37 minute read
Ebenezer Church
Almost 30 years after the last service was held at Ebenezer Church, the former Methodist church is finally getting a new lease of life. Work is underway to restore the dilapidated building and create 17 new apartments on the site.
When Ebenezer Church closed its doors to its congregation in 1993, nobody thought that it would take almost three decades to find another use for the building. Architect Andy Merrett of Lovell Ozanne has been involved with the site for many years, but it took him working on another project to realise how it could move forward: “I have worked with several clients on Ebenezer Church and although we have had various approvals for developments nothing quite worked. However, when I was commissioned to work on the development of Grange Mews, the former Ford site, we identified as part of the planning process that joining the Ebenezer site and the Ford site with one-way road access would bring benefits to both.”
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It’s that project which is now underway. Building work started on the site last summer to create 17 apartments in the old church building and a newly built extension to its rear.
The church itself was listed in 1994 so there will be little change made to the appearance of the original building. However, the old 1930s hall at the back of the church has been demolished and will be replaced with a three-storey extension to the rear of the main building. Architecturally, it’s a balancing act between protecting the historical interest while ensuring it is functional for its new residents.
For Andy, the juxtaposition between old and new was key to the design: “The old building has informed the design for the new, but it is important that we ensure the new building clearly looks like a modern addition. We certainly wouldn’t want to try to copy the old building as that never works well from an architectural perspective. However, the new addition does pick up some of the detailing of the old while the use of stone will also tie it back in to the church structure. Importantly, the proportions will really tie it together and ensure it looks as one while having a clear distinction between old and new.”
Architect Julian Hurley is working with Andy on the project. He has had experience with similar schemes in the UK so has brought that knowledge to the Ebenezer development. For him, it’s important to respect the existing building while ensuring it is fit for modern usage: “It’s certainly a very interesting project to work on. When you see the way it was constructed, using traditional methods, you really appreciate the work that went into it. We have to be very cautious that our interventions don’t destroy what is there and there are quite a few technical challenges associated with that.
“The very large original windows, for example, need to be retained so we have to work around those while mitigating heat loss and preventing moisture from entering the property. We are also having to divide the building up around features such as the cast iron pillars that support the roof trusses from the ground. Our client, however, is keen that the residents of the building are able to appreciate the historic features of the former church and so we intend to draw attention to those aspects as far as possible.”
Work started on the site last August and did face some Covid-related delays last year. However, with the project now progressing well, it is expected to complete early next year.
Building a sustainable future
Caroline Gumble, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), considers the importance of sustainability for the industry.
This year is off to a more promising start than 2021, at least in terms of being able to meet face-to-face again. One of the headline face-toface events being hosted by CIOB in the Channel Islands will take place in June, with Professor AbuBakr Bahaj of the University of Southampton leading a workshop on “People, Cities and Sustainability.” The aim of the event is to provide an understanding of what sustainability really means in the context of the built environment and what actions are needed to drive it forward.
It is fitting and timely as a topic for a CIOB event, not least because we are now in a post-COP 26 world, where commitments to net zero are being turned into plans of action. Sustainability is a huge issue for the built environment, a current issue and one which will feature as a priority issue – up there with health and safety and quality – for years to come. It will be at the heart of CIOB’s next corporate plan and is already something which informs much of our work.
For several years, we have worked across the industry to help make the case for greener construction policies and practices; I believe collaboration across the sector is the most impactful way to make a meaningful contribution to our industry and society. CIOB is a member of the Construction Industry Council’s Climate Change Committee, which is coordinating the efforts of sector professional institutes to meet the emissions target set out in the Climate Change Act 2008. CIOB has also supported the RICS Carbon Database Steering Group, set up to oversee work to develop a database for use by all built environment professional institutes. We are also part of the Construction Leadership Council’s Domestic RMI (repair, maintenance and improvement) working group, which is developing recommendations for a national retrofit strategy.
We are also likely to have something on sustainability up our sleeves for our awards event later this year…
CIOB Awards
You may remember the theme of my last column in this magazine – I talked about celebrating the industry and the achievements of those working in it, acknowledging that the last two years have seen us all face some of the most challenging circumstances. Of course, I was also delighted to report that the Channel Islands had particular reason to celebrate, with congratulations to Jersey-based Marc Burton MBE FCIOB of the Garenne Group, who took home our 2021 Construction Manager of the Year trophy.
It’s that time again. The CIOB Awards, including the long-established Construction Manager of the Year (CMYA), are open once again and CIOB would like your nominations. Entries are free and open to members and non-members. Nominations for the CMYA category will close soon and the other categories will be closing later in the Spring. Can the Channel Islands claim one of the trophies this year? Have a look at ciob. awards.org for more information – and look out for a couple of new award categories we’ll be launching for 2022.
CIOB in the Channel Islands
As ever, if you would like to find out more about events being organised by our South UK Hub, do feel free join our LinkedIn group “CIOB in South UK” or check out the events section of the CIOB website.
The price of things to come
John Bampkin, chair of the Guernsey Construction Forum and chief executive of the Norman Piette Group, considers the cost of Covid.
So the terms ‘lockdown’ and ‘isolation’ are now hopefully behind us for a while as we look forward to spring and summer in the Channel Islands as 2022 moves along apace.
It’s fascinating to live in an age where, due to the power of social media and the internet, everyone is an expert on just about everything. The ability to access virtually every known fact known to man from a handheld device was unfathomable only 20 years ago, yet that is the reality of technology today. It is such an indescribable shame then that most of the world’s population use it to update strangers about their pets and eating habits!
That same technology and weight of opinion and the lightning spread of knowledge is like a tidal wave that affects us all in so many ways. It actually drives our culture, which in terms drives our beliefs and our behaviours. This can be seen in what we describe as ‘panic-buying’ which can be the result of just one falsely placed rumour … a very scary thought.
So how does all of this apply to the property and construction industry in Guernsey?
Well, massively actually …
Look at the supermarkets and how quickly they were stripped bare of certain products within days of the pandemic arriving on these shores. I can also give numerous examples of construction products that became like gold dust to contractors overnight when there was only the slightest hint of a supply problem. This only exasperated the perceived problem which then became a real problem and a runaway train that was irreversible.
The combination of real-life logistics, factory shutdowns and a social media rumour mill resulted in the most difficult year in my 40-year career in the supply of building materials to the trade and public alike. The upshot of all this was, unsurprisingly, rising prices. The price rises were at an extent and at a pace such as I had never seen before. At Norman Piette I had to employ extra staff just to make sure that we were able to source our everyday products that in a normal world just turn up thanks to the power of computers. I also had to employ dedicated people simply to keep abreast of the almost daily changing prices for goods that usually only increase once or maybe twice a year. This was a huge task when you bear in mind that we stock 20,000 product lines at Bulwer Avenue alone.
That was all driven by the number one force of economics – supply and demand.
So, what about 2022?
Well, I’m pleased to say that supply has mostly caught up with demand which means that the price increases are generally much lower than those in 2021, although they are still there. On top of material increases a shortage of housing and skilled labour will keep construction rates high for the foreseeable future. We have inflation at levels not seen in a generation and this will only put more pressure on the economic recovery that is needed post-Covid.
I believe we will see a re-balancing of inflation, wages, tax levels and ultimately people’s discretionary spend. This will probably happen over the next two to three years and it’s something we will have to adjust to. So, my advice is to think carefully where you place your bets for the foreseeable future. The only thing I am certain of is that investment and improvements in property and infrastructure very rarely fail and always provide a payback either fiscally or socially. Regardless of what happens around the world property always pays us back!
This viewpoint was written just before the invasion of Ukraine and it shows how quickly the world moves these days. Although I refer to supply issues settling down they will obviously now be further impacted by rising fuel and energy prices across the globe. We will have to see the extent of these increases and what it means to the cost and supply of construction materials and everything else we consume.
Asbestos and legionella
Andrew Mills, chair of the Guernsey Occupational Safety & Health Association, discusses the risks around two well-known dangers.
The topics of this article may not initially inspire many people but they should certainly make everyone take note.
Asbestos is Guernsey’s biggest workplace killer and legionella is not only present in all our tap water but it is also responsible for causing harm to people in our island.
Asbestos is a great fire protective substance, but it can also create huge health issues if it is disturbed. If you are diagnosed with asbestosis or mesothelioma then you have months to live and a distressing death ahead, not only for the sufferer but also for those relatives and friends who care so much for you.
Asbestos often takes many years to overwhelm your body (eight to 40 years is the period often suggested) and the problems begin when you breathe in fibres. They are so small that you don’t see them and a standard vacuum cleaner only puts fibres into the atmosphere – they are too small to be caught by normal filters, which make them even more dangerous to human life. And they are present in most Guernsey buildings, built and altered before it was banned in 1999.
There is an Asbestos Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) in Guernsey and if you own, occupy or manage buildings, maintain, construct or demolish them, you need to know about it and respect its provisions – it is there to protect you, those who may be affected by your work, current and future building users – in fact, everyone in Guernsey. Visit www.gov.gg/ asbestos for more information.
There is also a Legionella ACoP. It also provides good guidance on what needs to be done to protect us all in Guernsey. As is explained on www.gov.gg/legionella : “droplets released by water systems such as cooling towers, showers, taps, Jacuzzi and whirlpool spas can be inhaled and cause serious pneumonia-like illness following exposure. Specific controls are required in Guernsey.”
The requirements of the legionella ACoP are:
• Survey, identify and assess the sources of legionella;
• Prepare a scheme (or course of action) for preventing orcontrolling the risk;
• Implement and manage the scheme - appointing a competentperson to be managerially responsible, sometimes referred toat the ‘Responsible Person’;
• To provide training for persons with delegated responsibilities;
• Implement a system for sampling to ascertain biological activityand biocide concentration and keep records of the results; and
• Monitor and keep records of water temperature in various partsof the system.
These are good principles to follow for any activity which requires management, of course.
The consequences of not following good practices are severe in Guernsey. Not only can you suffer significant fines and disruption to your business, your reputation for doing things well, efficiently and effectively can be ruined – and the financial consequences of a damaged reputation can be significant.
So, I hope you haven’t passed over this short article. Doing things properly, makes yours a better business. Caring for employees and others are good things to do; if you are not convinced, speak to people who haven’t been proactive and haven’t been cautious or caring in the past and have been caught out.
Failure to implement good health and safety practices, enshrined in our laws, has serious consequences. Be one of those who protects people and does things well. Take legionella and asbestos seriously.
As I have stated in the past: a serious workplace accident or illness can put you out of business and it can wreck lives.
Diversity in projects
Scott Crittell, a Chartered Fellow of the Association for Project Management, shares his thoughts on the importance of diversity in project teams.
I should start by acknowledging that this is both an important and emotive subject. Also, that as a white male, many may justifiably say I have no real understanding of it. In any case, I have decided to try and add some thoughts relating to diversity as it may intersect with projects.
Diversity is a multi-layered subject and has many challenges that surround it, but as the key themes of the Chartered Body for Project Management (APM) in 2022 are sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and leadership, it seemed timely to include some personal thinking.
I have worked with many project teams across my career, and I have always found that the wider and more diverse the team, the more diverse the input that is available to the project lead. In short, the more diverse the team mix, the more ways of looking at risks or issues that are a normal part of a project lifecycle, consequently the more solutions that will be presented to overcome difficulties and ensure a successful outcome.
As such, project leads are now understanding that a diverse team make-up should relate to a greater degree of project success and happier project stakeholders.
Similarly, if a company board includes a range of ages, this in turn enables it to benefit from a variety of experiences and different generational views which provide differing ways of looking at strategies or business goals. Thereby resulting in projects that may vary in their aims to past normality.
The APM is keen to encourage diversity in many ways such as the Women in Project Management Conference. Presently, the female membership is 27% of the almost 38,000 members and that percentage will hopefully increase year on year. Project management has one advantage as a diverse friendly career as it’s only just starting to be acknowledged in its own space and so it carries fewer outdated preconceptions with it. Project management is both the oldest and newest profession!
Education is often a route to solving problems and in project management terms this may also be true. The APM works interactively with many universities and offers free membership to all student members, aged over 16. This helps the future working generation to use its educational accomplishments, including in project management studies, to fuel a better career path in the profession. A profession that may enable them to take roles across industries and the globe, thereby resulting in the encouragement of more diversification.
The ability to now qualify as a Chartered Project Manager has already been a springboard for those working in projects across continents. The list of countries around the world where Charter qualified staff are now found is a lengthening list and should in turn encourage others in those locations to look at project management as a worthwhile career. This will add greater diversification to the background of those working in project management and some may then use this qualification passport to enhance their career and move to take positions in new countries. As such, more diversity will be achieved in the profession and across countries.
The APM has also recently published the 3rd edition of its Competency Framework, which now includes a specific Competency entitled “Diversity and Inclusion”, which seeks to inform all members as to the value of difference and the enabling factors of creating a positive working environment to foster a fair workplace for all staff.
It is by embracing diversity and inclusion in all its forms that will lead to collaborative working environments which will help to foster successful future outcomes for business projects.
Maintaining safety
Mark Baudains of the BTS Storage Centre provides an overview of the increased regulation and best practice required to maintain your storage and racking equipment.
Across all sectors Health & Safety standards are evolving and improving every day. They are interwoven into the fabric of any activity being undertaken in the workplace.
It raises the question then, as to why all businesses operating within high-risk warehouse environments such as storage, wholesale and distribution, don’t treat their storage equipment in the same way?
In 2020/21 HSE reported 25% of fatalities were caused by something collapsing or overturning, including objects flying or falling within the transportation & storage sectors, and in almost every warehouse facility you will find some form of shelving, racking or other storage equipment.
A common misconception is that you do not need to inspect, maintain, and repair this type of equipment. However, as storage equipment falls under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) there is a legal obligation placed upon businesses, property owners, agents and directors to ensure that they are.
It is also recommended that they be maintained and repaired by companies providing competent, trained technicians, ideally accredited by The Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA). SEMA is the UK-wide industry partner and point of reference on storage safety for theHealth and Safety Executive(HSE), local authorities and The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). They run a programme of installation training under SEIRS (Storage Equipment Installers Registration Scheme).
To find out more, the best place to start with is the HSE guide - HSG76 Warehousing and Storage: A Guide to Health and Safety. This offers some great advice and is a must read for anyone responsible for, or working in and around, storage equipment. It can be found online at www.hse.gov.uk Key provisions that all companies should have in place include:
1. Appoint and educate an in-house Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS)
2. Ensure those using the equipment understand the limitations and safe working practices
3. Undertake and record regular in house checks
4.Appoint a SEMA Approved Company to manage your storage equipment maintenance programme
5. NEVER move or adjust any storage equipment yourself
This will be news to some, but the increased awareness and regulation of this type of equipment boils down to the world we live in. Higher volumes of products and materials are being stored and distributed around the world, which has in turn increased accidents, highlighted bad practices, and increased the overall potential risk.
This may all seem like a lot of extra work or a little daunting but it really isn’t. There are businesses locally that can help and by following Health & Safety guidance you will not only maintain the highest safety standards for your staff and customers, but you’ll also find that it has helped to protect your assets whilst improving the efficiency of your working practices at the same time, well worth the investment.
For further information or to find your nearest SEMA Approved Company please visit the SEMA website www.sema.org.uk
Mitchell (Mitch) Sneddon 1971 - 2021
The Guernsey Society of Architects pays tribute to its former president, Mitch Sneddon, following his death at the end of 2021.
Our dear friend and colleague, Mitchell (Mitch) Sneddon, passed away suddenly at home on 5 December 2021, aged 50. Mitch was married to Tammy, with whom he had two children, Zoe and Finlay.
Developing a passion for architecture and building at an early age, Mitch followed his childhood dream and graduated with Honours with a BA (Architecture) from Canterbury School of Architecture, worked with Faith Architects for one year, then received his Diploma in Architecture (also from Canterbury) and joined Clyde Design Partnership in Glasgow, where he passed his Part 3 exams and finally achieved his goal of becoming an architect.
Mitch stayed at Clyde Design for seven years before moving to Thomas Robinson Architects in 2002, then to Guernsey, Tammy’s home, in 2003.
Mitch became a director of Dunnell Robertson Partnership in 2015, where he continued to manage the architectural team until his death.
During a career cut tragically short, Mitch worked on a wide variety of projects that included social housing, private residential, commercial offices and historic buildings. Mitch was never happier than when given a problem to solve, and loved the challenge of finding practical, buildable solutions to complex details. Since his arrival in Guernsey in 2003, Mitch was a stalwart member of the Guernsey Society of Architects, taking on the role of secretary to numerous presidents before being voted by members into the presidential seat in December 2018. Mitch’s energy and dedication to the Society will be sorely missed, as will his constant friendship.
Mitch also volunteered in the community with the Rocquaine Regatta and the Beaver Scouts, and was instrumental with others in local industry in both setting up and organising the bi-annual Guernsey Design Awards.
A celebration of Mitch’s life was held on 14 January 2022 and was well attended by many in the local construction community in addition to a wide range of family and friends, a testament to the respect and kindness our community felt for him.
Those wishing to contact the Guernsey Society of Architects should direct correspondence to the treasurer, Oliver Brock, atollybrock@hotmail.co.uk, in the first instance.
Superior force or developer’s remorse?
Jonathan Anderson
Counsel, Ogier
With seemingly ever-increasing costs of goods and materials, contractors and developers alike continue to feel the squeeze. Pressure on costs can only be compounded by difficulties in securing delivery of goods and materials within a reasonable timeframe and indeed on time. Against a wider context of a challenging macro-economic environment, not to mention pandemic related pressures, meeting pre-agreed development milestones is a growing challenge. But where does this leave contractors and developers who have committed to delivering a particular project on time?
Force majeure and extension of time
Contractual provisions for justifiable delay or “force majeure” (French for “superior force”) have long been a feature of the construction industry. They are typically agreed on relatively standard terms with those parties responsible for the timely delivery of a new development project. Such provisions represent crucial contractual protections for contractors and developers where circumstances arise that are out of their control to delay completion of the project, and where such issues could not have been reasonably foreseen. Where justifiable delay, or force majeure, can be established in accordance with the provisions of the contract the party with the obligation to deliver the project on time may be entitled to an award of what is referred to as an “extension of time”.
An award of an extension of time will award the responsible party time to postpone the date of completion of the project. The time awarded is commensurate with the delay that has been suffered by the relevant justifiable delay or force majeure event.
JCT contracts
Construction agreements in the Channel Islands are typically based on one of the “JCT” suite of standard-form contracts. These are intended as standard form contracts designed to reflect industry standards and best practice in the UK. To enable these contracts to be construed and enforced under Guernsey or Jersey law (as the case may be) they are typically amended to ensure they comply with local law.
By design, these contracts impose on the parties a set of obligations that have become accepted over time. While parties may have been comfortable in adopting the use of the standard JCT provisions in the past, the suite of JCT contracts are not updated all that regularly so depending on the particular project, it may no longer be prudent to simply rely on those provisions in light of the increasing pressures referred to above.
Provisions that may require particular attention include those that relate to extension of time and delays caused by a ‘relevant event’. A relevant event is an event, on or off site, that causes a delay to the completion date of the project. It might include something that takes place in the design and manufacture process to delay things, or an event that impacts the site that prolongs completion of the project. Given the pressures highlighted above, it has become more important for parties to pay particular attention to terms around what constitutes a relevant event, justifiable delay or force majeure and there is the potential to expand the definition so that it captures additional matters that may not have been anticipated when the standard-form contract was prepared.
What could or could not have been reasonably foreseen requires an element of subjective assessment, so how do those with obligations to deliver a project on time ensure that they have protected themselves from exposure to delay damages? The principal way to achieve this is to ensure that the contract is clear, precise and unambiguous when it comes to defining what constitutes a justifiable delay, force majeure, or “relevant event”.
Where a developer employs a contractor to complete various development works it is important to ensure that what may constitute a justifiable delay under the construction contract is replicated in any agreements made by developers with onward purchasers of new units within any such development. Without these obligations “flowing through” the developer could be exposed to delay damages for late delivery of the unit to the purchaser but not have a “back to back” entitlement to delay damages from the contractor under the building contract.
We regularly advise contractors and developers on matters pertaining to local development projects and are more than happy to provide advice to ensure that contracts are fit for purpose in the current challenging environment.
Jonathan is counsel within Ogier’s Local Legal Services team. Jonathan advises on all aspects of commercial and residential property, to include conveyancing, leasing, development and property finance.
Jonathan Anderson
Counsel, Ogier T +44 1534 514162 E jonathan.anderson@ogier.com
TECHNOLOGY
For an industry as old as time, construction is often at the forefront of advances in technology. From virtual reality to harnessing renewable energy, find out how technology can benefit everyone.
THE FUTURE OF CONSTRUCTION
With technology taking over more of our lives in every area, it’s no surprise that it’s doing the same in the construction industry. Across the world, researchers and developers are coming up with a myriad of new ways to make the industry safer and more efficient. While we might not see all of these developments in Guernsey any time soon, this is the potential future of construction.
Virtual & Augmented Reality
Virtual reality (VR) has potential benefits for the construction industry in a number of ways, including training, safety, structure walkthroughs and plan reviews. It is already commonly used by architects to give clients an accurate representation of how their plans will become reality.
However, VR can also be a real help when it comes to training and safety. Workers can experience what they can expect in the field within a controlled environment where they are kept safe as they learn. It can also help experienced equipment operators on site run through simulations which would be too dangerous to attempt to replicate in reality, such as natural disasters.
Wearable Tech
From smart hard hats to boots, there are lots of ways wearable tech can be useful on construction sites. Common items such as hard hats, gloves, safety vests and boots are having wearable tech embedded into them.
The tech can vary from biometric sensors to track an individual’s heart rate, body temperature and vital signs to GPS and location trackers. Sensors can also monitor workers’ movements, repetitive motions, posture and slips and falls.
With health and safety always a hot issue in construction, wearable tech offers managers an effective way of monitoring their workers and ensuring they stay safe on site.
Exoskeletons
They might appear like something out of a sci fi film, but exoskeletons have a genuine part to play in the future of construction. Wearable devices that work in tandem with the user, they allow site workers to achieve more than they could unaided.
The technology helps reduce injury by minimising the stress and strain on the user’s body. Additionally, research shows users become more productive as they tire less when using the technology.
Artificial Intelligence
The potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to benefit construction is almost limitless. It can speed up planning and make entire operations faster and more efficient by using data to predict outcomes and improve productivity.
AI is already being used to monitor workers and identify safety hazards or missing PPE, and to alert them before an accident occurs. Elsewhere, project planning and scheduling is a real focus of those developing AI in the industry – as it enables a project to be simulated millions of times in just minutes. With that information it can then suggest the ideal schedule to maximise efficiency and productivity.
Bim Software 3D Printing
With the uses of 3D printing seemingly never-ending, it’s unsurprising that it’s playing a part in construction as well. The latest breakthrough is 3D printed houses, which can now be printed more quickly and cheaply than the traditional method.
The first 3D printed home sold for less than $10,000 in the USA, and work is underway to develop this sector of the industry even further.
Building information modelling (BIM) combines AR and Internet of Things technologies to generate a smart option for management and workflow planning tools. It incorporates digital representations of the physical and functional aspects of a building to lead to better collaboration.
Construction managers can use it to generate intelligent 3D models of their projects as well as the associated workflows. As well as its planning capabilities, BIM helps with cost estimates as it can generate exact quantities of all building materials and components needed on a project.
Lidar Technology
Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure the exact distance of an object on the earth’s surface. In construction, a sensor can be mounted on site equipment to give workers the ability the scan the surrounding worksite and produce high-resolution 3D images. Performing site work like this from a distance reduces health and safety risks and injuries to other workers.
Robots
Despite using intensive manual labour as a primary source of productivity, construction has seen little use of robots up until now. The main issue has been the fact robots need a controlled environment and repetitive tasks, while a construction site is frequently changing.
As construction sites become smarter, there is more potential for robots to be used. Areas such as bricklaying and masonry are seeing advances in the ways robots can be used to increase the speed and quality of the work. There are also examples of demolition robots being used to demolish structural components at the end of a project. Two types of robots are being developed. One is humanoid labourer robots, which are capable of performing basic physical tasks such as installing drywall independently. Robot swarms, on the other hand, consist of hundreds of small individual robots that work in tandem with each other to perform regular mundane site tasks such as laying bricks. There is the potential for swarms like this to make the industry much safer, as they can easily access hard-to-reach dangerous areas.
Drones
Drones can be used for site safety as they can monitor sites. Their cameras can give construction managers a quick view of a site without being physically present, and they can help identify any danger areas.
Drones can also be used to deliver materials to sites, reducing the number of vehicles required.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENERGY
With rising energy prices hitting the headlines and cost of living increases expected across the board, now may be the time for some people to look at more renewable sources of energy.
A number of local companies offer the opportunity for domestic homeowners to produce some of their own energy, and the panels are becoming a more common sight on roofs around the island.
While ‘solar panels’ is often used as a generic term to describe the systems, there are in fact two distinct types of solar panels, which serve very different functions.
Solar thermal panels produce heat, while solar photovoltaic (PV) panels produce electricity.
Domestic solar panels are generally installed on roofs, since that usually provides the ideal space to capture and absorb as much sun as possible, and they can link directly in to the home.
Very recognisable, solar PV panels are rectangular sheets which appear similar to black glass. They are made from two layers of a semi-conducting material and silicone and they produce an electric field when exposed to sunlight.
When the voltage of electricity is created, the direct current (DC) travels to an inverter, which transforms it to AC (alternating current), which is then diverted to your fuse box and on to appliances around the house. Generally, if it is not needed at the time, it is re-routed back to the grid, although some homeowners use battery storage to retain and call upon the energy when required.
Solar PV panels can provide homes with up to 60% clean renewable energy and can last for decades. However, they are an expensive initial outlay which will take time to recoup your investment.
Solar thermal panels are installed with the sole purpose of providing hot water. The panels are comprised of tubes filled with a combination of glycol and antifreeze. Once they have absorbed the heat of the sun, the hot liquid is transported to a copper coil which in turns warms the hot water tank or cylinder, ready for use.
Solar thermal energy storage is kept as efficient as possible via the use of a pump which moves the liquid through the system in order to prevent the liquid from cooling down the water in the tank on cold days.
A key advantage of solar thermal panels is their simple design, which means low maintenance and repair costs. Solar thermal heating panels don’t take up as much space as PV panels as they are generally more efficient, while a solar thermal hot water system is very efficient. Crucially, it’s very easy to store the generated energy because any domestic thermal system will have a water tank to store the heat.
Many households therefore look to install a mixture of solar thermal panels and PV panels to maximise their ability to produce green energy.
Island Energy
To date, Guernsey Electricity has put its focus on installing large scale solar arrays rather than subsidising domestic projects, as it believes that is how every islander can use and benefit from locally generated renewable energy. Its recent projects mean that solar panels feed more than 350kW of renewable energy into the grid.
Amongst its installations are 309 roof mounted solar panels at Electricity House, Northside and 654 panels on the roof of the Guernsey Post Headquarters. One of the largest solar photovoltaic systems in the Channel Islands, the Envoy House panels produce more than 200,000kWh each year. Elsewhere, there are panels on the roof of Guernsey Waste buildings at Longue Hougue and the KGV sports centre – and Guernsey Electricity says it is always looking for suitable projects to partner with to increase the on-island generation even further. Its goal is to reach a total installed capacity of up to 20MW by 2050.
The Other Options
While solar and PV panels are the obvious choice for homes and businesses, the island could look to expand its options further on a macro level. A number of renewable options are on the table – using our unique location to harness the natural energy of the waves and wind. However, while these are exciting options for the future, most are at an early stage of development and Guernsey is not expecting to utilise or benefit from them for a number of years.
Tidal current devices: these extract energy from the flow of water, and often take the form of propellers or oscillating vanes fixed to a structure that is mounted on the seabed.
Wave energy devices: these take energy from waves. There are a number of types of device including buoy-type point absorber devices and near-shore or shallow water devices.
Offshore wind: Guernsey has a significant wind energy resource and although areas of suitably shallow water off the west coast are limited, there is sufficient area for small scale development. While there is mature technology for monopole turbines, the technology for floating turbines is also being developed, which could potentially be deployed off the island’s west coast.
GET SMART
As the Internet of Things becomes ever more widespread, there are more and more ways to use technology in your home. From those that make your life easier, to those that benefit the environment, here’s our round-up of the best home tech.
SMART LIGHT BULBS
A smart bulb is an internet-capable LED light bulb that allows lighting to be customised, scheduled and controlled remotely. You control them wirelessly via a remote, or even an app on your phone, from wherever you are in the house. You can even set up different combinations of lights that differ based on the time of day.
While an initial investment is necessary as the bulbs are more expensive than the traditional type, they are more energy efficient and last around 10 years on average.
SHOWER METERS
If you’re looking to save on your water consumption as well as your energy costs, a shower smart meter could be the answer.
The meter attaches to your current domestic shower and gives you a real-time reading of the amount of water and energy you are using, with an energy rating for the shower. They are often programmable with your own goals for water and energy usage.
SMART THERMOSTATS
With energy bills on the rise, many people are looking to cut back on their usage, and a smart thermostat can be a great way to do it. You can control your home’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning via your laptop or smartphone from wherever you are.
The newer generation of smart thermostats also learn from your routine and activities to adjust their settings accordingly and make your home even more efficient – even sensing when the family has left the house.
SMART PLUGS
A smart plug is a switch that you plug into a power socket, which you then plug another device into. Once the device is attached to the smart plug you can control it via an app on your smartphone or tablet or with voice controls through your home assistant.
It’s an easy way to automate your house, especially for simple devices such as lamps, kettles or even to reset your router without getting up off the sofa. The smart plug means you can turn the device on and off remotely, put it on a schedule or even monitor its energy usage.
VIDEO DOORBELLS
Long-gone are the days of not knowing who is at the door until you answer it. Now any home can benefit from a video doorbell with the new generation of smart doorbells. You can be notified via your smartphone or tablet when anyone arrives at the door.
Depending on your preference, smart doorbells can be activated by the visitor pressing the doorbell or simply by in-built motion sensors. You can then use your app to watch and talk with the visitor using the in-built camera and microphone. Some smart doorbells also allow the user to open the door remotely using a smart lock.
