DIEM Ltd

QHS Solutions Ltd are hosting a half day Environmental & Waste Management Explained course in Burnley on Friday 26th October.

Delivered by Chartered Environmental Surveyor and Chartered Environmentalist David Inman, of Blackburn based environmental consultants DIEM Ltd, this course will give sensible and practical expert advice on reducing environmental and waste management risks and potential costs, plus demystify some common environmental challenges that businesses face today.

For more details and to book please contact Alison at QHS Solutions on:

01282 839103 

Email, info@qhs-solutions.com

Thanks to all who responded to my poll for

“Are you in favour or against the new High Speed 2 rail link in the UK?”.

The total result was

Yes to HS2 126 (71%)

No to HS2 52 (29%)

The results are interested and varied between the groups I invited to participate on Linkedin:

Linkedin group “Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors”

Yes 98 (70%), No 42 (30%)

Linkedin group “RICS Sustainability”

Yes 9 (90%), No 1 (10%)

Linkedin group “IEMA - Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment”

Yes 19 (67%), No 9 (32%)

Having recently been ranked as 1st in The Construction Network’s RICS Chartered Surveyors on Twitter, Ive reflected on what Twitter has meant to me:

T - Timely

W - Worldwide

I - Instant

T - Transparent

T - Timesaving

E - Economical

R - Responsive

Thanks to all who have followed @DIEMLtd

RICS Chartered Surveyors on Twitter #tCnRICS100 list can be found at:

http://www.peerindex.com/tcntweets/group/tcnrics100_top_50_chartered_surveyors_on_twitter?auto=1

The RICS APC (Assessment of Professional Competency) pathway guide for Quantity Surveying describes the discipline as:

Quantity surveyors are the cost managers of construction. They are initially involved with the capital expenditure phase of a building or facility, which is the feasibility, design and construction phases, but they can also be involved with the extension, refurbishment, maintenance and demolition of a facility.

They must understand all aspects of construction over the whole life of a building or facility. They must have the ability to manage cost effectively, equating quality and value with individual client needs.

Looking at the term “cost”, QSs hold the key not just to costing financially, but in terms of waste quantities and diverting this from landfill plus more critical, carbon accounting right through projects from design and construction to long term maintenance and eventual disposal.  The information QSs hold is invaluable for analysing material, including waste, quantities and carbon.

From a Chartered Environmental Surveyor who interprets and manages carbon, waste and materials data for environmental and sustainability reporting, my advice to trainee QSs is embrace the wider sustainability applications which you skills can unlock and you’ll be the stars of the future.

I’m delighted to say that after helping relaunch RICS Lancashire Local Association, our new Linkedin group being at:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=4422000&trk=anet_ug_hm

a few likeminded individuals are resurrecting Green Drinks Lancashire, again our Linkedin group page is at:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2051847&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

However, we are not doing this in isolation, but in an open and colaborative manner, including other groups such as the Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club.

I think a network of networks can deliver more and duplicate less is we work together and not network to get a headcount or generate profit.

David Inman MRICS CEnv of @DIEMLtd gives a brief introduction to PAS 2030:2012 at the launch of the @LCBPC Green Deal Club. Link to video is below:

The impending Green Deal is really whipping some people up into a frenzy, but I’ve been here before.  Without naming names and these people should have had some professional responsibility, many years ago I attended a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) and Home Information Packs (HIPs) briefing where these persons were saying you could earn £150 per energy assessment and do up to 8 a day.

I knew at the time that these fees were way off the mark and qualified as a DEA expecting a sensible rate, in line with other work I do. Well, lots of people were whipped into a frenzy and bitterly disappointed when there was little work, which was down to the housing market’s problems and the disgraceful management of and dithering with the scheme of the last government.  People got trained, then it was delayed by the politicians, but wages needed to be paid. In the meantime, until some more stringent quality approval arrangement were brought in, which actually penalises the ones who do things properly, there were people doing a DEA for as low as £30 (minus about £7 lodgement fee for the report, travel etc which doesn’t leave much profit) and stories about people doing them over the telephone and Google maps.

That wasn’t meant to be a rant, but set the scene to where we are today with Green Deal.  As someone thinking of applying to be a assessor, it’s difficult to write a business plan as nobody knows how much certificaiton will cost, or will the market be swamped by people looking for a fast profit, or assessments being done as a loss leader, making the small firm or sole practictioner be cast adrift.

I was very pleased that RICS addressed some key problems of impartiality of assessors and other factors in their consultation response to DECC (available from www.rics.org and a very good read), but it is an unknown and people do feel slightly lost.

Yes there are Green Deal web domains registered, but the quality of content varies greatly and some could be deemed to lack transparancy on some websites in terms of ownership and professional standards. 

I’m most encouraged about an initiative launching locally to me in the North West by Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club who are looking at setting up a Green Deal Club which will bring interested parties together at UCLan in Preston on 22 February 2012. More details can be found at:

http://greendealclublcbpc.eventbrite.com

I’m very enthusiatic about this Green Deal Club as it’s not suggesting any immediate answers, but are going to address the unknowns and the solutions as they happen in an open, balanced and honest environment.

The only certainty the club is offering is that Green Deal will happen and Construction organisations wanting to become involved in this, and maybe other eco refurbishment schemes, will need accredited certification to PAS 2030, which the club will be looking into giving support.

So, there are more questions than answers with Green Deal, but I’m convinced that we can seek the answers more effectively working together rathern than in isolation.