Author Archives: martin brown

Understanding the Merton rule…

2 Replies

There has been a lot of coverage on the Merton Rule this week, with zero champion over at sustainability blog covering events.  here  and here  now, a further article in today’s Guardian attempts to clarify … or not.

Why is this important?

The so called Merton Rule wa introduced by Merton Borough and requires, as a planning requirement, that all new projects to obtain at least 10% of a building’s energy from sustainable sources such as solar or wind power.  The rule is now used by 150 councils across the UK, many using the 10% figure others, like GLA attempting to push for 20%.

A recent and current campaign by the British Property Federation and Home Builders Federation to overturn this ruling led to leaks of a draft planning policy statement which local authorities said would undermine their ability to insist that developers use green technologies.

Meanwhile – an epetition has been started… We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Not allow the abolition of the Merton Rule. There are 51 signatories so far.

CIBSE Carbon clean up for existing facilities …

Leave a reply

CIBSE are repeating their carbon clean up 100 day programme again this year, starting on the 12th Sept. Sign up and get help, advice and tools to help you reduce your carbon footprint.

Programmes like this are important as they address carbon and environmental issues of our existing building stock.

Construction work prices to soar 34% over next five years

Leave a reply

From today’s Building daily news :

Rise in PFI and Olympic works will see tender prices grow 2.5 times faster than inflation says report

The price of construction work is expected to surge ahead of inflation over the next five years.

Tender prices are forecast to rise 34% compared to an expected inflation rate of 13%, according to a report published by BCIS.

Certificates don’t cut carbon emissions, people do

Leave a reply

Comments to the HIPs post led me to this fascinating site … worth a browse … into the world of HIP’s EPC’s and DEA’s

and check out the blog and podcasts

climate change? … dont worry we have a cunning plan … the moon

Leave a reply

If we carry on, business as usual, not making the carbon and environmental targets within the timespan  scientists tell us we must act withi, then all is not lost.  There is another nearby planet we can start all over again on according to the National Geographic Website

 ‘Lunar Ark’ Proposed  August 14, 2007

The moon should be developed as a sanctuary for civilization in case of a cataclysmic cosmic impact, according to an international team of experts.

NASA already has blueprints to create a permanent lunar outpost by the 2020s

Only local labour and material resources to be used?

Expressions of interest for the design, construction and facilities management are invited.

carbon offsetting targeted … again

Leave a reply

Interesting to see that the Climate Change Camp at Heathrow targeted carbon off setting companies in their recent protests. And quite rightly so, useful as chocolate teapots, carbon offsetting schemes distract from real actions to address environmental and carbon issues, and foster a ‘do nothing different’ attitude.  (Even for  LA trying to achieve zero carbon homes by paying £200 a home to a carbon offset scheme)

From today’s Guardian  

Two carbon offset firms staffed by committed environmentalists also found themselves targeted. Climate Care in Oxford was invaded by people dressed as red herrings and the CarbonNeutral Company in London was leafleted. Both offer to “neutralise” the emissions of consumers and companies by investing in projects which lower emissions elsewhere.

“Carbon offsets are ineffective, based on dubious science and lead people to believe they are helping when they are not,” said Sophie Nathan, who took part in the CarbonNeutral Company action.

3 Bed Hips …

Leave a reply

Hips and the important Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) will be rolled out to 3 bedded properties from Sept 10th with the government making further announcement on rolling out Hips and EPCs to other properties very soon.

Will the EPC’s will start to address the carbon issues surrounding existing stock? and will EPC’s be applicable to non domestic properties in time?

understanding renewables

Leave a reply

Interesting to watch the reposnse to yesterdays article (Revealed:cover up plan on energy target) in the Guardian  with  a flurry or posts to blogs, letters, responses from government and eidtorials.

This is being well covered by Phil Clarke over at Sustainability Blog,

Strong stuff in Monday’s Guardian, where economics correspondent Ashley Seager takes the Government to task for its encouragement (or lack of it) of renewable technologies. He offers a stark contrast between us and Germany, where renewables now makes up 13% of all energy compared to our 4.6%. Seagar reckons we are tinkering at the edges with our botched low carbon buildings programme and the renewables obligation (RO)system, which requires energy producers to use a growing propertion of renewable sources. “Britain’s climate change strategy, such as it is, is crumbling,” he concludes.

What is evident is that a whole new environmental and energy economy is emerging that will have great importance for the built environment and its future energy usage strategies.

Builders attack green homes rule

Leave a reply

Reported on Guardian Unlimited today:

Housebuilders are trying to persuade the government to ditch a key policy designed to cut carbon emissions through constructing green homes.

Britain’s renewables industry and many local authorities are concerned that intense lobbying may have persuaded the government to rethink.

It is assumed the housebuilders in question do not include those commiteed to the 2016 Commitment to zero carbon housing (see Communities and Local Government website)

Need to rethink carbon offsetting?

Leave a reply

Recent reports that trees may not be the solution to carbon offsetting appeared a few days ago in Grist (Their bark is worst for our blight) and in Live Science (Trees may not fix global warming) may prompt a rethink of the carbon offsetting appraoch to addressing carbon reduction. This is based on 10 year research by scientists at Duke University,  North Carolina

So those projects and facilities looking to achieve carbon neutral or zero tragets through off setting need to be very confident the route they are taking is sound.

Although critical of carbon off putting, this report in WorldChanging, Rural Biogas, Global Carbon Market of a grass roots initiative gives inspiration, along the lines of a contraction and conevrgence approach which looks to be a more appropriate alternative to carbon off-putting