The legislation has now changed, are you ready for it?

From 6th April new regulations come into force which will primarily affect lettings agents and solicitors. EPCs have been a legal requirement for nearly 4 years now but now the CLG are starting to tighten their grip on agents who have been avoiding them.

What’s changed?

The EPC must be ordered prior to the commencement of marketing and it is the responsibility of the person acting on behalf of the seller (e.g. an agent or solicitor) to secure one.

You now have just 7 days (rather than the 28 days previously) to ensure you have secured an EPC for the property, or you can be issued a fixed penalty fine of £200 per property.

You can obtain a 21 day extension, to secure the EPC, if you can demonstrate that ‘reasonable steps’ are being taken to obtain the EPC.

If a complaint is made by a member of the public who has the intent to lease or buy a building then the penalty would be 12.5% of the rateable value of the building subject to a maximum fine of £5000.

How can we help?

Clouds have vast experience in legal compliance and EPCs are one of the services we offer.

The legislation change is testament that the government plans to clamp down on those avoiding the EPC. We can help ensure you don’t get caught out.

We offer;

• A quick turnaround for quotes
• Competitive prices
• Superior service quality
• Fully accredited assessors
• Nationwide coverage

Please contact us for advice on the changes and how they could affect you. If you need an EPC please contact us today for a free quote.

 Mandatory lodgement on the Landmark register is seen as a welcome introduction by the industry and enforcement bodies alike. The register was originally created to store details of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Display Energy Certificates (DECs) but now AC Inspection Reports are to be included.

This means regulators, such as auditors and Trading Standards, are able to police the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive more easily. This is expected to drastically increase the number of fines levied, especially as the deadline for TM44 AC Inspection was January, 2011. All the companies that are non-compliant no longer have an excuse!

Benefits of an AC Inspection

The AC Inspection is not just a statutory obligation, it can also have major benefits for your business. For large buildings AC systems can be accountable for up to 50% of your total energy use, so it makes sense to guarantee they’re efficient. The report that accompanies the AC Inspection can give numerous recommendations on how to improve the energy efficiency of your AC system(s).

So by having an AC Inspection you can ensure you have an efficient system, which will reduce costs and reduce your environmental impact, and it will ensure your business isn’t fined for non-compliance.

Contact us today

Clouds have been carrying out AC Inspections since their inception and can offer you a competitive price with superior service quality. If you are unsure whether your business needs an AC Inspection, or you would like to enquire about having the service, please contact us today.

Clouds, working in partnership with Utilitywise and GIS ECO, are now offering Business Energy and Utility Contracts as part of our expanding portfolio of services. Here at Clouds our primary concern is to lower your energy consumption and protect the environment but we understand that every organisation has a baseline. Now, with our business energy procurement service, we can do something about that too.

By simply providing us with letter of authority and a bill for each of your meters we can offer you an advisory quote for comparison with no cost or obligation. This, combined with our range of other Energy Management services, means we can now offer you the complete package to help reduce your costs.

The new financial year is around the corner and we can help you reduce your overheads and increase your profitability.

For more information on how we can help lower your energy bills even further, please visit our see Business Energy Procurement. If you would like more information on how Clouds can help negotiate a better rate for your energy, please contact us now.

SMART funding has been extended – funded training is now available until June 2012.

What this means for you -

• You can attend one of our environmental and sustainability training courses for FREE
• You can attend an eligible course between now until June 2012
• You can choose from the following eight courses:

1. Introduction to Environmental Awareness Course (IEMA approved)

2. Environmental Data Management (IEMA approved)

3. Environmental Legislation Update

4. Construction Waste Awareness Certificate Course (CIWM)

5. Carbon footprint Calculation

6. Resource Efficiency and Utilities Management

7. Carbon and Energy Management training course (IEMA approved)

8. Sustainable Procurement Principles and Implementation (IEMA approved)

If you would like any more information on these courses, the funding, or Olive’s environmental and sustainability services in general, then please contact Olive on 023 8011 1440. Alternatively visit their website consultolive.com.

A testimonial for Olive’s Training Services:

“I would recommend Olive for all Environmental Training needs, their knowledge and enthusiasm is inspiring and the courses are right up to date. The staff are friendly and accommodating.”

 Quality and Environmental Manager, Infoterra.

The event, on Thursday 22^nd March, will present various ways in which local businesses can lower their energy bills and carbon emissions. As one of the leading energy consultancies in the South Clouds will be there to discuss some of the services we offer and give some general advice on lowering energy consumption and cost.

As part of our presentation Clouds will be discussing a new service we have been developing for Business Energy Procurement. We will be sharing more information about this exciting new service over the coming weeks.At Clouds we pride ourselves on our local connections and regularly support and attend various network meetings. Other than the SBP, we also work closely with Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, The Solent Energy and Environmental Management Group (SEEMG), and many more. To see a full list of our partners please visit our partnership page.

Alternatively, if you’d like to hear from us in person please attend the SBP meeting on the 22^nd March. The meeting will take place between 8.30am and 10.30am at the Portsmouth Marriott Hotel and will cover a broad range of products, services and tips to help you lower your energy usage. Entry is free so please come along and find out about how you could lower your energy bills!

To book your place please contact the SBP here.

Clouds support Campaign to make cycling to work safer.

 Here at Clouds we fully support sustainable transport and health and safety is always at the forefront of everything we do, this is why we are backing The Times’ Cities fit for Cycling campaign.

As well as participating with the BIG Green Commuter Challenge annually, we are always looking for sustainable travel alternatives. We always ensure the works we carry out are grouped together, we video conference where possible and we also adopt an active car share policy.

We actively promote cycling to work but do appreciate that cycling on today’s roads can be dangerous. This is especially true of Portsmouth, where Clouds are based. As the most densely populated city in the UK (outside of London) we feel that more measures need to be taken to improve the safety of cyclists. The Cities fit for Cycling Campaign should lead to a safer Portsmouth.

The campaign was born after a Times journalist was tragically hit by a lorry last year. The staff decided to take action, calling for incidents like this to be reduced through the introduction of various legislative and local measures. More than 27,000 cyclists have been killed or seriously injured in the past 10 years and something needs to be done to protect them.

Outlined below are the measures The Times want to introduce. You can show your support by signing the petition, spreading the word or writing to your MP. More information can be found here.

The public campaign and 8-point manifesto calling for cities to be made fit for cyclists:

1. Lorries entering a city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under the wheels.
2. The 500 most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors that allow lorry drivers to see cyclists on their near-side.
3. A national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how cyclists are killed or injured should be held to underpin effective cycle safety.
4. Two per cent of the Highways Agency budget should be earmarked for next generation cycle routes, providing £100 million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities should be graded on the quality of cycling provision.
5. The training of cyclists and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.
6. 20mph should become the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes.
7. Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycleways and cycling super-highways, mirroring the Barclays-backed bicycle hire scheme in London.
8. Every city, even those without an elected mayor, should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms.

With numerous members of the Clouds Team having served in the armed forces this is a cause that we support ardently. The money was raised by the Team with a “swear box”, the majority contribution being made by a Senior Consultant because of his tendency to curse often.

Help for Heroes raises money to support members of the Armed Forces who have been wounded in the service of their country. All the funds raised to date are either allocated or spent on the direct, practical support of those wounded in the current conflicts. The charity strive towards 100% effectiveness – so that for every £1 donated, £1 will go directly to helping wounded Servicemen and women.

Since 2007, Help for Heroes has helped hundreds of men and women who have been wounded, injured or become sick in the line of duty since 9/11. Some of their stories can be read on the Help for Heroes website, bringing a tear to your eye for the courage and bravery shown.

The Clouds donation can be viewed here. The running total at the time of our donation was over £126.13million. We aim to do more in the near future to help this great cause.

Over the past year Clouds have worked with a number of local businesses and Councils throughout Hampshire County to try to reduce their energy consumption and improve their environmental impact. With ambitious Government targets for emissions and rising costs associated with energy usage, it’s good to see businesses taking energy management seriously.

In the past five years alone Clouds have helped a variety of businesses to identify potential savings of over 80,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. This is the same amount of CO₂ as a Boeing 747 flying 20.2 times around the world! To offset this you would need a forest the size of 7,000 football pitches, or 40 large 2MW wind turbines running constantly for a year. At Clouds we are committed to doing more than your basic request, we are committed to saving you money and saving the environment.

Clouds’ nomination is testament to the increasing importance of energy and the environment to businesses throughout Hampshire. We look forward to the coming year and continuing to make an impact throughout the County.

If you would like to know how we could help you, please contact us.

We are currently in the progress of creating a page on our website to let you know about the causes and organisations that we support, above and beyond our core service delivery.

2011 was another excellent year for Clouds and with major contracts already under way, and some exciting projects being discussed, 2012 looks set to be even better.

This year there a plans to increase the ever-growing Service Portfolio and offer an even more enhanced full energy and environmental management service.

Clouds see a promising year ahead with the launch of the Green Deal and continued pressure from Government and Stakeholders to reduce energy and carbon.

The Government wants to reduce business emissions by a further 13% from 2008 levels, by 2022. Here at Clouds we feel this is a feasible target and are excited by the challenge.

If you have any questions regarding the reduction of your own business emissions, and would like to know how Clouds can help you reduce the environmental impact of your business, please contact us now.

There are now only 4 more working days until we all break up for Christmas. Today the Clouds Christmas Card was sent out to our contacts and is as below to ensure that nobody misses out on this Festive Greeting.

It has been a successful 2011 and a lot has happened, a few things include;

• The Office Move.
• New Website Launch.
• New permanent staff members including; Joe Ford (Marketing Assistant) and Kevin Watts (Energy Consultant).
• New clients including; British Airways, Warwickshire County Council, West Sussex County Council, Nottinghamshire Police, BAM Construction and GKN Aerospace, amongst others.
• More Accreditations including; SAFEcontractor, Constructionline and CHAS.

During the Christmas period we like to ensure that all staff have a welcomed break and can enjoy spending a good amount of time with their Family and Friends. For most of us at Clouds we will be away from close of play 23rd December 2011 and will return on the 3rd January 2012.

We really do hope you have a lovely Christmas and that 2012 brings an even brighter future.

If you would like to speak with us to see how we can help in the coming year, please contact us.