more than £100,000 and secondly to all businesses that are newly registering for VAT, whatever their turnover.

It means any builders that fall into these categories will have to make sure they fully understand how to comply with the new legislation.

Fortunately Builderbusiness Club members can get hold of what has been labelled as the best accounting software package on the market for builders with added benefits exclusive to the club.

Called Construction Industry Accounts (CIA) it’s an accounting software package designed to handle the new 2007 CIS Scheme, Invoices & Job Costing, Retentions, Applications (Stage Payments) and Certifications

It also helps builders file their VAT returns quickly and makes electronic payments by using the VAT Online service.

Developed specifically for the building industry this fully integrated software package means that only one entry is needed to update all relevant areas. So when it comes to submitting VAT returns or paying VAT, because everything is available at the click of a button it will make the process infinitely easier.

Adrian added: “Construction Industry Accounts is an absolute godsend for those who are looking to keep a close grip on their accounts, want to know how much they are going to make on a job and want to keep up-to-date on their VAT.

“Anyone wanting to make their lives easier in April need to start planning now how they are going to ensure they don’t give HMRC a reason to come knocking. It also links directly to HBXL’s EstimatorXpress estimating software so once an estimate has been produced the revenue and profit generated is automatically updated onto CIA.

“To be able to offer this through Builderbusiness Club is just one example of how it is going to help members mange their business more effectively, generate more profits and ultimately come out of the recession stronger.

“Our mission is to provide a dependable and trusted resource for both builders’ projects and business. Working with the FMB and many other trusted names, we think Builderbusiness Club is great news the building industry.”

Builderbusiness Club member offer – when you buy CIA accounting software £1950 ex VAT, members will also get a FREE copy for their accountant plus four hours online training (worth £220 ex VAT)!

In addition, as well as a free copy and training members will also get a free PAYE payment model worth £699 and is available until February 2010.

CIA is available through HBXL which acts as a re-seller of the software.

To sign up to Builderbusiness Club visit www.builderbusiness.co.uk

To find out more about CIA visit www.hbxl.co.uk/accounts

Here at BuilderScrap.com we’re not all about Builders Supplies. This post looks at our recycling habits, so ditch those plastic bags!

As well as asking about people’s current behaviours and their willingness to act, the survey also covered how often people undertook these behaviours (ranging between always and never) as shown in Figure 9. As discussed in the previously, the vast majority (91%) of respondents said they were recycling items rather than throwing them away. Just over half (56%) of all respondents said they “always” did this, 30% said they did this “very” or “quite often”, and 7% said they only did this sometimes.

Most respondents (84%) reported that they were already taking their own shopping bags. When respondents were asked how often they took their own shopping bags when shopping, over half of respondents said they always did this (56%), while a further 20% said they did this very or quite often.
Three quarters (76%) of respondents said they reused items like plastic bottles, tubs, jars, envelopes or paper, although the frequency of reuse varied considerably. Just over a quarter (28%) of respondents said they always reused these items, around a third (33%) said they reused them very or quite often but a quarter (24%) said they only did this sometimes or occasionally. Similar proportions of respondents reported that they never took their own shopping bag when shopping (10%) and never reused items like plastic bottles, tubs, jars, envelopes or paper (13%).

Note

In the UK, there have been two voluntary carrier bag objectives: (i) WRAP introduced a target to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags by 25% by the end of 2008, based on a 2006 baseline. (ii) In December 2008, the Government and leading supermarkets agreed to a 50% reduction in the number of carrier bags being given out to customers by May 2009.

We all support our local suppliers… don’t we? Across the main surveys three statements about purchasing were presented to all respondents. They were asked to say how strongly they agreed or disagreed with each using a five-point scale (ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree). The findings are presented in Figure 8.

Around three-quarters (73%) of respondents agreed that they made an effort to buy things from local retailers and suppliers, while just 11% of respondents disagreed.

Half (50%) agreed that newer products are more environmentally-friendly compared with 15% who disagreed. Opinion was more divided when looking at whether respondents would be prepared to pay more for environmentally-friendly products. Just under half (46%) agreed that they would be prepared to pay more for environmentally-friendly products, while just under a third (31%) disagreed with this. There is no statistically significant difference between the 2007 and 2009 results – in 2007, 44% agreed with the statement while 29% disagreed with it.

Here at BuilderScrap.com we look out for our Building contractors uk, Todays post looks at a number of purchasing behaviours. This study assesses using the stages of the change response scale . The results from these questions are presented in Table 15.

For each of the three behaviours covered, respondents were most likely to be at the pre-contemplation stage (between 30% and 42% of respondents) where they had either not heard of them or thought about them. In addition, for each of these behaviours at least one in ten respondents said they had rejected the behaviour. That said, there were still significant proportions who had adopted these behaviours: around a third (30%) said they were not buying things because they had too much packaging and intended to keep this up, and one in five respondents said they were buying wood and wood products from certified sustainable sources and buying peat free compost and intended to keep this up (21% and 19% respectively).

I’m sure we all know about recycling. Now let us see how much the general public know about Energy Saving! Here at BuilderScrap.com we want encourage Interdependence and the merits of both.

Respondents to the Defra survey who had bought an appliance in the last twelve months were asked if they had looked for the Energy Saving Recommended logo on it. This logo was developed by the Energy Saving Trust to help consumers identify the most energy efficient products available. Respondents who had bought more than one appliance in the last twelve months were asked this question in relation to one of these which was selected randomly. In the 420 purchases covered by the survey, the purchaser claimed to have looked for the logo in 71% of these, while in 24% the purchaser had not. In the remaining 5% of purchases the respondent did not know whether they had looked for the logo. A tracker survey carried out by the Energy Saving Trust in August 2007 showed that the logo had been looked for in 60% of purchases, showing an increase in the proportion of purchasers reporting that they are looking for the logo.

Respondents who had bought an appliance in the last twelve months were also asked whether the appliance they bought had the Energy Saving Recommended logo on it. In the 420 purchases covered by the survey, 72% of appliances were claimed to carry the logo (1% higher than the 71% of purchasers who had looked for the logo). The results suggest that most purchasers who reported that they had looked for the logo thought that it was on the appliance they bought. The tracker survey in August 2007 showed that the logo was said to be present on 62% of appliances purchased. It is possible that there is some confusion between the EU (A-G) label 8, which was not asked about, and the Energy Saving Recommended label, which only covers the most energy efficient products.

Not sure about you guys think but I’m sure any salesmen worth his salt would have pointed this logo out. The Government could do more to let people know about this label and what it actually means.

Todays BuilderScrap.com post revisits the Recycling around the world series BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen discusses Italy.

Waste disposal regulations in Italy vary from district to district. In Rome, the rules were toughened earlier this month. People who do not separate their rubbish can be fined up to 619 euros if they have a recycling bin within 500 metres of their front door.

Romans often claim that it is hard to find a bin and even harder to find one that is not full. The city council has ordered 2,500 new bins. They are colour-coded green for household waste, white for paper and blue for plastic.

The streets of the historic centre of Rome have almost no recycling bins yet. The streets are cleaned very efficiently, by vehicles that drive over waste and suck it up like enormous self-propelled vacuum cleaners.

In southern Italy local politicians claim that the waste management industry is controlled by organised crime. Last year the European Commission said it was taking action against Italy, for 28 breaches of EU laws on the environment. It said that Italy was denying its citizens the same quality of life enjoyed by people in other EU countries.

When I moved here five months ago I asked the caretaker of my building whether I should separate my family’s rubbish. He laughed and looked incredulous. “Are you joking?” he said. “This is Rome.”

The final part of the BuilderScrap.com Draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction.

There were no consultation questions relating specifically to innovation, however, several comments were made by respondents regarding the Innovation chapter and these are summarised below:

1. The main points made on innovation were:

Support for R&D or Knowledge Transfer Some suggested that sustainable construction might not act as a direct driver for change within the industry since its economic benefits might be long-term or hidden. The industry was unlikely to fund research into sustainability or sustainable construction on its own; Government support and / or additional fiscal incentives for R&D might be needed. Some attached importance to the testing, demonstration and independent third party certification of new products or services. Greater certainty on funding streams for developers and end-users would assist product development.

Innovation Measurement The consultation document suggested using the BERR Community Innovation Survey to track a target of increasing the numbers of “innovation active” companies in the sector. Respondents felt that some work was needed to clarify “innovation active” in the context of the sector and develop challenging benchmarks and targets recognised and
accepted by the industry.

Learning from overseas Some respondents said the UK construction industry could benefit from greater awareness of overseas experience.

Regulation and standards Some suggested that Building Regulations should aim to be more outcome based and non-prescriptive to assist innovation.

Thanks for reading.

The final of this weeks BuilderScrap.com post on the Sustainable Construction Draft.

Q: Do you agree that the targets and milestones proposed for Materials will deliver improved resource efficiency with reduced environmental and societal impacts, and are sufficiently ambitious? If not, then please propose alternative targets.

1. Most of the respondents who answered the question thought the targets were reasonable, though some thought they might be very difficult to achieve by 2010. Some questioned whether the targets would drive improvement in performance.

2. Some respondents said that if the targets were adopted, a mechanism should be introduced to monitor performance, taking account of ongoing research on sustainability of materials. Phased implementation and shorter-term milestones were also suggested as a way of making the targets more achievable and effective.

3. A number of respondents suggested that the targets should be consistent with a forthcoming European standard on Environmental Product Declarations developed within CEN/TC 350.

4. Some advocated incentives for manufacturers and developers to create a stronger market demand for more sustainable products.

5. Some respondents expressed the need for an independent tool or certification scheme to rate the sustainability of all products and enable direct comparisons across the sector. Some suggested there was a need for specification guides and sustainable toolkit templates.

6. Other suggestions included: a target for recycled content; more widespread use of Life Cycle Assessments; and the need to support SMEs.

Todays BuilderScrap.com question for the draft proposal. What do you guys think?

Q: New measures to stimulate action from companies to improve resource efficiency are proposed. Please prioritise these proposals and identify quick win opportunities with high impact.

1. There was a broad level of support for measures proposed. Many respondents ranked all five measures in order while others highlighted those to which they attached particular importance. The results are set out in the table below (NB: as details have been added from those who did not rank all responses, rows do not necessarily add up to the same figure).

Numbers of respondents     1st     2nd   3rd    4th      5th

Programme for
smaller contractors                2       0         2        2        16

Halve amount of
construction waste at             3       0          7        9         3
site level by 2015

Manufacturers to
consider lifecycle of                4       8          6        4         0
Products

Designers/architects
to consider waste                   14      8          3        0         0
minimisation

Contractors and
Subcontractors to
reduce, reuse,                         6       9          4         4         1
recycle

2. Some of those who did not rank the measures commented that they were interlinking proposals which would all contribute to waste minimisation but that there was no single “silver bullet”. Some argued that more comprehensive data on waste, waste streams and recycled content material were necessary to underpin a successful waste action plan.

3. On design, there were various comments on the need for standard sizes, greater focus on off-site construction and/or the adoption of lean standards. A number of respondents argued for an extension of producer responsibility, particularly with regard to packaging, so that products could be considered over their life cycle. The importance of full life cycle assessments was highlighted. Others suggested that voluntary sectoral agreements could help deliver targets.

4. Other ideas included broadening the scope of codes of best practice to include more information on waste; greater use of WRAP processes; and greater education across the supply chain, possibly through resource programmes.