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Category Archives: News
Slow Home Futures
In comparison to the news that the UK housing sector is to be invetsigated, and with the media quick to pick up on the numbers that only 3 in 4 (76%) of people buying new homes are satisfied with quality, I was intrigued to get news from the USA on the emerging Slow Homes Movement.
This movement is similar to the slow food movement that kicks back against the fast food industry, kicking back as it does against the fast home industry – as the worldchanging website states:
Brown (founder of SHM) makes the increasingly known correlation between suburban living and obesity, indicating that fast food and fast housing not only have comparable results within their respective industries, but literally the same result: a declining state of health across a huge swathe of the North American population.
The movement is based on an interesting, worthwhile and common sense set of 10 principles – which may ring a few bells in our own hosuing sustainability / carbon zero agendas – or maybe not :-
1. GO INDEPENDENT Avoid homes by big developers and large production builders. They are designed for profit not people. Work with independent designers and building contractors instead.
2. GO LOCAL Avoid home finishing products from big box retailers. The standardized solutions they provide cannot fit the unique conditions of your home. Use local retailers, craftspeople, and manufacturers to get a locally appropriate response and support your community.
3. GO GREEN Stop the conversion of nature into sprawl. Don’t buy in a new suburb. The environmental cost can no longer be justified. Re-invest in existing communities and use sustainable materials and technologies to reduce your environmental footprint.
4. GO NEAR Reduce your commute. Driving is a waste of time and the new roads and services required to support low density development is a big contributor to climate change. Live close to where you work and play.
5. GO SMALL Avoid the real estate game of bigger is always better. A properly designed smaller home can feel larger AND work better than a poorly designed big one. Spend your money on quality instead of quantity.
6. GO OPEN Stop living in houses filled with little rooms. They are dark, inefficient, and don’t fit the complexity of our daily lives. Live in a flexible and adaptive open plan living space with great light and a connection to outdoors.
7. GO SIMPLE Don’t buy a home that has space you won’t use and things you don’t need. Good design can reduce the clutter and confusion in your life. Create a home that fits the way you really want to live.
8. GO MODERN Avoid fake materials and the re-creation of false historical styles. They are like advertising images and have little real depth. Create a home in which character comes from the quality of space, natural light and the careful use of good, sustainable materials.
9. GO HEALTHY Avoid living in a public health concern. Houses built with cheap materials off gas noxious chemicals. Suburbs promote obesity because driving is the only option. Use natural, healthy home materials and building techniques. Live where you can walk to shop, school and work.
10. GO FOR IT Stop procrastinating. The most important, and difficult, step in the slow home process is the first one that you take. Get informed and then get involved with your home. Every change, no matter how small, is important.
Comments???
Schools rebuild project ‘ignores green initiative’
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….
i-think comment – where do we go after Kyoto?
The i-think team have started regular news and comments service on climate change issues that affect us in the built environment. If you want to get involved in these debates then head over to the ithink site. Join i-think and get comments by email.
Where do we go after Kyoto?
Last week world leaders gathered at the G8 Summit in Germany, where the issue of tackling climate change was at the very top of the international agenda. With the Kyoto Protocol due to end in 2012, one of the most heavily debated topics was how to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the longer term.
Led by Germany, and in line with the current position of the UK government, one of the most ambitious targets included halving current carbon emissions by 2050 with a view to keeping global warming down to no more than 2°C. But, when there are divisions even within the G8, how achievable is this?
Although all the leaders are united in their aim of “taking strong and early action to tackle climate change”, George Bush has insisted that the US won’t agree to any specific targets unless other major polluters, pointing the finger squarely at China and India, make an equally binding commitment.
Mutiny in the ranks? Or a clear headed ultimatum that we need to work in partnership if we are to have any significant impact in tackling climate change?
Certainly Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has expressed his disappointment with the US, saying that’s it’s difficult to meet targets if “your major partner does not have those targets too.”
It seems to be generally accepted that we are all going to have to make some major changes in the way we operate if we are to meet the environmental challenges of the future, and this includes looking beyond our own immediate spheres of influence.
As Tony Blair said, referring to the ‘post-Kyoto’ agreement, “there isn’t going to be an agreement until its got America and China in it.” So the word ‘partnership’ appears to be key here.
Although at the end of the summit German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that the G8 had established a “clear mandate” on tackling climate change, specific next steps are rather less clear. Quite what the post-Kyoto agreement involves, nobody seems to know, other than the same general acceptance that we need to cut carbon emissions.
We have five more years of Kyoto, but at the end of it will we really see any definite changes? And where do we go from there? Whatever the government decides, it seems that we have reached a point where decisive action is finally a must if our global economy is to remain competitive into the future.
5% reduction in insurance for green buildings?
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?
Wake up with Wogan
For other TOG’s out there. In the midst of gales, thunder, torrential rain, low temperatures and traffic jam reports today, Terry Wogan in his excellent dry humour questioned . . .
so, what happened to global warming then?
and
what have we done to deserve this ?
BSF schools contracts boost order books for local businesses
News from BSF Lanacshire: Miles Barter writes:
Five businesses in Lancashire and northwest England have won another £11 million of contracts in the first wave of the Lancashire Buildings Schools for the Future programme, bringing the total of new work awarded in the region to over £20 million.
The new contracts, for installation of mechanical and electrical fittings, have been awarded by Catalyst Lend Lease, Lancashire County Council’s long-term partner in the 10-year, £250 million BSF scheme. Two of the successful contractors, T. Jolly Services Ltd and James Mercer Group Ltd, come from Preston. The other contractors are Walsh Integrated Building Services, from Nelson, Bowker Ltd from Morecambe, and Farebrother Ltd, from Denton, near Manchester.
The contractors will be working on the Burnley Campus, Pendle Vale College and Shuttleworth College projects, which are scheduled to open in September 2008. One of the biggest contracts, for £2.5 million, has gone to T. Jolly Services Ltd of Preston, to supply and install all of the heating, ventilation domestic water and plumbing systems at Pendle Vale.
This includes many energy-saving technologies, including a Biomass boiler, fuelled by wood chips, ground source heat pumps, solar panels for domestic water heating, combined heat and power pumps to heat the swimming pool, rain water harvesting and a natural ventilator system for classrooms. All of these technologies will combine to make this new college one of the most energy efficient educational buildings in Britain.
George Jackson, managing director of T. Jolly said: “This is an important project for our company and we are proud to be a part of the construction team that will be delivering a high quality, energy efficient building that will benefit the local community and the environment for years to come.”
“Our policy is always to give construction and fit-out work to local contractors whenever possible,” said James Lasseter, Catalyst Lend Lease’s general manager for the Lancashire BSF programme. “It’s part of our pledge to help the county’s business community to benefit from this big investment in education.”
Marcus Johnstone, Lancashire County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people said: “This highly skilled electrical and mechanical work is at the heart of the county’s economy. I am delighted that our investment in a better education for the children of Burnley and Pendle is supporting employment across the county.”
The full building programme for the first wave of the BSF scheme involves seven colleges for 11 to 16-year-olds, a sixth form centre, four special schools, a primary school, a nursery school, a faith centre and a public library. All are scheduled for completion by 2010.
Not Using KPI’s Yet?
Constructing Excellence plan to start an on-line KPI initiative next month that will give organisations an annual endorsement mark to show they are using industry KPIs. It will be known as KPI Mark
Reported in Contract Journal:
CE stressed that although the scoring system was not a form of accreditation, it said clients could use the scheme as a method of pre-qualification.
“It is an ambition that clients will ask firms for their mark,” said CE consultant Martin Print. “Longer term, I can see this happening as clients are now requiring firms to demonstrate their performance.”
CE director Peter Cunningham agreed and said local authorities were already in discussions with CE about adopting its KPI
Constructing Excellence KPI’s have been in existence for many years now – following the issue of the Egan Report Rethinking Construction, giving ample opportunity for organisations to monitor and benchmark performance against industry over time.
More details on the KPI’s can be found on the KPI Zone at Constructing Excellence.
In addition local support for using KPI’s is available through fairsnape and others within the Lancashire Best Practice Club – see steering group profiles
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