CQI Scotland - EoS Reports
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 12 January 2010
Proposed Kincardine Biomass Power Station
Venue: Coulson Building, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
Speaker: Lee Walker, Process Engineer, Scottish Power;
Duncan Hutchison, Civil Engineer, Abrach Engineering
Subject: Proposed Kincardine Biomass Power Station
Report & Pictures here - Proposed Kincardine Biomass Power Station Report
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Thursday 12 November 2009
"World Quality Day 2009"
Venue: Adam Smith College, St Brycedale Campus, Kirkcaldy.
Speaker: Joe Doogan,Manufacturing Director, Babcock EP/CVF
Subject: "World Quallity Day"
Report & Pictures here - World Quallity Day Report
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 17 March 2009
"CPD and Chartered Status"
Venue: Dean Park Hotel, Kirkcaldy.
Speaker:Tom Candlish
Subject: "CPD and Chartered Status"
"CPD and Chartered Status" presentation
Tom Candlish has kindly provided his slides from his "CPD and Chartered Status" presentation given to the WoS and EoS branches.
"CPD and Chartered Status" presentation (pdf format - 262kB)
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 24 February 2009
Student Prize Competition 2009
Venue: Adam Smith Colledge, Glenrothes
Speakers: Sarah Taylor and Terry O’Connor
Subject: Student Prize Competition 2009
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 27 January 2009
Cardenden Eco Town
Venue: Coulson Building, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
Hosts: Joint Meeting with the Institute of Environmental
Management and Assessment, Alan Harper, Head of Environment Department
Speaker:Andrew Liddell, Senior Tech Mgr; Siobhan Samson, Community Engagement Co-ordinator from "Banks Developments".
Subject: Regeneration of former coal mining areas with eco-friendly developments
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Company background (6Mb) |
Community Engagement(4.6Mb) |
Cardenden Eco Town (1.7Mb) |
The presentation was split into three parts with Andrew commencing by giving a brief history of the firm. Harry Banks set up the firm in the early 1960's as a surface mining group. They diversified into waste management as a follow on to the mining activities. This was followed by property development and management as the firm diversified. Harry Banks still runs the group and is keenly interested in eco development and alternative energy sources with the emphasis on quality in all aspects of the business.
This has resulted in the group obtaining planning permission to build 12 wind Turbines near Durham. The waste management area is developing waste energy schemes such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plants.
They emphasise quality development with care for the environment using sustainable building materials which have high thermal efficiency and low energy demands. Where possible, they will use local energy solutions employing locally sourced materials where possible. Waste management strategies are designed so that all householders will be given home owner information packs on re-cycling etc.
Community wind turbines will be installed along with community heat and power stations which should be capable of burning household refuse, treated sewage and biomass. Where applicable on a site, they would consider geo-thermal energy, hydro and solar power.
Landscape and restoration is one of their major strengths going back to their origins in open cast coal mining where the land had to be restored to agricultural use afterwards. This skill is used on any development to ensure the quality of the local environment.
Siobhan Samson took over and outlined the group's policy towards community involvement with any project. They use leaflets, public exhibitions, liaison committees, door to door interviews and community engagement panels.
They work with local schools and colleges (tip: always use maps as pupils can identify their homes and local area) and carry out extensive community surveys. Environmental audits are always carried out before, during and after any development. They pride themselves on being transparent with any environmental and planning issues and emphasising community involvement and benefits.
For the final part, Andrew outlined their vision for "Cardenden Eco-Town". When this title was first raised, it also raised eyebrows amongst the Fifers in the audience including the writer. Cardenden was one of the centres of the former Fife coal industry with a coal washing plant and three pits in the immediate environment of the town and memories were of black industrial grimness.
However, to quote their founder Harry Banks:
"..At Banks we do care. By their very nature, our development activities can make a significant impact on the environment and on the life of local communities. We are committed to treating both with respect. At Banks we develop with flair. And - most importantly I believe - with care."
Andrew indicated that they will have key reviews with the stakeholders i.e. the local community to ensure that their views are part of the overall plan. From these, Project Strategy Development plans will be drawn up. These will be followed by a Community Strategy which has been developed with the aid of the stakeholders. The stakeholders will form a Community Engagement Panel with whom Banks will communicate throughout the project.
Their Masterplan vision is to have 5000 houses in Cardenden over 20-25 years. The house will be constructed using the WeberHaus Closed Panel system. All possible local amenities will be included in the project which will have enhanced access links using the local railway, bus and the adjacent motorway.
In conclusion, Andrew indicated that the proposed community will be an exemplar of sustainable living. They believe that Cardenden is deliverable and their aim is to create a safe, pleasant and environmentally friendly community where people want to live and raise their families. The evening ended with a lively Q&A session.
More information, including downloadable brochures, about the Cardenden Project can be found on the Banks Developments, Cardenden website - http://www.hjbanks.com/cardenden/
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 11 March 2008
The Deming Red Bead Experiment
The attendees try out the experiment
Gordon's PowerPoint presentation is available to view here - "The Red Bead Experiment"
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 12 February 2008
Student presentations prize competition
The students giving their presentations
The students receive their prizes
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Malcolm McKnight (First place)
Elaine Stevenson
Eileen Greenshields
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 9 October 2007
Roadcraft - a management system that could save your life!
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Improved driving was the theme of the latest Branch meeting held in the Perth Mercedes car showroom, courtesy of the John R. Weir Dealership
"I've never had a crash, but have seen lots of them in my rear view mirror. - If this applies to you, perhaps your driving is not as good as you think it is." So said Eric Hill, a volunteer speaker from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), who gave a presentation on improving car-driving skills.
Established in 1956, the IAM is one of the UK's leading road safety charities. Dedicated to raising driving standards and saving lives on our roads, it commissions research, provides an independent voice for responsible motoring and influences policy at all levels of Government. IAM membership requires passing a 90-minute practical driving test assessed by top grade ex- police drivers. The cost of the initial assessment, observed runs, the test and Associate's fee, valid for one year, is £85 or £75 for those aged 25 and under. (www.iam.org.uk)
Eric, a crash investigator for a large road maintenance contractor, said, " Advanced driving is not about slowing down on the road. It is about becoming better at predicting potential hazards, driving smoothly, being courteous and more controlled. An individual can be courteous wheeling a supermarket trolley, but become aggressive and rude when in charge of vehicle on busy roads".
He gave advice about town, country and motorway driving. In town, be observant- for example, if dustbins are on the pavement watch for the bin lorries and bin men, who may not use the Green-Cross Code! Eric criticised the proliferation of road signs explaining that if you are driving in the country with fields on both sides, the sign "Beware of Farm Traffic" seems superfluous, also the main hazard for a motorcyclist crashing off a moving bike is hitting a road sign. Members were advised that when entering a motorway from the slip road to match their speed with Lane1 traffic. Driving at about 60mph gives flexibility, to slow for a heavy goods vehicle or increase for faster 70mph traffic. Be courteous, but not too courteous; do not stop in motorway Lane 1 to let a slow vehicle out! 30mph limits must be obeyed - do not drift past the sign at 35mph and make sure you know the difference between 'Stop' and 'Give Way' signs.
After his presentation, Eric introduced other IAM volunteers who accompanied members on a half-hour drive. Comment and advice was given to the suitably nervous drivers and members were reminded that the latest edition of the Highway Code was published in September. On return to the showroom there was feedback and a question and answer session which emphasised the message that quality in driving will save lives.
The Branch thanked Eric for his presentation, the other IAM volunteers for their contribution and the John R.Weir Mercedes Dealership for their generous hospitality at this very successful event.
East of Scotland Branch Meeting - Tuesday 11 September 2007
Carbon footprints (CF)
Kings buildings, Edinburgh University
Hosts: Joint Meeting with the Institute of Environmental
Management and Assessment.
Speaker: Howard Metcalfe, MD, NIFES Consulting Group
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NIFES was set up during WW2 as a government organization to improve the efficiency of non-domestic clients by reducing waste. They were the first government body to be privatised in 1953. Howard has been practising Energy consultancy for 25 years.
He started by asking the question - is carbon footprinting run by conscience or commerce? CF can be split into four parts:
- What is it?
- Why do it?
- How to do it?
- What next?
1. What is it? - He indicated that the current greenhouse gas emissions are measured in tonnes of carbon (or CO2). Other greenhouse gases are methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO). The sources of these are the outputs of industry, transport, buildings and agriculture and are expressed in tonnes of carbon equivalent. The global warming potential of these over 20 years is:
CO2 - 1
CH4 - 62 times CO2
NO - 275 times CO2
The main source of these gases is our complete supply chain. He gave an example of one of their clients who is familiar to everybody - Walker's Crisps. Their carbon footprint can be broken down into: agriculture - 44%; processing 30%; packaging - 15%; distribution - 9% and disposal of empty packets - 2%.
2. Why do it? - There is increasing pressure on organizations to quantify responsibility. What are our carbon emissions? Where are these emissions in our supply chain? Organizations will have to identify their business risk because, if their carbon footprint can be measured, there is a strong possibility that there may be a future tax regime to cover it!
Carbon emissions can become another performance measure. They can be benchmarked against competitors and used as a marketing tool.
3. How to do it? - There is no defined method yet of calculating a carbon footprint. One method employed by NIFES can be illustrated by considering a school. The first component of the carbon footprint concerns the direct emissions from the school and buildings. The second component concerns the transport emissions from commuting pupils and teachers. The third component concerns the embodied emissions of the goods and services consumed in schools.
A new British standard is being developed jointly between the Carbon Trust (CT) and BSI Systems. This standard will provide, " a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for the measurement of the embodied greenhouse gases (GHGs) in products and services" and a pilot project is underway to devise and develop the carbon footprinting methodology.
A proposed methodology is:
Step 1 - Analysis of the internal product data
Step 2 - Build a supply chain process map
Step 3 - Define the boundary conditions and identify data requirements
Step 4 - Collect the primary and secondary data
Step 5 - Calculate GHG emissions by supply chain process steps
Much data has already been calculated e.g. aluminium used in construction has a value for Embodied Energy of 154.30 MJ/Kg and for Embodied Carbon of 11.9 kg CO2/kg. Using the tables, the carbon footprint of an organization can be calculated. One utility area that needs serious consideration is that of water treatment (sewage and drainage) which is twice that of water supply.
4. What next? - Howard next discussed the need for a "Power Hierarchy"
Combined heat and Power Plants (CHP), supply energy efficiently Be Clean
Use Renewable Energy Be Green
Energy Efficiency Be Lean
There then followed a series of slides which outlined the advantages, disadvantages and payback periods of various energy sources: photovoltaic, Bio-energy, pellets and chips, micro wind generators, ground source heat pumps, CHP (details can be found in the references at the end of the article). "Offsetting" has now become a factor in purchasing decisions. Even the purchase of an easyJet airline ticket offers the option of paying £0.89 to balance 68kg of CO2 per passenger on an Edinburgh to London Gatwick flight.
Howard wound up by saying that, currently, carbon footprinting is driven 85% by conscience and only 15% commercially.
There then followed a very lively Q & A session which greatly enhanced the learning experience for those present.
References:
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html
http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/index.html
http://www.carbon-label.co.uk/
http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Global_Warming/Older/GWPs.html