'Legislation is demanding that we reduce demand or pay up,' said the HVCA's new president Graham Manly who is urging the building services sector to step up and help clients cut their carbon emissions by getting to grips with renewable technologies.
Graham Manly stressed contractors must become skilled in the design, installation and maintainance of renewable technologies and all legislation linked to it to give clients the right advice.

“If we do not do this, not only will inappropriate systems be installed, but others will come along and take our business away from us,' Manly warned at the HVCA's AGM last week.

The government's Carbon Reduction Commitments scheme is a mandatory carbon trading scheme for large commercial and public sector organisations which is scheduled to be introduced in April 2010.

The president said: 'It will not be very long before the Carbon Reduction Commitment is extended to all significant businesses and our clients will expect us to be able to help them reduce their carbon footprint. We must ensure that we are up to the task'.

Last year, France and Germany together installed 35 times as many heat pumps and 23 times as many solar panels as the UK. The president added: “It will not be long before replacing, on a like-for-like basis, the two million gas boilers we currently install every year will not be an option'.