CPD Register News
IDEA names the charity it will support for 2009/10
Sunday, 22 Nov 09
IDEA have announced that the charity they will support for the coming year is "Help for Heroes".
Help for Heroes provides practical direct support to those servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A Justgiving website has recently been set up to allow any of our industry members to make a donation online for this worthy cause. Donations can be made anonymously if preferred.
To visit this website, see how much IDEA has raised so far or to make a donation yourself just click on the following link:
http://www.justgiving.com/whatstheidea
IDEA launch new video initiative
Sunday, 30 Aug 09
The Institute of Domestic Energy Assessors (IDEA) have announced plans to start producing videos on a wide range of topics and content, including CPD.
Their first offering is a small welcome video address aimed at both new and existing IDEA members.
This will shortly be followed up by a second video at the forthcoming committee meeting of the newly appointed 2009/10 IDEA committee, where all 10 committee members will do a short introduction to the IDEA membership.
To view the first video presentation by founder and current IDEA chairman, Jim Gillespie, click on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/ldrse4
Govt pulls IDEA e petition about EAGA
Friday, 07 Aug 09
An e petition created by Jim Gillespie, Chairman of IDEA about EAGA doing EPC work has been mysteriously removed from the website two weeks before the petition was due to end.
In an unpresidented step the e petition has been withdrawn and an immediate response has been made by Government, even though the petition at the time of being withdrawn didn't have the necessary 500 votes required to evoke an official response from No10. In the Government response they say:
We have been alerted to several issues with the petition about eaga. We recognise that it was accepted in error and have removed the petition from the site.
Jim Gillespie says "this is a very strange move by Government. These e petitions are thoroughly scrutinised before being uploaded and indeed it was some 3 weeks from lodging the petition request to it actually appearing on the 10 Downing St petition website. Their actions and written response today are very curious indeed. Needless to say IDEA will be taking this matter further."
Details of the e petition wording and the Government response can be found here:
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page17884
Quidos closes its local EPC panel
Tuesday, 30 Jun 09
Quidos has announced a decision to formally close its 'panel' from 30th June 2009.
Quidos Operations Director, Nick Branch: "Panels are widely viewed as the enemy of energy assessors across the country, and in an industry with very low fees and over supply, it is difficult to argue against this."
The company will instead refocus its energy on widening its training and accreditation portfolio, to coincide with the future development of the EPBD, and additional measures to help combat climate change and improve energy efficiency within the built environment such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment and f-gas policies.
Quidos will also continue to tender for business which would not otherwise be available to the independent energy assessors, and to lobby the industry to ensure greater compliance with the legislation, with the aim of generating more work for all.
Nick Branch added: "There are some contracts out there which are simply not accessible to the smaller independent practices and one-man-bands; these include large social housing tenders, and contracts with national chains of estate agents or large scale private landlords. In these arenas, Quidos will continue to pitch for business, with any work won distributed fairly amongst our network of preferred suppliers."
Quidos will continue to operate a national network of preferred suppliers, drawn from its accreditation scheme membership, to service its existing obligations and to carry out any new work won from larger scale corporate tendering.
In a move designed to align itself more closely with the energy assessors themselves, Quidos confirmed that it would no longer compete at a local level for work with individuals. It will instead work to offer its members the advantages available by virtue of its size and industry position.
Budget 2009: at a glance
Wednesday, 22 Apr 09
The Institute of Domestic Energy Assessors (IDEA) have posted a budget summary on their blog.
To view the article just click on the link below:
New annual industry awards announced by IDEA
Wednesday, 08 Apr 09
IDEA and the organisers of the forthcoming Energy Assessor Expo have agreed to commence a number of brand new industry awards which will be presented to the winners at the Expo each year. IDEA will therefore be sponsoring these awards for the following categories:
* Best Training Provider
* Best Accreditation Scheme
* Best HIP Provider
Between now and the event on 9th June at the ICC in Birmingham, industry professionals will be able to cast their vote for each of the 3 categories. To ensure this is done fairly, the event organiser, Alex taylor, has agreed that we have the voting polls within the CPDregister.net website. In doing so we can ensure that:
* Only accredited energy assessors or home inspectors can vote
* Voting is available to ALL industry professionals
* Only people registered on the Landmark database will be eligible to vote
To be able to access the voting polls on our website you will first of all have to register. If you have not already done so registration is free of charge. To register yourself on the CPDregister.net website simply click here.
Home buying and selling - A guide to Home Information Packs
Tuesday, 31 Mar 09
You can now download a pdf version of this guide which details changes which are being made to HIPs and the home buying & selling process as from 6th April onwards.
To view the document online just click on the following link:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/1186580.pdf
Two more on Twitter
Sunday, 22 Mar 09
Quidos, the latest accreditation scheme to join CPDregister.net can now also be found on twitter
CPDregister has also now joined Twitter and can be found at
http://twitter.com/CPDregister
Quidos sign up for CPDregister.net
Sunday, 22 Mar 09
Quidos are the latest accreditation scheme to join our website.
This now leaves only 2 accreditation schemes not participating; namely RICS and Elmhurst. Jim Gillespie, chairman of IDEA and the creator of CPDregister.net has had meetings with both organisations and is confident they too will sign up very soon.
Earth Hour - March 28th at 8.30pm
Friday, 20 Mar 09
CPDregister.net supports Earth Hour.
For more information and to get involved yourself, click here:
http://tinyurl.com/dm888v
Stroma Accreditation approved in Scotland
Wednesday, 18 Mar 09
Stroma Accreditation has signed a Protocol Agreement with the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), enabling its accredited assessors to generate Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) throughout Scotland.
Stroma Accreditation, already a leading accreditation body in England and Wales, will now accredit energy assessors to produce EPCs for both existing domestic and non-domestic buildings and air conditioning inspections in Scotland.
Routes to accreditation via qualification or Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) are available and Stroma is also offering free top-up CPD training on Scottish regulations for all current scheme members along with free scheme membership to new entrants.
New e-petition by IDEA
Wednesday, 11 Mar 09
IDEA have launched a new e-petition on the 10 Downing Street website in relation to the proposed Home and Community Energy Adviser qualifications and criteria.
Jim Gillespie of IDEA said "We are gravely concerned over the wording of the Government's latest consultation documents. It would seem they are suggesting that EPC's will not be required on future community energy saving projects".
He went on to say "I would urge everyone within our industry to get behind this petition to ensure that energy assessors will indeed be required on both Home and Community energy saving projects in future".
To add your name to this e-petition simply click on the following link:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/clgcon/
No biomass, no turbines, no solar panels. Is Passivhaus the way to zero carbon?
Monday, 23 Feb 09
The German Passivhaus standard is winning admirers in the UK, many of whom argue that its simple approach to low-energy building is far more practical than the Code for Sustainable Homes
The mighty Germans are at it again. Their well-engineered, desirable cars kicked our lame duck motor industry into the long grass years ago and they’ve done the same with more prosaic items like washing machines and dishwashers. Now they are lining up another attractive export – the low-energy Passivhaus – and the signs suggest there is an eager market in the UK.
Passivhaus isn’t a ready-made product. It is a series of principles that are applied to building design. As you’d expect with a German export, it is solid and reliable. The Passivhaus standard has been around for 17 years, with 10-15,000 buildings completed according to its principles. This is a big draw as it makes it much easier to deliver low-energy buildings than grappling with the new technologies needed to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Because of this, the whole industry is waking up to Passivhaus. The UK’s first Passivhaus housing development was announced by Gentoo Homes at the end of last year, while sustainability consultant Inbuilt is working with Sir Robert McAlpine on a Passivhaus school.
To view this article in full on the Building website click on the following link:
http://tinyurl.com/asy26t
Twitter Two - Twitter Too
Monday, 23 Feb 09
Two industry institutes have created a presence on Twitter.
IDEA can be found at http://twitter.com/whatstheidea
CPD Institute can be found at http://twitter.com/icpd
If you haven't visited Twitter yet you will be surprised who is already on there; everyone from Gordon Brown to Richard Branson.
Two of our participating accreditation schemes are now on Twitter too.
NHER can be found at http://twitter.com/nes_has_learnt
STROMA can be found at http://twitter.com/Stroma_
Consultation Documents issued by Government
Thursday, 12 Feb 09
Today the government has launched three consultations which follow on from the Prime Minister’s Home Energy Saving Programme announcement in September:
Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HESS) Consultation
This jointly published document by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) sets out the Government's vision to 2020 and beyond.
It seeks views on a range of policies which could help to decarbonise the way we heat our homes and businesses, helping us to reduce the UK's CO2 emissions and to contribute to the target of obtaining 20% of all EU energy from renewables by 2020.
It has four main objectives:
- to help more people in these difficult economic times, and over the long term, to reduce their energy bills by using less energy;
- to reduce the UK’s emissions and increase our use of renewable energy in line with the demands of our carbon budgets, our renewables target and our ultimate target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050;
- to help us to maintain secure, diverse energy supplies; and
- to take advantage of the economic opportunities presented by the shift to a low carbon economy in the UK and in the rest of the world, helping us during the current economic downturn and over the long term
The deadline for responses is Friday 8 May 2009.
For more details visit: http://www.decc.gov.uk/consultations/hes.html
The Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) Consultation
The broad policy proposals for the design of the programme include:
- placing an obligation on energy suppliers and electricity generators to meet a CO2 reduction target by providing energy efficiency measures to domestic consumers;
- requiring that this obligation is met by providing these measures to households in areas with high levels of low incomes;
- to offer these measures as a package to homes, to deliver a ‘whole house approach’ – so that homes can receive all the major energy efficiency measures they need, which could also include district heating schemes;
- specifying that only certain measures are eligible to count towards the CO2 targets, focusing on those measures which can make a substantial difference to a household emissions and fuel bills.
Responses must be submitted by 8 May 2009.
For more information visit: http://www.decc.gov.uk/consultations/cesp.html
20% increase to the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT)
In amending the Order, the Government proposes to:
- increase the overall lifetime carbon saving target on household energy suppliers by 20 per cent;
- provide new incentives to encourage the installation of loft insulation;
- encourage energy suppliers to promote Real Time Energy Display devices and provide face to face energy-related advice by giving these measures a pre-determined carbon score;
- allow suppliers to meet a greater percentage of their targets through innovative measures.
Responses to this consultation must be submitted by 14 April 2009.
For more information visit: http://www.decc.gov.uk/consultations/cert.html
To download a copy of the press release click here: http://www.whatstheidea.org.uk/docs/Consultations-press-release.doc
Jim Gillespie, chairman of IDEA said "These are important documents which will shape the way the industry evolves in future. I therefore urge you to read all three consultation documents carefully and respond accordingly; either on our members forum or directly to CLG/Government using the contact details therein".
Prime Minister urged to promote future growth in the UK's environmental industry
Monday, 02 Feb 09
The Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) has launched a lobbying campaign calling on the Prime Minister to use the 2009 Budget's emergency spending measures to create a 'green jobs strategy' to tackle the recession.
The EIC's recent report Green Jobs Growth Strategy: Investing for the Future recommends the creation of a £10bn 'green jobs investment fund' which would include £6bn for an infrastructure fund to build 50,000 low-carbon social houses on brownfield sites, and cash for energy-efficiency retrofitting of family homes, schools and hospitals.
Other recommendations include using public procurement policies to develop markets for innovative environmental products, and supporting green jobs training across all Skills Councils.
To read a press release click here:
http://environment-analyst.com/downloads/EIC_press_release5Jan09.pdf
To download the report click here:
http://www.eeph.org.uk/uploads/documents/partnership/230_EIC%20GrowthPlan2009.doc
Article by EEPH
IDEA exhibits at Ecobuild
Tuesday, 27 Jan 09
The Institute of Domestic Energy Assessors (IDEA) will be exhibiting at Ecobuild for the first time this year.
IDEA chairman, Jim Gillespie said "With the country in the grips of a recession and other trade exhibitions we attended last year having fewer exhibitors than normal, it is very encouraging to see how full the exhibition hall is for the 2009 Ecobuild event.
I would encourage you all to make time to come along on one of the days of this three day event, which is from the 3rd to the 5th of March at Earls Court in London. I will be attending all 3 days of this event and the IDEA stand number is 1415, so if you do come along please visit our stand and say hello".
To attend the exhibition is free and you can register online for tickets by clicking on this link http://www.exporeg.co.uk/reg/ebuild09/regform.asp?exhib=Idea&stand=1415
CPD register website officially launches
Monday, 26 Jan 09
Jim Gillespie, chairman of IDEA said "I am pleased to finally announce to you all that the long awaited CPD register website officially goes live today.
This website offers free registration to all 9 accreditation schemes and all energy assessors and home inspectors, not just IDEA members. The site will allow you to upload all your future CPD evidence, including such things as CPD certificates, agendas of training/CPD courses attended and any exam results. In turn, this evidence can be viewed online by your accreditation scheme as part of your annual audit.
In addition to the above the site has various other features including:
- Diary of forthcoming training courses
- Diary of forthcoming CPD courses
- Diary of forthcoming industry seminars, conferences, exhibitions and events
- Links to various CLG documents in relation to both HIPs and EPC’s
At the time of launching this site we have positive confirmation from the following accreditation schemes that they will participate in this venture:
- BRE
- ECMK
- HVCA
- Northgate
- SAVA
- Stroma
I am in touch with the remaining 3 accreditation schemes, namely Elmhurst, Quidos & RICS and I’m confident that they will come onboard very soon too".
