C O N T E X T 1 3 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 4 3 The Green Deal, ECO and recent planning decisions John Preston writes: The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) continues to promote the Green Deal. An extra £80 million funding was announced at Ecobuild. Meanwhile, changes to Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) are letting the Big Six energy companies (who have achieved only 25 per cent of their targets) off the hook. They can now count over-achievements under the CERT and CESP schemes (concluded in 2012) as ‘qualifying actions’ under ECO. It has been claimed that this will cut back ECO works by 15 per cent. The ECO target of solid-wall insulation projects (now by 2017) has been reduced to 100,000, still a very significant target with major impacts on traditional buildings. There have been two other changes to ECO with particular significance for Context readers. First, the scoring rules for glazing installations now allow credit to be gained for the full energy savings. This follows pressure from the glazing industry, and will lead to more pressure for replacement windows. Second, references to a specific U value for solid-wall insulation installations have been removed, so the order aligns with building regulations. This is at least partly due to the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance’s work in showing that the original ECO U-value target of 0.3 is unachievable. In linking to the building regulations, it also provides scope for a more flexible approach to breathable buildings. The DECC-funded STBA Guidance Wheel and Knowledge Base are now live at http://responsible-retrofit.org/. I urge readers to try them out and to think about possible case studies. By the time you read this, it is likely that the long-awaited DECC consultation on Private Rented Sector Regulations will have finally emerged. Unlike the Green Deal, these regulations will compel landlords to undertake works. It is vital that these regulations, which are likely to set precedents for future initiatives across other sectors, take account of traditional buildings. Potential or claimed precedents are emerging in planning decisions, as balances between energy conservation and special architectural or historic interest are tested. One completed project in Cambridge (openecohomes. org/wp-content/.../Melbourne-PlaceCase-Study.pdf) involved replacing 1960s alterations while leaving the fabric and features of the Grade II The Royal Palace of Kensington in about 1720–30, by Overton and Hoole. Courtesy of the Royal Collection history of our architecture effectively came to an end in 1714 with the death of the last Stuart, Queen Anne, absurd though that now appears. The show in London and its superb catalogue (nearly 500 pages) do much to refresh appetites for all the early Georgian forms of art, including architecture, engraving and mapmaking, the latter being developed under the stimulus of artillery warfare. The same half-century saw the London careers of such well-liked immigrants as Handel and Canaletto. Relations with Germany, Italy and France are thoroughly explored. Recent scholarship, as seen in the catalogue, moves easily between the courts of Europe and between the arts, linking London and such regal residences as Kensington Palace, Richmond and Kew with well-travelled and eclectic figures such as William Kent. ‘Early Georgian’ was once regarded as a wholly native style but now its connections with Europe can be more fully understood. Graham Tite, conservation officer, BEAMS The cost of coal A memorial centre has been created to commemorate the sacrifices made by those involved in Scotland’s coal mining industry. The National Mining Memorial Centre is at the National Mining Museum Scotland at the Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, near Edinburgh. The Lady Victoria Colliery opened in 1895. At its peak it employed around 2,000 people and over the course of its lifetime it reportedly produced a record 36 million tonnes of coal. The mine closed in 1981 and the museum was established in 1984 to preserve its remaining buildings. It remains one of the best preserved Victorian collieries in Europe. The 1932 Re-washer Building, which had lain empty for over 30 years, is now the last stop on the museum’s tour through the history of coal, with memorial, exhibition and storytelling spaces. The top floor is a secular memorial space that features a black memorial table formed from coal. Purcell is the memorial centre’s architect. The National Mining Memorial Centre occupies the 1930s former Re-washer Building.
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