Category Archives: built environment

LEED to take on the world?

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Whilst the BRE and Prince Foundation square up on Code Level 6, watch out for the creeping LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) the US version of BREEAM.

In an article in the latest Plenty journal, Robert Watson (often hailed as the father of LEED ), talks about his determination to turn LEED into a worldwide benchmark, with a focus on developing countries of China and India.

In the interview, when asked how home  owners can get involved in LEED, Robert replies – Look for the LEED label on your homes …   And just demand it as a consumer.

Cant quite see the consumer demanding such labels here – yet – but come 2016?

Carbon management, route to zero and waste management event

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Over 70 people from the regional construction, fm and energy sector attended last nights Lancashire Best Practice Club event at the Solarus Center in Blackpool.  The event , in two parts, covered sustainability, targets for the built environment  and carbon issues from Martin Brown and in the second half site waste management plans from Colin Woods

Presentation and links will be available on the events page for downloading.

For more information, or for those present, to discuss any of the issues raised in the evening email Martin or Colin – or both!

Green Building Elevates Expectations

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Two thousand seven may go down as the year that green buildings became  cornerstone of a global strategies to address global warming

Green building in the US gets a good review in the recommended recently published paper from Greenbiz.com State of Green Business.  (Download from Greenbiz.com).  The report neatly summarises sectors into swimming, treading water or sinking in efforts to address green and environmental issues.

As to building and property, the following extracts should wet your appetite to download and read:

In this fast-rising environment, green building is becoming less the exception than the norm, embraced by sectors ranging from hotels to health care to housing

The price premium for green building is shrinking, reducing one of the few remaining barriers to the industry’s growth.

Moreover, green building can  provide a competitive advantage in a tough market,

Demand and planning for green buildings is rising like a skyscraper on steroids, the product of everything from high energy prices to corporate vanity to a better understanding of the dividends paid by environmentally sensitive facilities 

Zero carbon debate reignited?

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Has Prince Charles reignited debate on architecture, traditional construction, eco homes and zero-carbon? – isdefining zero-carbon is the key? – the original articles at BD website are well worth the read – as is the astute comments from Phil at zerochampion (sorry Phil cant get use to Sustainable Blog!)

JCT legally binding sustainability contracts?

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To reinforce that we cannot address sustainability, carbon reduction and waste management from a hearts and minds, save the planet for future generations, common sense point of view and approach, JCT have started a consultation process as to which sustainability items should be made contractual within JCT forms of contract, as in legally binding commitments.

Details are on the JCT site

One of the consultation questions allows you to choose from a list of themes you would like seen as a contractual issue (see below), which gives a pretty good indication of what JCT is thinking.

Would the sustainability contract be with client and contractor, or all, as per the JCT Constructing Excellence Collaborative Contract (one would hope!).  Or following a growing school of thought that that the earth should have ‘legal status’, hence with the earth itself?

Which would you like to see as a contractual clause:

Carbon emissions associated with construction process
Carbon emissions associated with the end use of the ‘project’
Commercial vehicle movements
Consumption of energy during construction process
Consumption of energy associated with the end use of the ‘project’
Consumption of water during construction process
Consumption of water associated with the end use of the ‘project’
Economic sustainability in construction supply chain
Maintenance or optimisation of biodiversity
Origin of construction materials
Waste management in construction process
Waste management associated with the end use of the ‘project’

Code level 6 too easy ? – go to level 7 or beyond

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Following on from earlier posts (whats wrong) on this site where I raised the question that Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable homes was seemingly too low a standard – as Barratts and Eddie Shah, and others, already claim they can achieve it , apparently without doing to much different, it is encouraging to see Bill Dunster pushing the goal posts further.

‘Anybody can build to Level Six,’ says Bill

Bill Dunster claims his RuralZED house, which will be shown at the Ecobuild exhibition (26-28 February at Earls Court), meets the unprecedented (and non-existent – he invented the term) Level Seven of the Code for Sustainable Homes, with a wind turbine producing energy to make up for the embodied energy in the materials and construction of the structure. more info at AJ

Level 6 and now Level 7 must remain stretch targets – targets to stretch our rethinking, our innovations and our urgency in addressing sustainability issues. To say we can achieve them today is plain greenwash. (Greenwash sin number 1, 2 3, or 6? )

And, on a similar issue will we see a higher level BREEAM assessment to continue to stretch our sector? After all if BREEAM Excellent doesn’t achieve the targets we need to reach nationally or globally then indeed we do need higher, tougher standards.

As Dr Jo Williams, in the latest edition of Journal of Environmental Planning and Management shows, the current government strategy is unlikely to drive the required increase in technological, infrastructural, service and knowledge capacity needed to deliver zero-carbon homes. If it is going to meet its carbon targets the government should make the current “code 6-star rating” (ie zero-carbon standard) mandatory for all new housing, and invest in the technology, infrastructure and knowledge needed to support its delivery… Without which we will head to an environmental disaster. (Guardian report – where are the green houses)

Or – the will (hearts and minds) and motivation to do so without legislation and standards – ie just getting on and doing it as in the spirit of Contraction and Convergence for example – but thats another post.

Face it – solve global warming – stop coal

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Face it – the on line web cast from Architecture 2030 is now available to watch on-line

Sub titled Turn it Around, Watch and start to understand the impact the built environment has on global warming, the impact the built environment has on demanding power from coal fired power station – and the proposed solution – stop and replace the demand on coal!

Also available for educational use is the 2007 Global Emergency Teach-in

Manchester plans low-carbon future

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Manchester city council is embarking on an ambitious plan to tackle global warming by controlling all aspects of the city’s energy supply by 2020. Report – Guardian 31 Jan

Excellent news, that will put it in the league of other cities around the world with similar aspirations.

As it appears to be a daunting goal, the council has produced a strategy which includes bite-size targets in three key areas; commercial, domestic and transport.

However, will this drive  improvement in the energy and domestic and commercial built environment sectors ?  Will universities, academia and collages in the region gear up to be able to deliver the skills required – (the track record dosen’t look good).

Also that date 2020 – how does that tie in with all the other milestones for acheiving zero or low carbon in the built environment sector?

a rash of carbuncles

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Good to see Charles back into the discussion …. raising again a key and essential element of sustainability – of communities, of heritage and of sky lines.

Prince Charles locked horns with Lord Rogers and the architects of Britain’s skyscraper boom yesterday, warning that historic cities are at risk of being wrecked by a “rash” of “carbuncles” in the form of office and apartment towers.

New Liverpool school seeks ‘Very Good’ BREEAM

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Details of the state of the art sustainable design (and construction) for Liverpool Lower Lee Special school were posted on Building website earlier this week. (Story, pictures and strategy)

The school is only targetting a Very Good BREEAM level accreditation – beacuase, according to Mouchels architect “An BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating would only be achievable with a considerably larger outlay on renewables,”

How does this square with Ed Balls announcement recently that wants all new school buildings to be zero-carbon by 2016 and has put a few million in the pot to help achieve this? see Zero Carbon Schools

And indeed how does it square with the (albeit draft) Construction Strategy for Sustainability that calls for  public buildings to have BREEAM Excellent Assessments by 2008.   Construction on Lower Lee finishes in 2009.

Where is the watchdog for all this?

Whilst Lower Lee has some fantastic sustainable design aspects and it is to applauded for that, this does raise the question – are we building schools for the future?