ICOM (Industrial and Commercial Energy Association) held its second Winter Conference at the beginning of December, with speakers from DECC, DCLG, Defra, CIBSE and the Association of the European Heating Industry (EHI).
ICOM chairman, Adrian Walker, opened proceedings and noted the current topicality of energy and the influence of politics, rather than policy, on energy efficiency measures. This, he asserted, creates difficulties for ICOM members, which are on-message with regard to energy efficiency but operating in an uncertain environment.

He also stressed the importance of ICOM's contribution to government policy. This view was shared by Ken Bromley from DCLG who explained that Part L of the Building Regulations relies heavily on contributions from industry and praised ICOM's input to the non-domestic Building Services Compliance Guide.

Mr Bromley gave delegates an overview of Part L 2013, introducing the new Target Fabric Energy Efficiency (TFEE) target and explaining ways in which targets can be met by 'varying the recipe'.

He also noted the Government's need to balance 'green' with 'growth', something that was described as an 'obsession' by CIBSE technical director Hywel Davies. 'The Government believes you can't have 'green' and 'growth' and there are strong lobbies influencing government decisions,' he suggested.

Mr Davies provided an engineering perspective of energy regulations, observing that political considerations are creating a difficult environment for engineers to work in. He also provided an overview of the various regulations that impact on building services design, or will in the future, suggesting that not enough is being done to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings.

This view was echoed by David Purdy of DECC, who said that energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings have the potential to reduce energy consumption in the UK by 196 TWh per annum, equivalent to the output of 22 power stations.

Mr Purdy introduced delegates to the Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme (ESOS) as a way of breaking down the barriers to energy efficiency. The scheme requires businesses to develop a better understanding of how and where they use energy with a view to identifying where improvements can be made. He emphasised that where such measurements are already being made, such as for the Carbon Reduction Commitment, they can be used in the ESOS programme too.

He also noted that in order to increase investment in energy efficiency, businesses need to look beyond a two year payback and accept longer-term returns on investment.

Fanny Rateau of the EHI explained how her organisation, of which ICOM is a member, is positioned between the European Commission and the member states. EHI's role is to lobby the Commission on regulations and directives, thereby giving ICOM a stronger voice in determining regulations in Europe.

Both Ms Rateau and Mike Rimmer of Defra explored the significance of the Ecodesign and Ecolabelling initiatives in the EU. Mr Rimmer observed that the Ecodesign Directive is designed to 'push' energy efficiency through regulation, while Ecolabelling should 'pull' from the consumer end. Both speakers noted the lack of clarity on how these Directives will be implemented for certain heating products and Ms Rateau also referred to the 'unpredictable legislative context for biomass boilers, micro-CHP and heat pumps'.

Closing the conference, Adrian Walker noted that there are opportunities for selling more efficient products, while reiterating how the underlying uncertainty of government policy makes it difficult to plan. He also emphasised the key role that ICOM plays in both influencing legislation and keeping members informed, enabling them to do the best they can with the information available.

For more information about ICOM visit www.icome.org.uk