Category Archives: innovation

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.”

 

 

Hidden Innovation

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NESTA (see below) have published their Hidden Innovation report which looks at innovation systems of six sectors that are seen as having low levels of innovation: oil production, retail banking, construction, legal aid services, education and the rehabilitation of offenders.

It examines whether these sectors are truly lacking in innovation, or whether traditional measures of innovation – such as investment in R&D – are failing to capture all of the innovation that takes place.

Collaboration vital

The NESTA report heralds Constructing Excellence, a scheme which brought together major companies, clients, different levels of government and the research community to identify, develop and diffuse innovation, as a good example of the way in which industry leaders and government can collaborate to the benefit of all. Government gets the right people together, while the sector leaders themselves drive change.

The construction industry patents few new inventions, (less than 1% of companies in the sector file for patents) but efforts to modernise construction methods across the sector have already saved more than £800 million in central government procurement alone.

Hmmm, it would be good to see the sectors investment on R and D in comparison to other industries.

NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, the largest single endowment devoted exclusively to supporting talent, innovation and creativity in the UK. Our mission is to transform the UK’s capacity for innovation. We invest in early stage companies, inform innovation policy and encourage a culture that helps innovation to flourish.

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Free Innovation Event – be seen to be innovative

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Do you want to learn more about accessing innovation?

Attend the LBPC Innovation Event on 5th July at UClan

Do you want to tell the world about your innovative product or service?

Exhibit  at the LBPC Innovation Event on 5th July at UClan

Details and flyers on the Events Page. Be there and be seen to be innovative. Numbers will be limited so reserve your place now!

“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!”

 

Living Glass and River Glow

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Two small scale but fascinating innovations:

Living Glass involves a reactive, transparent surface with an infrared sensor and gills that open and shut as they detect the presence of humans and control air quality in a room.

River Glow uses pH sensors, LEDs and thin film photovoltaics in a device that hangs in a canal or other public body of water and senses the quality of the water, indicating the results with coloured lights.

Have you got 5th July in your diary for the Best Practice Club innovation event at UCLAN? – see the events page for more information

Carbon Zero Builders Wanted

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From Building News:

English Partnerships will ask six housing developers to submit zero carbon designs for a former hospital site near Bristol

The first site in English Partnerships’ competition to build zero carbon homes has gone out to tender.

All 150 homes on the site are expected to meet the top level of the Code for Sustainable Homes. The exact definition of a level 6 home is yet to be confirmed but EP said that zero carbon means that the amount of energy taken from the grid is less than or equal to the amount put back through renewable technologies.

English Partnerships Jayne Lomas said building zero carbon homes remained a real challenge. She said: “This effectively brings the zero carbon homes of the future a significant step closer to reality – a hugely important development in the fight against climate change”.

Do we have the knowledge, resources and technologies here. locally, in the north west to do this? Or would we see others from outside the NW bid and win any such projects

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Construction industry could be next victim of climate change

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Traditional building designs and techniques will not cut it in the future and the industry needs to wake up to its dual role in helping people cope with the unavoidable effects of climate change whilst making more efficient buildings to aid efforts to prevent things getting worse.

Changes in the way we build, produce energy and make technology more efficient must go hand-in-hand with the changes in behaviour and life style needed if we are to not only survive climate change, but thrive.

Source: John Harman, chairman of the Environment Agency, speaking at London’s Ecobuild conference
Edie News

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LCBPC Events Update

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Once again we have had to shift events to avoid clashes and to enable better timing with other events and programmes in the North West

The Bidding to Win event will be moved to later in the year. Those who have expressed and interest in attending will be offered (part funded through CKE) in house training or coaching options.  More Details

Life After Frameworks – June 14th  More Details

Innovation – Hosted by UCLAN – 5th July  More Details

We are also now able to offer two further one day (part funded by CKE ) events:

July 12th – What is Sustainability? – An introduction to sustainability, to help you improve your understanding of sustainability management, apply sustainable management approaches to your operations and activities and to prepare for emerging sustainability issues. More Details

July 18th – Modern Construction Project Management – Managing todays construction projects with open book accounting, supply chains, framework supplier, lean management and other topical initiative now expected by clients. More Details

and

September 20th AGM and Question Time Event 

For further details on these and others – keep a watch on the Events Page

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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Chocolate Teapots that might hold Water?

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I have referred to carbon offsetting as chocolate teapots in other posts. It is interesting that the vast majority of spam this blog attracts (and is successfully filtered away by wordpress) are offers to offset my personal and business carbons.

(For just £200 a year you can offset your families carbon footprint, another £30 for the car and £104 for that family holiday flight last year. Hmmmm seems like a bargain !)

But now – we can offset water usage through irrigation offsets. It seems the growing trend in offsetting would allow any business to offset all the water used and wasted by supporting irrigation projects around the world. This is good in that it raises awareness in water usage, but surely better to switch to less water consuming technologies and lifestyles (so called low-flow).

For example, waterless urinals in an office can save up to 17,000 gallons of water a year. Whereas one manufacturer claimed in Grist that a waterless urinal may save up to 40,000 gallons per year in a high use airport building.

The debate on offsetting will continue – as has been commented before by others, carbon offsetting has nothing to do with sustainability – but maybe irrigation offsetting needs closer attention?.

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