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.
coal – a great green scam?
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Category Archives: links
…on coal, blue and earth day 2008
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.
listen up
One to catch tonight on Radio 3 at 21.45 GMT:
Philip Dodd tours the controversial new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport and talks to architect Mike Davies, in charge of the project for the 19 years since its inception.
Addresses the question can a major airport really be eco-friendly?
But more importantly, Van Morrison is in session and in interview on the Paul Jones show at 19.00 GMT
wind turbines – love or hate?
BBC Radio 3 broadcast a fascinating programme on Saturday …
A sonic meditation on wind turbines and their place in today’s environment, recorded in Norfolk and the Fenlands. Including contributions from poet Kevin Crossley-Holland, architecture critic Jonathan Glancey and local residents, along with music created from the sounds of the turbines themselves.
… strange how those who love turbines hear symphony music and whale like song, yet those against turbines hear machine humming and sleep disturbing noise.
Available to listen again for a short while on Radio 3
Green Building Elevates Expectations
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
LEED for Neighborhood Development
LEED (the US version of BREEAM) is piloting a LEED ND – a neighbourhood development assessment system. The FAQ refers to it as a rating system that integrates the principles, of smart growth, new urbanism, and green building into the first national standard for neighborhood design
Details are available from the LEED website – but looking at the assessment checklist it looks very familiar to our sustainable communities and community based facilities management approaches.
I have just been reading the very informative paper The Law of Green Building from US Law Attorney Stoel Rives LLP, which has a useful chapter on LEED ND. – LAW OF BUILDING GREEN – Community and Neighborhood Development
Do we have a BREEAM equivalent? (not to my knowledge – but if any more experience BREEAM people out there know better then please post below)
Walking the walk – design resources
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently launched “Walk the Walk,” , a multi-faceted campaign to educate, promote and encourage sustainable design among consumers, business owners and architects.
(It is a pity they don’t include builders, fm and end users in that list. Sustainability is a collaboartive approach, across all project and facilities stakeholders.)
Walk the walk is rich in resource, including:
A sustainability resource center for practitioners. The Walk the Walk Toolkit 2030 highlighting green building issues and provides samples of effective ordinance language for communities, as well as examples of what others are already doing to pursue green building programs. A 50to50 how-to resource intended to assist architects and the construction industry in moving toward the AIA’s public goal of a minimum 50 percent reduction of fossil fuel consumption in buildings by 2010 and carbon neutrality by 2030.
I found the Sustainability 2030 Green Meeting Guidelines , a resource to help reduce the environmental impact of meetings and events and the Measures of Sustainability (PDF) overview of interest.
Most of the resources seems to be available to all, for which the AIA is to be commended.
A visit to the RIBA site brings up an equal wealth of resource at Climate Change including the useful Guide to Low Carbon Standards and Assessment Methods, an overview of recommended low carbon performance standards and associated assessment methods for new and existing buildings.
Of particualr note however is the RIBA’s adoption of Contraction and Convergence, within its Climate Change Policy
(Contraction and Convergence is the science-based, global climate-policy framework, proposed to the United Nations since 1990 by the Global Commons Institute, itinvolves a globally balanced approach to the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations at safe levels, consistent with the aspirations of different communities to development and quality of life.)
The RIBA has adopted Contraction and Convergence as the overarching policy to guide its targets for the reduction of GHG emissions associated with the use of energy in buildings.
So plenty of resources out there, all good stuff, but really does need that walk the walk, the changing of mindset, the rethinking and the collaboratives approach. The AIA’s Walk the Walk is a step in the right direction – we need a similar ‘outreach’ programme here. How many architects here would be aware of C and C for example and how that can be applied to everyday design.
Code level 6 too easy ? – go to level 7 or beyond
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.
Barratt Homes – Chorley
With the Lancs Best Practice Club looking to visit the eco show homes at Chorley soon the following links should give a balanced view on the background to these homes.
CarbonLimited – scathing comments on performance
Key findings from Chorley
Green spires or greenwash?
Universities UK today published Green Spires, a very rosy picture of what academia is doing within the world of becoming green. The report, full of case studies of great activities from around the UK Universities is a must read with many of the innovations related to the built environment.
However, Bibi van der Zee writing in the Guardian Education illustrates the real world of academia – one that should put its own house in order, ‘focus on estate management, universities are huge and wasteful beasts’ and ‘move out of their comfort zone‘.
Learning curve on Radio 4 last night contained interviews on the report – listen again
One of the key priorities laid down today by John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, in his annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was reducing carbon emissions emissions to help the Government achieve a 60 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.
The Government wants universities’ performance in reducing carbon emissions to be a factor in their future capital allocations
Also of note EAUC’s (Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges) conference this year will focus on skills for sustainability – if architects and engineers don’t have the necessary sustainable skills we will never be able to achieve our carbon reduction strategies
Locally in the North West of England, SusBee (Sustainable Education in Built Environment Education) based at UCLAN , a joint academic and industry forum has just formed to address the sustainability content within all regional education. (more details here).
Fairsnape 