EWS MAGDALENE COLLEGE WINS RIBA STIRLING PRIZE The New Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge, has won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize. Judges said the building, designed by Nall McLaughlin Architects, presents exceptional engagement with environmental design principles. Max Fordham provided M&E engineering and acoustics for the project. The New Library was designed on passive principles and natural ventilation is provided by openable windows, louvres and high-level openings in the chimneys. Dynamic modelling ensured that the large glazed areas and natural ventilation system did not lead to overheating in the summer. Government launches review into net zero target delivery Review will assess whether 2050 target is being delivered in pro-growth way The terms of reference have been published for the independent review, commissioned by business and energy Secretary of State Jacob Rees-Mogg, into the delivery of the governments net zero target. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss announced last month, when unveiling the governments energy bills support package, that Bristol MP Chris Skidmore had agreed to lead the review. The exercise, due to end by Christmas, will investigate whether the 2050 decarbonisation target is being delivered in a pro-business and pro-growth way. It will assess how the costs of net zero technologies can be cut. Businesses have been asked to give feedback on the challenges and opportunities surrounding IN BRIEF Minister urges rethink on how to reach emissions goal the transition to net zero, as well as the barriers to decarbonising their operations. Skidmore, a former energy minister, has been a prominent advocate of government action on net zero since returning to the backbenches in 2019. Last month he refused to vote down Labours anti-fracking motion, defying the Conservative whip. In a Tweet, he said: I am prepared to face the consequences of my decision. Aims of the review Deliver maximum economic growth and investment across the UK Support UK energy security and affordability while increasing and strengthening UK energy production and supply Minimise costs borne by businesses and consumers, particularly in the short term Partridge appointed net zero chair David Partridge, chairman of Related Argent, has been appointed chair of the governance board for the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard. The standard is designed to develop a single, agreed set of performance targets to identify and verify whether buildings, both new and existing, are net zero carbon, addressing operational energy and embodied carbon emissions. Partridge is a former chairman of the UK Green Building Council and immediate past president of the British Property Federation, and sits on the Construction Leadership Councils CO2nstructZero advisory board. A series of task groups, made up of stakeholders from across the construction industry, are being assembled to deliver elements of the proposed standard. They are expected to start work imminently and produce their initial outputs next year. Partridge said: If the real estate industry and built environment is to seriously address its impact on climate change, a universally adopted net zero carbon buildings standard is absolutely essential. A minister has called for a government rethink on how it approaches reaching its goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Steve Baker, appointed to the Northern Ireland office in the government reshuffle after Liz Truss became Prime Minister, was speaking during a fringe meeting organised by the influential Institute for Economic Affairs think tank at the Conservative Party conference. He said he does not question climate change science or the governments commitment to cutting emissions to net zero in the long term. However, while renewables are great when they are available, he added, it is also a big problem that they are an intermittent source of power. Baker said such energy projects require a lot of subsidies, pointing to the Renewables Obligation contracts from which the first generation of projects benefit, now superseded by the cheaper Contracts for Difference support regime. Baker, who is chair of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of Tory parliamentarians, said gas is needed for the transition to greater reliance on nuclear power. Bim Afolami, chair of the Praseg renewable energy all-party parliamentary group, told the same meeting that the UK should use as much... as we can of its abundant wind resources. www.cibsejournal.com November 2022 7 CIBSE Nov 22 pp07 News.indd 7 21/10/2022 16:14