It took a colleague over in Chicago to point out that Gordon is now twittering – is this for real? One of my predictions for 2008 was an increase in such technology – I was thinking of the built environment – not main stream politics though.
And his call sign …. 10 Downing Street
Press release received from the FMB
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) today welcomed the publication of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, How Low, which looks at how we can achieve optimal carbon savings from the UK’s existing housing stock. The FMB is particularly pleased to see the report calling for a cut in VAT on the refurbishment of existing properties.
Homes are the low haging fruit for carbon reduction
Simon McWhirter, One Planet Future Campaign Manager at WWF-UK, said: “Our homes are the low hanging fruit in terms of achieving the deep cuts we need in carbon emissions but the Government is currently investing inadequate resources in inappropriate places. Its short term vision as to what energy efficiency measures should be applied to our existing stock is leading to significant missed opportunities.”
Will 6001 join the lexicon of standards for our sector, along with 9001, 14001, 18001 (with apologies to others missed!)
Understanding the ripple effect of a facility in use or in construction is increasingly important within both client and supply organisations reputation, ethical standing and overall CSR, (Corporate Social Responsibility). Industry investors are watching such organisational behaviours with increased interested as demonstrated on CSR Wire web pages and discussions.
BRE Global have recently launched a draft ‘framework’ standard BS6001 for responsible sourcing management (RSM) of construction products that intends to address the sustainability, ie social, economic and environmental aspects of materials, from raw source, through use and maintenance to recycling and disposal.
It will be a standard against which organisations or products would be certified.
Its purpose is to support the responsible sourcing management credits within BREEAM, as a stand alone standard or one would assume to assess any RSM requirements within Code for Sustainable Homes, I guess the Code for Non Domestic Buildings (when that emerges) and other sustainability codes and standards.
I would hope the final standard will get the nomenclature addressed and see this as a ‘built environment‘ standard and not just a ‘construction‘ one (even facilities management has an equal duty and obligation to source responsibly !) I also hope that joined up thinking brings this into the new EU Facilities Management standards in development.
The draft standard contains a scoring system for assessment against the maturity of a number of sustainability themes. It could for example be used now, even in draft form, as a self assessment or supplier assessment to gauge an organisations position, as a snap shot, on responsible sourcing. (Although some facilitated guidance or support to help understand and fully understand some of the concepts would probably be required)
A welcome addition to the standards family? BS6001 is based as you would expect on ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and other existing standards. I do question whether 9001 is still strong enough as the basis for such standards – given the cosmetic changes planned for this year.
On the social responsibility side – will the standard start to address the soil, soul and society elements of sustainability, and the wider ecological footprint? Making reference to the UN Global Compact will certainly help address social justice.
The standard is open to public consultation until May 2nd. I cannot see any dates for introduction of the standard.
An introduction and copy of the standard is available for download.
Responsible sourcing is an ethos of supply chain management and product stewardship and encompasses the social, economic and environmental impacts of construction products over their whole life. It is a holistic approach to managing the activities associated with the point at which a material is mined or harvested in its raw state, through manufacture and processing, through use, reuse and recycling, until its final disposal as waste with no further value.
A new look for isite with a new image on the top banner(*). I like this design as it includes a RSS button – to get isite delivered to your desktop, and a search facility to search back through isite items.
But a little more too. After reflection on this blogs contents and direction, I have slightly amended the purpose of isite.
Yes it will continue to be a news views and comments blog for the built environment, poking here and there when things dont seem quite right or dubious, or indeed covered with greenwash. It will continue to be a voice to the online world for the Lancashire Best Practice Construction Club and to a lesser degree the CKE, and will continue to focus on collaborative working, integrated working, facilities management, futures and improvement towards excellence. The emerging web2.0 or even 3.0, and I include second life here, is an important theme that links and enables allot of what we, what I do, so will remain a key element of the posts and comments.
isite is also of course the outlet to the world for my business – fairsnape. (the name was taken from the local hill in the Forest of Bowland visible from my base here)
However, more importantly I see isite starting to look at connectivity with the natural environment. A number of activities I have been involved with lately has made me realise we may be where we are today because we have lost, and struggling to regain connectivity with our impact on ecology in its widest sense.
What does this mean? – Ecological footprints more than carbon footprints – as John Muir said when we tug on a single thing in nature we find it attached to everything else . – natural materials rather than harmful – renewable energy rather than fossil fuels, community based FM rather than endless target driven fm, about responsible sourcing rather than supply chain bullying, all putting a new direction to CSR.
I have long used the triptych of fit for people purpose and planet (before it became enshrined into the triple bottom line concept I like to think) . It is what Patrick Geddes would call folk, work and place, nearly a century ago, and reading Satish Kumar over the weekend – he described our modern trinity as needing soil, soul and society. Soil for the environment. soul for a spiritual dimension and society for justice.
Kumar a great walker – now based at the Schumacher college in Dartmoor, that incidentally run courses on Zen and Construction, talks about never trusting ideas that you never worked through whilst walking. “when you walk you are connected with nature, when in a car or a building your are disconnected, you walk to connect yourself”.
A while ago I started a benchmark walking programme to do just this – getting workshops and learning sharing events out of a training room or hotel into the countryside. With a loose agenda that emerges to deal with peoples real improvement needs, benchmarkwalks allows real learning and sharing, I likened it to doing business on a golf course – but this is business improving on a walk.
So all this as a preamble to a new thread for isite – connectivity – one I hope that will give it more scope, depth and importance as we address the sustainability issues, the soil, soul and society issues facing the built environment.
(* taken at Beacon Fell, Forest of Bowland, Lancashire recently – a location for many benchmarkwalks)
Are the current problems and issues at Heathrow T5 a facilities management issue – one of usability, people and end user experience.
A glitch perhaps, but a costly one, in a very complex operation, one of the most complex airport moves ever, yet facilities are increasingly measured in the sense of users ‘experience’.
But with reportedly 6 months of dry runs of a terminal “built around the worlds most sophisticated baggage handling system”, the wonderful success of the design and construction will be marred, for a while at least, by operational, usability and fm issues.
The experience should have been, and probably will be one of a natural, logical journey that’s so calm, you’ll flow through.
All shine on the outside of a 4billion edifice, but nothing works, as one disgruntled passenger but it on BBC News.
From the eco cities of the world to plans for a low impact eco-village in Wales.
Lammas, in its bid to get planning permission has put together a comprehensive and absorbing website. Well worth checking out.
The Houses
Low-impact architecture uses a combination of recycled and natural materials. The project is essentially a self-build affair. The first phase will see the construction of five detached dwellings and one terrace of four dwellings. There will be a combination of building styles including straw bale, earth sheltered, timber frame and cob. The houses will feature the latest environmental technologies and design techniques. The dwellings will blend into the landscape. Indeed they will be largely made from elements of the landscape (for example turf roofs, cob walls, timber cladding).
Continuing the theme of Eco Cities …
Jaime Lerner‘s ‘urban revolution’ successfully transformed a congested, grimy, crime-ridden city into a world-renowned model of green living and social innovation. London can do it too, reports Tom Phillips in an excellent and inspiring article.
Jaime Lerner will be speaking in London next Monday, one of a series of Exemplar Talks at Somerset House. For details email exemplartalks@somersethouse.org.uk
The science of nanotechnology is already revolutionising the worlds of medicine and construction, according to a Guardian article looking at nanotech in food, Once Bitten
Seamless tubes of graphite one atom thick and 10,000 long (to the naked eye, large quantities would look like soot), carbon nanotubes are up to 100 times stronger than steel but around eight times lighter. They can be teased into a twine that can be woven into sheets and, potentially, mixed with composites to eventually overhaul the way – and the height to which – we build.
And those buildings could be covered with solar cells made from nanomaterials that could supply all their energy needs.
And in communications … nanotechnology would allow the Nokia Morph concept phone to be laid flat like a keyboard or folded into a bracelet that can be connected wirelessly to a headset.
And in RFID, nano-transistors could revolutionise asset management and hence reshape the way in which facilities management works.
My fascination with maps (bit of a cartophile) and mash-ups that the Web 2.0 internet now allows, (where would we be without all the google map hacks?), I keep an eye on where readers to isite are based. To share this – below is a ‘real time’ snap shot list of visitor locations who were on line this afternoon, (well afternoon here),
I guess it ‘s what helps me keep blogging, knowing what the maven (*) in me wants to share is being picked up, and I hope of use. Now I need to find a way to get you all to comment now and again !
Lancaster, Blackpool, United Kingdom
Menomonie, Wisconsin, United States
United States
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Rockford, Illinois, United States
Lancaster, Blackpool, United Kingdom
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Glen Burnie, Maryland, United States
Downey, California, United States
Hampton In Arden, Solihull, United Kingdom
West Lafayette, Indiana, United States
San Carlos, California, United States
Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Bristol, Bristol, City of, United Kingdom
Rochdale, Rochdale, United Kingdom
Downey, California, United States
Leitrim, Monaghan, Ireland
Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Countess Wear, Devon, United Kingdom
Stevenage, Norfolk, United Kingdom
London, Lambeth, United Kingdom
Egham, Slough, United Kingdom
Chelsea, Newham, United Kingdom
Mansfield, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Dallas, Texas, United States
Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Falls Church, Virginia, United States
London, Lambeth, United Kingdom
Peace Valley, Missouri, United States
Erlangen, Bayern, Germany
Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Riga, Riga, Latvia
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Hedgerley, Slough, United Kingdom
London, Lambeth, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
London, Lambeth, United Kingdom
Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Blackpool, Blackpool, United Kingdom
London, Lambeth, United Kingdom
Star, Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom
Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Lancaster, Blackpool, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Birstall, Bradford, United Kingdom
London, Lambeth, United Kingdom
* Maven: (extract from wikipedia)
Malcolm Gladwell used it in his book The Tipping Point to describe those who are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends. Gladwell also suggests that mavens may act most effectively when in collaboration with connectors – i.e., those people who have wide network of casual acquaintances by whom they are trusted, often a network that crosses many social boundaries and groups. Connectors can thus easily and widely distribute the advice or insights of a maven.
In a week when Ken Livingston and joined forces with Sian Berry (Green Party) against Boris Johnson, in their pursuit for the next London Mayor, warning of his negative and regressive green views and plans, the FMB (Federation of Master Builders) released a press statement calling Boris Johnson’s vision for London housing – “fresh thinking’.
Details of the FMB campaign can be found at Building a Greener Britain
Jayne Curtis at the FMB has provided the following commentary:
As you will see from the press release the FMB says: “Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party mayoral candidate for London, hits the nail on the head when he says that fresh thinking is needed to get more homes built, and that the quality of what we build is as important as the quantity, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) commenting on
his housing manifesto, ‘Building a Better London’.”
The press release goes on to say: “The question still remains about what to do with London’s existing housing stock? Boris Johnson needs to consider how to make London’s existing housing stock greener and more energy efficient.”
The FMB would also like to point out that it does not favour any mayoral candidate and is keen to work with whoever is elected. The FMB works with all political parties; as you will see from the Building a Greener Britain campaign, which is endorsed by David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party, and Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party.
The Building a Greener Britain campaign is focusing on refurbishment and how to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment. The FMB has commissioned research which is being conducted by the Low Carbon Futures team at the Oxford University Environmental Change Institute and is being lead by Gavin Killip, one of the authors of the 40% House report, and Dr Nick Eyre, former Director of Strategy at the Energy Saving Trust.
The vast majority of buildings that are with us now will be around in 2050, the date when the Government hopes to have lowered carbon emissions by 80%, with buildings contributing 47% of the UK’s total carbon emissions it is therefore vital that something is done to look at how we can reduce carbon emissions from the existing building stock.
With three quarters of FMB members carrying out RMI work on existing buildings, the FMB has a key role to play in helping the Government achieve its target to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. The ground breaking research will present a series of practical policy recommendations aimed at government which will help encourage
householders to make their homes greener. In order to help the government the FMB strongly believes that builders should play a full and constructive role in building the new greener Britain.
Fairsnape 