Category Archives: green buildings

Low-Carbon Building Accelerator

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Noticed this on the Carbon Trust website recently:

The Low-Carbon Building Accelerator seeks to demonstrate that major refurbishments of non-residential buildings can be completed in both a low-carbon and a cost-effective manner. It involves the Carbon Trust’s specialist consultants working with a range of building projects in the retail, hospitality, government and education sectors. The specialist consultants are working with developers and their advisors, providing input on how to ensure that refurbishment projects are carried out in a way that minimises the carbon emissions from the building. Case studies backed up by robust data will be published at the end of each project

 It will be interesting to review the case studies on this one, but it is significant the Carbon Trust has identified building as one of …

…those technologies that offer the greatest UK carbon saving potential in the short to medium term and also where the Carbon Trust investments can be material in bringing forward these technologies.

Dr David Vincent, Technology Director of the Carbon Trust, explains, “The assessment enables the Carbon Trust to focus its resources effectively. By targeting those technologies which offer high carbon savings potential and where our resources can be material, we can take the lead on low carbon technologies innovation in the UK.”

 

 

Schools rebuild project ‘ignores green initiative’

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The Sunday Times yesterday reported that the BSF programme is missing a big opportunity to promote sustainable building methods.

A report from the education and skills select committee, headed by Labour MP Barry Sheerman, will slam the programme for missing a big opportunity to promote sustainable building methods.

About £150m has been set aside to improve environmental standards on the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme, but MPs believe this is a drop in the ocean in the context of the £45 billion BSF programme.

The Sustainable Development Commission told the MPs that it would add 15% to 20% to the cost of building schools to make them carbon neutral and more energy efficient. Schools account for about 15% of the public sector’s carbon footprint in the UK.

One committee source said: “There is no doubt the green stuff has just been tacked on as an afterthought in this programme � which is amazing given the government preaching about its green agenda.”

Read more online

It would be interesting to hear comments from BSF programmes in the area….

Construction Carbon Calculator

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Update:  see latest post Construction Carbon Calculator – no more excuses for best yet calculator 

Zero Champion in a recent post poses the question ‘How the hell do we measure our carbon footprint‘?

Businesses need a single, unified standard for displaying the carbon impact of their activities to ensure companies can see a visible competitive advantage to sustainable development.

This made me think and look around for a construction process carbon calculator – and surprisingly did not find too many, and most linked to some carbon offsetting (carbon off-putting) scheme, which makes me doubt the formula being used.

If you want to take a look at a couple :

C Level has a calculator, but lacks many energy aspects (fuel on site, small tool and lighting, office energy and resources) and is linked to their off setting scheme. C Level lists constructing excellence as one of its customers.

Over in the states BuildCarbonNeutral has an interesting approach focusing on the embodied energy released through construction and the life of a building. It also contains the following comments

13-18% of the total embodied carbon footprint of any construction project (UNEP, 2007) and 100% of the total embodied carbon footprint of any landscape project is released the year the project is built or installed. The remainder of the carbon footprint is the operational carbon released and the landscape carbon sequestered over the life of the project.

and

Embodied construction carbon is a more significant factor than air travel, and has an equally immediate impact.

Gulp !

Does anybody out there know of any reliable, unbaised (ie not linked to carbon offsetting schemes) for the construction process?

Rubble Trouble

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The following was noticed from UK Green Building Council

50%
Percentage of UK greenhouse gas emissions from running buildings…

30%
…of those emissions could be cut by cheap and simple measures

10%
Percentage of UK emissions coming from producing building materials…

20% …of those materials on every new building ends up in a skip…

88
…producing in a year enough waste to build 88 Great Pyramids of Giza.

Hence the need for the Lancashire Best Practice Club Innovation Event on 5th July ( have you reserved your place yet?)

“I don’t think we’re going to make it…”

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Dave over at the Carbon Coach brought my attention to an emotional shock response  video from TED.  Whilst you may not agree with all in the video, Venture Capitalist, John Doerr’s lucid presentation is indeed worth watching, it includes amongst other issues a view on what WalMart are planning for their stores globally, and the huge investments being made green innovation.

Comments I like from the video include  “There is a time when panic is the appropriate response!”

 

5% reduction in insurance for green buildings?

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Over the water, the Building Design and Construction network reports: Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. make waves in the green building market when it announced that it would  offer discounted property insurance rates for commercial buildings that are certified through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program or the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes rating system.

As part of the program, the Novato, Calif.-based insurer said it would offer 5% discounts for green buildings. And, in the event of a total loss for such an insured property, the company said it would pay to rebuild the structure to LEED or Green Globes standards.

Anyone aware of similar insurance arrangements here?

Geo Solar Homes

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Housing Construction that both heats it self and cools itself. An interesting innovation from the States can be found at Enertia House

Enertia Building System, named as the 2007 Modern Marvel of the Year is described as

innovative new homes of remarkable strength, economy, and beauty, brought to life by an elegant new architecture and the discovery of a new source of pollution-free energy.

with a built-in “biosphere,” in gradual but constant motion, draws energy from the sun, and geothermal stability from the ground, creating a temperate climate that buffers the primary living space.

The site provides plenty of science ‘background’ which is worth checking out.

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