HVCA chief executive Robert Higgs has urged businesses to adapt to a radically changed marketplace in which new opportunities will look very different from those previously encountered.

HVCA members now have access to a tailor-made microgeneration certification scheme (MCS) for installers of renewable technologies.

Marc Millar was named Scottish Craft Apprentice of the Year during presentation of the HVACR Awards for Outstanding Achievement, in a ceremony held at Edinburgh Zoo.

The HVCA has appointed Blane Judd to the position of chief executive designate.

HVCA immediate past president Graham Manly presented the Wessex Training Awards during a ceremony held at the Rose Bowl, Southampton.

A report by the Specialist Engineering Contractors' (SEC) Group has revealed a widespread lack of effective health and safety risk management on-site.

London South Bank University (LSBU) has completed the construction of a £3m research and teaching facility, which was partly funded by M&E Sustainability, the joint venture between the HVCA and the Electrical Contractors' Association.

Professional apprenticeships like those developed by HVCA subsidiary Building Engineering Services Training (BEST) have received the approval of skills minister John Hayes.

Ross Fraser of national contractor N G Bailey - and the Bailey Training Academy - has been named the 2010 winner of the HVCA-sponsored SkillPIPE competition.

The past year has been one of consolidation for the Building Services Engineering Employment Agency Alliance, according to its independent chairman, Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan.

HVCA president Graham Manly has underlined the Association's enthusiastic backing for the Non Compliance Costs campaign which was launched by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) in April.

As you will probably be aware, the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was unveiled a couple of months ago. In a stroke of financial genius it has been given to technologies nobody buys. It was a simple way of giving with one hand and taking with the other, a classic Tory plan....

The recent cut to the photovoltaic (PV) solar electricity feed in tariff (FiT) is, I believe, justified. I'm sure those in the PV industry are spitting blood, but it's not the cut that is unjustified; it's the way the Government has carried it out....

If people want to believe something badly enough, they will only hear what they want to hear. This selective deafness is particularly pertinent to the current debate about global warming....

It is not always what you say or write, it's what is heard and is ultimately applied. The use of words and the way we say things or write things is very important in informing people. In the work context it has come to my attention that briefings, reports and specifications need to be accurate and convey the appropriate message....