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Welcome to InTheNews – covering all the FM news you may have missed over the week:
A new funding scheme has been launched offering up to £20 million in grants to support local authorities, universities and arm’s-length external organisations decarbonise their buildings.
Scotland’s Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund will eventually replace the existing Scottish Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme, which has been running since 2006 and offered zero interest loans for energy efficiency improvement projects.
Zero Carbon Buildings Minister Patrick Harvie said: “Scotland’s buildings account for approximately a fifth of all our emissions and our aim is to ensure that, by 2045, our buildings no longer contribute to climate change. This means that our schools, offices, hospitals, libraries and homes will all need to improve their energy efficiency and install zero emissions heating.
“Public sector bodies have already achieved a lot, but we need to go further. The design of the new scheme reflects the changing needs of the sector, allowing public sector organisations to invest in projects with higher capital costs and which cannot always be invested in on a spend to save basis.”
Imtech has announced the rebrand of the majority of its UK operations to Dalkia. This reflects the commitment of parent companies, EDF UK and Dalkia, to the strategic growth of the business in the UK and reinforces their international growth ambitions.
Bringing together Imtech’s capabilities in Engineering, Facilities and Energy Services by aligning the Imtech Engineering Services, Inviron, Breathe and SPIE UK brands, as Dalkia, increases market visibility and strengthens its commitment to support energy transition and net zero objectives in the UK.
“I’m proud and thrilled to unveil this strategic rebrand, marking a significant milestone in the history of our business,” said Gautier Jacob, CEO Dalkia UK “I believe that this will strengthen our existing relationships with clients and create new opportunities for collaboration.”
With a pressing need for EV car charging points to support the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road and relieve “range anxiety”, commercial landlords that can provide WiFi, food and beverage, and toilet facilities on site can make up to £4,000 p.a. per EV charging point by partnering with a Charging Point Operator (CPO).
With zero cost options available to landlords and rental agreements typically spanning 20-25 years landlords can achieve a return of between £900,000 to £1.25 million for 8-15 car parking spaces (three EV chargers for every four car parking spaces) over the term of the lease, according to the latest Savills report on the sector “Electric Vehicle Charging: Uncovering the real estate opportunity”.
Bill Bexson, Head of Savills Automotive, says: “Landlords could be missing out on a huge opportunity to make additional revenue at little to no cost to themselves and help speed up the delivery of EV charging points across the UK.”
And finally, A new study of facilities managers working for large UK companies employing more than 500 staff, found that 74 per cent of their firms had already started reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions linked to employees commutes to and from their workplaces.
Looking deeper, 71 per cent of facilities managers were already collecting data on the modes of transport which employees use in their commutes to work, and over half (53 per cent) already know the average distance each employee commutes in a typical working week. A further nine per cent plan to start collecting this sort of data before the end of this year.
Julie Furnell, Managing Director of Mobilityways, commented: “Facilities managers have been right at the forefront of seismic changes in working practices and behaviours during and immediately post-pandemic. Many have been involved in the right-sizing and re-designing of workplaces to fit the new hybrid-dominated work patterns.”
You can find out more on news.fmbusinessdaily.com
