CECWChampionsSurvivalGuideSept2009.pdf (623 KB)
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CE Collaborative Working Champions: Survival Guide
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Author Archives: martin brown
Never Waste a Good Crisis – Wolstenholme Report
Wolstenholme_Report_Oct_2009.pdf (2482 KB)
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Egan Rethinking Construction
rethinking_construction_report.pdf (105 KB)
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Maturity Assessment
CE Collaborative Working Champions: Survival Guide
Never Waste a Good Crisis – Wolstenholme Report
Egan Rethinking Construction
Waste of energy? (A Monday morning blogrant)
Are we in danger of creating a demand for waste to supply the ever growing 'waste sector'?
On Saturday evening I heard from Richard Leafe (CE of the Lake District National Park) in his excellent presentation to the Mountain Film Festival in Kendal that plans were underfoot to create energy from the humongous quantities of food waste that the hotel industry in the Lake District creates. (or rather tourists and we as paying guests create). This is an excellent initiative of course, but on a more marco level is it one to be proud of or an admission of failure to manage our resources or greed?
And on Guadian Eco news via twitter I hear of a gas company proclaiming to be the future of gas supply – from waste food.
Food waste to provide green gas for carbon-conscious consumers
Once these systems are in place they will require an ever growing supply of waste (in this case food, but all types of waste apply). And yet, just what is the balance? In respect of food we expend energy in growing, in harvesting, transporting, processing, preparing cooking and then disposal (more transport?) this must completley swamp the energy gained.
A quick serach forund an article by Tristram Stuart A load of rubbish suggests energy recover is only 0.75% of the energy needed to produce the food in the first place.
So it is with most waste recycling,and construction is no exception, and borrowing from the Cradle to Cradle philosophy, that each time we recycle we reduce the value and only delay the waste reaching landfill for a short while.
The most important issue then is to get to the heart of the matter and stop waste. And zero waste must become just that, zero, not a measure of what we don't send to landfill.
Reading: How much carbon dioxide does your building emit?
Found this IBA produced free guide a very useful primer:
How much carbon dioxide does your building emit?
The Carbon Literacy Briefing, to help architects and others answer this question.
It explains the relationship between buildings and carbon dioxide emissions, and summarises some of the existing benchmarks for building energy use and associated emissions.
Green building organisations agree common language
The world’s leading green building organisations have reached agreement to adopt a common language for the carbon footprinting of buildings.
Earlier this year, an alliance of green building councils including the US and UK Green Buildings Councils and the BRE Trust, which owns BREEAM, agreed to develop a common carbon metric.
The new common carbon metric has been recognised by the UNEP Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative and the Sustainable Building Alliance, a non-profit network of standard setting organisations, national building research centres and key property industry and construction organisations.
Green building rating tools will now pilot the new metric and it will be made available to groups and organisations promoting green and sustainable development.
“The significance of this agreement should not be underestimated,” says Tony Arnel, chair of the World Green Building Council. “The coming together of so many leading green building organisations is unprecedented.”
According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), buildings account for around 40% of the world’s energy use and a third of greenhouse gas emissions, but represent one of the most cost-effective sectors for improvement.
The EU, meanwhile, is considering introducing energy efficiency standards for all public sector buildings from 2018, according to press reports.
It is expected that the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which will be unveiled shortly, will mandate improvements to the energy efficiency of buildings starting with those in the public sector.
For further information:
www.bre.co.uk/
www.usgbc.org/
www.ukgbc.org/
www.unepsbci.org/
www.sballiance.org/
www.ipcc.ch/Related stories:
US green building sector to contribute $554 billion to economy by 2013 (13-Nov)
UK and France to develop common rating tool for buildings (24-Jun)
Big three agree to align green building ratings (4-Mar)16 November 2009
Fairsnape 