Category Archives: carbon

new online construction carbon calculator

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A pre-design carbon calculator has been launched in a bid to boost the green credentials of the construction industry. The free online tool will allow the industry to evaluate sustainable options at the earliest stages of construction and covers various building sectors. Developed by Faithful+Gould, the tool will ensure costs associated with carbon saving techniques are properly budgeted for at the very start of a project.

There is also a more detailed Excel version for download

more information at Faithful+Gould,

isite will use and review shortly.

Waste wood – the untapped resource for Biomass Fuel?

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The huge potential of reusing waste wood as fuel is being wasted, Environment Minister Joan Ruddock has warned. The significant carbon and energy benefits of recovering energy from waste wood are detailed in a new information report on the sector that surveys the activities of producers, aggregators and users of waste wood.

all homes to be code level 6

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All UK homes could meet a Code Level 6 by 2050  in line with the planned Code for Sustainable Refurbishment to reduce carbon emissions from existing homes.  Source

Now this will surely start another, necessary, debate on how this is possible, and how it will impact on the huge sector of our industry that refurbs and maintains our housing stock.

Do we have the skills? ( I sense another Skills Gap analysis report will be on its way soon, stating the obvious)  It starts to make the 2010 Great ReSkilling programme predicted by Rob Hopkins in the Transition Handbook sound more feasible.

… on coals future

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A round up of recent coal articles and activities suggest that the writing on the wall may be becoming clearer:

Can coal live up to its clean promise? New Scientist. Seems the CCS, carbon capture schemes) may not be in favour with the world of science. Well worth a read to get an overview of the current state of CCS (A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology called The Future of Coal, published last year, suggests that the first commercial CCS plants won’t be on stream until 2030 at the earliest.)

E.on climb down on Kingsnorth and ask for delay in planning decision?  Guardian. … Well at least until CCS is viable. Maybe they have read the NS and MIT reports. Greenpeace love it.

byoblue, the Architecture 2030 No Coal campaign grows in strength with supporters across the world,  Facebook and in Second Life (If anyone is in doubt as to the relationship between buildings, their energy demand (or waste) and coal, can I suggest a visit to the excellent material on the Architecture 2030 site.)

WWF joins FMB for VAT cut on refurbs

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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.”

on learning from eco-challenges …

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What can we learn from the fact that bidders are pulling out of the next carbon-challenge project at Peterborough? (Shortlisted bidders flee from EP flagship project)

Could it be English Partnerships are using a traditional, cost based procurement route? Even with PQQ and other ability or capability ‘gates’ selection may still be based on cost. This could lead to the all too familiar high price of low cost syndrome, but as long as cost remains the main selection paradigm we are not going to think differently about sustainability, carbon zero, social responsibility and all things green.

What an opportunity we are missing. Eco challenge projects must do the same for our industry as Building Down Barriers did for partnering, collaboration and supply chain management a decade or so ago.

Why cannot the builders, designers and others be selected on improvement criteria (- ability and solutions in reducing carbons to zero, in design and in the construction process) and of improvement in cost – yes reducing cost at the same time through waste and improvement initiatives.

The oft quoted 30% waste (time, materials, energy, value, effort) in construction could more than pay for carbon zero and sustainability improvements.

We have a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate and to learn that we can get close to zero carbon, level 6 and all that without adding costs to the overall project – if combined with basic and proven improvement approaches.

The alternative? continue with business as usual from a construction perspective, with the exception of integrating some natty designs and product solutions, and continue to moan about the costs …

blue is the colour…

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For those who have asked “why blue” for the Architecture 2030 No Coal campaign, here is the response from Peter over at BYOBlue:

Blue is for clear, clean skies without coal!

The genesis of this theme also comes from the Earth Day Network “Sky Petition” which Architecture 2030 collaborated on, demanding that (the US Congress):

1. Impose an immediate moratorium on the building of all new conventional coal-fired power plants, and require a phase out of 30 percent of existing coal plants by 2030.

2. Require that all utilities generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

3. Require that all new buildings, renovations and developments immediately reduce fossil-fuel energy consumption by 50 percent, and that all new buildings become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030.

4. Protect the poor and middle class from unfairly bearing the cost of solving the climate crisis.

(thanks Peter)

Meanwhile here in the UK, in Sundays Observer Climate Change special edited by Thom Yorke of Radiohead

  • Drax coal power station emits more CO2 than the 100 least industrialised countries – combined – (22.8 million tonnes annually)
  • Burning fossil fuels for electricity contributed one quarter of the worlds CO2 emissions
  • It was the closure of coal mines that enabled Britain to meet Kyoto reduction pledges
  • There is enough CO2 in coal to take us far beyond the danger level of creating a different planet ( James Hansen, Nasa)

Consider all this in the context of the built environment – the demand it places on energy from coal powered stations and the energy it wastes through poor design, construction, maintenance and the slow speed in which we seem to be moving to low carbon thinking …

coal – a great green scam?

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Continuing the coal theme (seam?) … for an astute insight to the coal issue in the UK read George Monbiot’s article Burnt Out, on his blog and published in todays Guardian.

…on coal, blue and earth day 2008

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Wear BLUE for Earth Day 2008 to VOTE for No Coal

This blog has commented through many posts on coal, on its significant contribution to carbon footprints, on the relationship with the built environment (coal – safe cigarettes for the built environment) and on the recently approved new coal power station in the UK.

But did you know that the UK Eon power station, the first for 20 years, will add 5% to the UK’s carbon footprint, and that the proposed magic cure of carbon capture, when viable, will take some 40% of the energy proposed just to drive the capture application. (source – Guardian Environmental weekly podcast 12/03/08).

isite has long supported Architecture 2030, a movement in the US that makes the link between design / buildings in use and energy production from coal.

isite is proud to have been asked to promote Architecture 2030’s rallying call to everyone to participate in the BYOBlue campaign by calling on everyone to wear BLUE during Earth Day 2008 to signify a vote for NO COAL. (April 20th)

More details can be found at www.byoblue.org and in Ed Mazria’s article posted at Grist (here).

Details on any UK BYOBlue activities will be posted here.

one to watch?

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Reported in todays Guardian….

A powerful new government climate change committee will meet today for the first time to decide how ministers will meet their commitment to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2050, and whether the target needs to be strengthened in the face of worsening forecasts on climate change.

But is 60% by 2050 enough – the word from the science community is that it needs to be 80% – as Scotland and other are adopting. And if they do recommend a move to 80% that will affect all (ok most) Code targets and built environment targets set to date.

And Darlings forthcoming budget will be the greenest ever from Labour so I read.  It will be interesting to see what home improvement, new home and non domestic building  environmental targets and benefits are announced  – if any