This is the future – and it’s airtight. Leo Hickman visits Ireland’s revolutionary eco-home. It’s all so simple it makes you want to round up all the ministers currently talking so enthusiastically of building carbon neutral “eco-towns” and guide …
My google alert for eco-towns has being spewing forth over the last couple of days, collectively painting a picture of the current reactions to eco-towns across the country. First up is Wayne’s piece from Building:
Wayne Hemingway on eco-towns: Ready to rumble
The shortlist for England’s 10 eco-towns is out but now the real contest begins. With the winners due to be announced by the end of the year we brought eco-town supporter Wayne Hemingway and eco-town protester Myles Pollock together to …
FORD ECO-TOWN: Campaigners say no to government ‘eco-madness’
Bognor Today – Chichester,England,UK
“Yet they want to start building eco-towns by 2010/11, which is going to mean five or six years of substantial construction traffic and the first households …
Blow for eco town plans
Norwich Evening News – Norwich,England,UK
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has signalled how he wants 10 new eco towns built around the country and a proposal for the Coltishall site is the only one in …
Outcry over Selby eco-towns shortlist
Yorkshire Post – Leeds,England,UK
Last month the Government announced the sites around the UK where eco-towns are likely to be built. They left the last slot on the shortlist open, …
Ready to rumble
By Emily Wright The shortlist for England’s 10 eco-towns is out but now the real contest begins. With the winners due to be announced by the end of the year …
Policies set for conflict
PlanningResource (subscription) – London,England,UK
Ministerial proposals for handling eco-towns will only add to the massive difficulties councils already face in operating the plan-led system, …
The Eco-town debate
BirminghamMail.net – Birmingham,UK
CHRONIC housing shortages coupled with government targets to become ‘greener’ have given rise to the idea of eco-towns. These new settlements will be the …
Eco-town shortlist all local
Selby Times – UK
We don’t need these so-called eco-towns, which are anything but eco-friendly. “Housing shouldn’t be built just to meet the Prime Minister’s targets. …
FORD ECO-TOWN: Eight to lead in-depth inquiry into Ford project
Shoreham Today – Worthing,England,UK
This is in contrast to the government’s private decision-making which led to Ford being chosen as one of 15 possible locations for the ten eco-towns it …
ECO-TOWN DETAILS REVEALED
Leicester Mercury – Leicester,England,UK
The Pennbury plans have been put on a Government shortlist of 15 possible eco-towns, which will be cut down to a final 10 in October. …
Prince’s eco-town gets green light
Environmental Data Interactive – UK
“The design vision for Sherford begins to address the house building challenge that Government has laid out when it speaks of eco-towns. …
FORD ECO-TOWN: Councillors abstain in eco-town vote
Shoreham Today – Worthing,England,UK
The recommendation had to be amended twice because the original phrase, which attacked the principle of eco-towns in the district, worried members who were …
government overcrowding England
Telegraph.co.uk – United Kingdom
And, paradoxically, the dumping of whole new towns in the middle of the English countryside is all right as long as they are labelled “eco-towns“. …
Revolt against plans for 200000 eco-homes
Telegraph.co.uk – United Kingdom
Last month ministers unveiled a shortlist of 15 sites across England that will eventually be whittled down to 10 eco-towns. The towns will have green …
Eco-towns: Living a greener future
By lilyheart
2008 looks at the potential of so-called “eco-towns”. Eco-towns are intended to be “a combined response to three challenges: climate change, the need for more sustainable living and the need to increase housing supply. …
I have been talking about building within second life recently to a number of people and groups. Without actually experiencing second life it is difficult to grasp how individuals, all working from computers in different countries can work collaboratively to design and construct a building.
The following time lapse video may go some way to help vision how second life can work for designers and builders. One of these avatars could well be the client – making design and function decisions with the design / build team. This approach can be used to show potential clients new build designs prior to real life construction as was the case with Aloft hotels and others. Once completed visitors can walk through and experience the building and feedback comments for improvement.
Wanted – eco home builders for second life project
And if you get the bug to design and build in second life:
Design Build Expo – May 17th @ the Monogram Virtua Convention Center. Enter to win L$20000, publicity and lots of advertising. Get the recognition you deserve and show off your building skills at the Design/Build Expo. Display your builds/services & products.
The North West Centre for Waste Management in partnership with UCLan are presenting a Free CIWM accredited Construction Waste Awareness Certificate event for Construction Companies
Wednesday 4th June 2008 9.30am – 4.00pm University of Central Lancashire
This one day workshop has been designed specifically to address the issues arising from construction waste, and includes topics such as: Waste Minimisation, Waste Management, Safety & Environmental Aspects and Environmental Law
I attended Think08 yesterday afternoon, visiting some of the free seminars and chatting to a good number of exhibitors. It was also good to meet up with fellow bloggers Phil, Mel, Paul, Rob and Casey for an early evening drink.
My impressions from the afternoon was that it didn’t quite have the buzz of last year but again a very worthwhile event to attend, pushing the boundaries of sustainability … but …
Resilience is the new sustainability
The biggest impression was that sustainability as a green label has run its course – has it been highjacked to mean sustainable business as usual, sustainabily? Someone at another online event recently planted this idea – sustainability is so 1990’s. We need a new describer – resilience. (A link to a post in draft)
I captured my key thoughts during the afternoon which coincidently numbered eight:
And Highlights for me – for being different:
Footpint friends– giving young people a voice on climate change and global warming.
Verveproperties and the Paintworks
I picked up far too much information which I will plough through – of note though was the information, papers and articles from the Town and Country Planning stand – informed views on sustainable communities and eco-towns.
On route to Think08 today so watch this space for live twitters and blog posts, so if you are attending and see me – please say hi !
Comments, reviews and posts from Think08 will also be carried by the group of UK bloggers who are meeting up later today at Think08, including:
Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and
implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
Patagonia’s Mission Statement
I have mentioned Patagonia the outdoor clothing organisation a few times before on this blog, and recently searching for a model CSR policy or statement for a Masters course I am in part delivering, went back to their web site and Yvon Chouinard’s – Let My People Go Surfing book.
More on Patagonia’s approach to building here and Patagonia’s environmental, CSR, approach here. And if you like environmentalism mixed with the great outdoors, mountains, clothing innovation and quality, along with a sprinkling of built environment comments – then check out the blog from staff, customers and friends at The Clean Line
Green, innovative and zero carbon project development on our doorstep in Preston, Lancs, !
The RIBA have recently awarded a zero carbon design as the visitor center at the new Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve in Preston, to regenerate a former quarry site into a major visitor attraction.
The project called “A Floating World”, consists of zero-carbon floating buildings (the name coming from the fact that the zero-carbon buildings will be built on an island of floating pontoons)
Adam Khan Architects, won the RIBA design competition to work on the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Britain’s largest eco-regeneration scheme. The project is zero-carbon in both use and production, with materials of low embodied energy – thatch, willow, timber, with off-site prefabrication and on-site energy generation and waste treatment.
Floating world will feature cafe, shops, gallery, education areas and meeting rooms and is part of the £59 million Newlands Scheme, a project that will turn 900 hectares to community woodland and green space.
On announcement of the winner, Peter White, Head of Infrastructure & Development at the Northwest Regional Development Agency said:
“This site has the potential to become an important visitor attraction for the region, building on its rich natural assets and impressive biodiversity. The Agency is supporting its development through Newlands, a wide reaching scheme that aims to reclaim brownfield land and transform it into thriving community open spaces, and has so far invested £800,000 in Brockholes. The chosen design will not only create an inspirational open space for the local community to enjoy but will also enhance a key gateway into Lancashire and attract further investment into the area. We look forward to working with our partners to progress these plans.”
More on this as the project develops …
Fairsnape 