Category Archives: News

carbon trust standard

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The Carbon Trust new certification acknowledges organisations that reduce their greenhouse gas emissions without using offsets.

The Carbon Trust Standard certifies that an organisation has genuinely reduced its carbon footprint and is committed to making further reductions year on year.

“Our research shows that not only do consumers currently mistrust business’ climate change claims, but that business thinks existing carbon award schemes are confusing and lack credibility,” said Carbon Trust Chief Executive Tom Delay. “What business and consumers both share is a desire for one, credible way to prove an organisation has not only measured, but actually reduced their carbon emissions year-on-year without the use of offsetting.”

The 12 case study organisations who have acheived the standard are Abbey Corrugated, B&Q, Crown Prosecution Service, Dept. of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Dept. for International Development, DSM Nutritional Products – Dairy production site Scotland, King’s College London, London Fire Brigade, Morrisons, Thames Water, Trinity Mirror and University of Central Lancashire.

free event – best practice procurement and support

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UCLAN will host the free Lancashire Best Practice Clubs event this Thursday 10th July.  Visitors to the event will be able to discuss with their clients and supply chain what elements of best practice in todays construction industry are important to them.  There will also be the opportunity to discuss best practice support with leading regional and national support organisations.
Details:

VENUE: University of Central Lancashire, Foster Lounge, Foster Building, Preston PR1 2HE (car parking available on Foster Car Park and surrounding car parks)

Register to attend or for updates and further details contact 01772 893558 OR EMAIL

· Find out the best practice requirements of your clients

· Inform your suppliers and potential suppliers of your best practice requirements?

· Talk to organisations who can support your best practice activities and intentions

· Attend mini seminars on improvement topics throughout the day

· Discover the technical solutions and materials to achieve best practice

· Meet with some of the alternative and green solution providers

Details of participating organisations available here

(note this will be continually updated)

green studies

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People and Planet have published the 2008 Geen University league table which shows some good and surprising results.

Top of the list, receiving ‘firsts’ is University of Gloucestershire, and the University I am now working with, UCLAN,(Uni of Central Lancashire) moves up 45 places to number 5.Last years winner Leeds met drops from 1 to 8.

Very disappointing though to see that my old uni, Brunel University, falls from number 27 in 2007 down  to number 84, only achieving a ‘third’.  Brunel is only one of five in the league not to have an environmental policy.  (Is this possible these days?)

As People and Planet state:

The change in the sector has been driven by thousands of students who have been campaigning for greener campuses. Thanks to your determination the sector is finally starting to listen to student demands for greener campuses. There is still a long way to go though.

To what degree though does the facilities management and estates management contribute to these results, are they driving change, or being driven in the face of student and customer pressure.  Maybe the selection of facilities and service providers will now be influenced by their contribution to improving a universities position in this league?   Again it was good to hear that the VP at UCLAN did praise Facilities Management for their contribution in their excellent improvement in the league, at his recent address.

As this league will surely be used by students looking to select universities, wouldn’t it be useful to have similar leagues in the UK construction and FM sectors, replacing those contracts won, turnover based leagues we see in the industry press.

Related isite links:

How Green is your University?

VAT hindering environmental improvements?

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Press release from Jayne Curtis over at FMB:

MPs Deliver 10,000 ‘Cut the VAT’ Postcards to 11 Downing Street: Kate Hoey MP (Labour) and Bob Russell MP (Liberal Democrat) have delivered a 10,000 signature strong petition to 11 Downing Street, calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to cut VAT from 17.5% to 5% for building repair and maintenance work. The demand to cut VAT comes at a time when the Government is failing to achieve its ambitious target to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050; when the number of people living in fuel poverty currently is still rising from the current figure of 4.5 million; and when thousands of consumers are being fleeced by rogue traders offering cash deals to avoid VAT on home improvements.

The MPs were joined by three members of the Cut the VAT Coalition: Brian Berry of the Federation of Master Builders, Julia Goodwin of House Beautiful magazine, and Yvonne Orgill of the Bathroom Manufacturers’ Association. In the week that the one hundredth MP signed the Early Day Motion (EDM 669) calling on the Government to VAT for building repair and maintenance work MPs voiced their concerns.

For more information please visit: www.fmb.org.uk

Green Energy Revolution Needs Green Housing Revolution

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Press release from Jayne Curtis over at FMB:

Green Energy Revolution Needs Green Housing Revolution, says Federation of Master Builders

Today’s Government plans to move away from fossil fuels to wind, solar, and tidal power  as part of its green energy programme is a welcome initiative but we need an accompanying  green housing revolution if we are to cut carbon emissions and make our housing stock more energy efficient, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB said:

“The Government is failing to develop a coherent strategy about what to do with Britain’s existing housing stock. Given that homes are responsible for 27 per cent of the country’s carbon emissions and that nearly 70 per cent of our current housing will still be standing in 2050 urgent action is needed now to make our homes greener and more energy efficient.”

Berry continued:

“The Government’s leadership in tackling in new build needs to be matched with new initiatives and leadership about what it intends to do with our existing homes. We need a range of incentives to encourage householders to upgrade their homes. Cutting VAT from 17.5 per cent to 5 per cent on energy efficient improvements would be a start as would reform of Stamp Duty and the introduction of Council Tax rebates. Given the Governments’ target to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 now is not the time to be dithering. We need a joined up strategy for all our housing and the time for that strategy is now!”

For more information please visit: www.fmb.org.uk

virtual world fest for built environment?

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Peak Oil awareness: today and tomorrow, Eco-Friendly sim Etopia is having a two day activity to help raise awareness of our global overdependence on oil.

Etopia will host a concert, panel discussions, freebie hunt, videos, exhibits and displays in the hope of touching more people in SL and all over the globe and inspiring changes in our world.  Etopia Bamboo Bikes will be given away with bike hikes scheduled as peaceful demonstrations of our support of alternative methods of transportation. We hope that riders will then take their bikes and ride all across SL.

Read more for the schedule and see how SL can be a tool for positive change.

Thursday, June 26th

Opening Events (Main Entrance)                               12:45p – 1p SLT
Live Concert – Pillowfish (Community Center)          1-2p SLT
Pedal-thon (Main Entrance)                                        2-3p SLT
Panel Discussion (Community Center)                       3-4p SLT
Sailing Tour (Etopia Prime – Beach)                            4-5p SLT

Peak Oil Video (Main Clocktower)                               5-6p SLT

Pedal-thon (Main Entrance)                                         6-7p SLT

Friday, June 27th

Class: Cooking Without Oil (Main Entrance)              1-2p SLT
Pedal-thon (Main Entrance)                                          2-3p SLT
Peak Oil Video (Main Clocktower)                                3-4p SLT
Freebie Hunt (Main Entrance)                                       4-5p SLT
Pedal Thon (Main Entrance)                                          5-6p SLT
Discussion (Tsidel’s Cafe – Prime)                                6-7p SLT
Live Concert – Sassy Nitely (Prime Bandshell)   7-8p SL

thanks to HodgePodge and Faythe Zauber at the Going Green Store  (on Etopia )

And ….

And then hot on the heels of the Public Works Group orientation and Open Day, this Saturday (28th June) a Second Life birthday event that runs along side the Sustainability Now, Building’s online conference on July 1st, is “Urbanism, Architecture, Planning: How Second Life Can Help Build the Urban Landscape of the First Life–and Vice Versa“ See you there?!?!

from the Arch Blog:
Date/Time: July 1, 12:00 p.m. PT (thats 8pm in the UK?)

Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SL5B%20Linked/185/187/25/

Moderator: Rissa Maidstone (RL Kim Smith)

Participants:
Tab Scott (RL Terry Beaubois), Creative Research Lab, Montana State University
Diva Canto (RL Cristina Lopes), Dept. of Informatics, UC Irvine
Boston Borst (RL Eric Gordon), Department of Visual and Media Arts, Emerson College, Hub2
Keystone Bouchard (RL Jon Brouchoud), Crescendo Design, Studio Wikitectur

on bike sharing

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Noted on the Bike-Share blog, (provided by MetroBike, LLC, based in Washington, US, providing information on the emerging public transportation mode of bike-sharing) the impressive statistics on how the Velib bike share programme in Paris is transorming the city, see below.

But the disappointing find on the Bike Share blog was the lack of schemes in the UK compared to the rest of Europe. (is this because there are no schemes or because they are not on the google map, or have a web presence – which is how Bike Share picks them up?)

We have a few (ok too many) bikes here which we would willingly share for anyone wanting to cycle around the Forest of Bowland !!

From Bike-Share:

The latest Velib’ survey results are available and posted on the Velib’ Website. Just in case you don’t parlez Français, here’s a summary:

  • Trips to date: 20 million
  • Average trips/day: 70,000
  • Average trip time: 18 minutes
  • 190,000 annual pass holders
  • 42% of users are female, 58% are male
  • 1/3 of users come from outside the central city
  • 17% of users are 46+ years old
  • 94% of users like the service

These results are highly impressive. The stats that amazed me the most are the number of trips to date and the percentage of female users. As Velib’ is not yet one year old, there are still about two months of trips still to be made which could equate to another 5 million trips, or a total of 25 million trips, before the anniversary of it’s launch date of July 15.

Having nearly the same percentage of female and male customers shows how mainstream bike-sharing has become in Paris. In cities where lesser bike cultures exist, such as those in North America, males tend to dominate bike usage by 3 to 1. Women are less likely to ride a bike when concerned about their safety compared to men. Men also tend to be generally more risk-taking and will ride in less safe street conditions. While not 50/50, this male/female customer demographic shows that women are using Velib’ confidently, so Paris has done a good job in creating safe bike facilities before the launch of the program.

Fantastique!

image credit: Velib’

isite radar and roundup monday 23rd june

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Last week was a busy one so not too much posting here, but below are a few of the items that caught my eye

Bristol is to become the first cycle city with 11 others – York, Stoke, Blackpool, Cambridge, Chester, Colchester, Leighton Buzzard, Southend, Shrewsbury, Southport and Woking – named as demonstration areas for the scheme. They will be added to the current six demonstration areas – Aylesbury, Brighton, Darlington, Derby, Exeter and Lancaster.

Last Saturday I led a benchmarkwalks walk in the English Lake District for a group of Facilities Management people. Great discussions over usability, eco towns, fm sustainability, fm in Cape Town shanty towns and the future of fm.  An emerging topic from the conference earlier in the week, and continued on the walk – the need for Aggressive Facilities Management

On blogs, Mel’s excellent article over at Elemental on Global air conditioning while Phil at ZeroChampion has an interesting post on Should we carbonize interest rates? and Pam over at Public Works talks from the trenches on investing in infrastruture in the face of credit crunch.

The Guardians articles that ‘revealed‘ the UK Governments blue print plans for a tougher approach to climate change. Many of which involved housing or buildings. Now why was this not included within the UK Government Strategy for Sustainable Construction. Joined up thinking, just in time thinking?

On a similar line a German town forces homes to fix solar tiles

Eco towns seem to be never out of the news with google alerts working overtime – has the opposition changed, from ‘we cant build zero carbon’, to ‘nimbyism’ to what now seems to be the ‘tescopolising’ of eco-towns. Next weeks headline? Eco towns ate my cat.  But today the Guardian reports on the forthcoming report that criticizes eco town proposals:

The choice of sites put on a shortlist to be England’s first ecotowns has been strongly criticised for their lack of adequate public transport links and other shortcomings by a government advisory panel.

George Monbiot on coal – We must leave the fossil century behind to reach the golden age of renewable energy, Mr Brown – making the important comment that its not what we do but what we stop doing

And finally, for now, much blogging and twittering of the planned be2camp event in London in October. here here and here

built environment events … coming soon

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News of up and coming events which in some way isite / fairsnape are involved or participating in. Information and contact links are included below but please feel free to leave comments or contact here for more information, or indeed for help on accessing the online events

(V indicates the event has virtual or online access elements, saving your travel and environmental footprint.)

Saturday 28th June. V

Open and Orientation day on the Public Works Island in Second Life. Your chance to pop into second life and see what all the fuss is about, get a guided tour around interesting construction activities, view environmental and education projects, talk to second life users and see how second life can help with your collaboration projects and meetings.

Details: Open Day register through the Public Works Group Web site,

July 1/2 V

Sustainability Now, Building‘s online conference organised by ZeroChampion blogger Phil Clark, is to take place from 8am to 8pm on the 1 and 2 July. From your home or office computer, visit this unique FREE online event and have the opportunity to Network with like-minded professionals; Hear from industry thought leaders; Visit the exhibition, and take part in Q&A sessions.

A series of live online seminar topics are planned  including “EPCs – Surviving Them Now and Assessing their Impact” and “The Cost of the Code for Sustainable Homes”.

Details: Sustainability Now virtual conference

July 10th

Best Practice Procurement and Support. A Lancashire Best Practice drop-in event hosted by UCLAN, (University of Central Lancashire)  in Preston. Find out the ‘best practice’ issues your customers are looking for in procurement and seek assistance from the ‘best practice’ support organisations. There will also be a series of mini presentations throughout the day and a chance to network and chat.

Details: Latest event news here

July 16th

Route to Zero improvement module as part of the Elevate Constructing the Future programme.  An early evening event to learn about starting out on a route towards low or zero carbon future for your organisation

Details: Route to Zero . Register through Constructing the Future here

October (date to be fixed but between 10-17) V

be2camp. A planned event to discuss and explore the use of web 2.0 technologies and applications for built environment activities.  The event is being organised on non-conference and bar-camp ideas, which means you can get involved in designing the event, speaking at the event, or providing support and sponsorship. This event is already attracting much interest in the UK, the USA and Australia.

Details:  be2camp wiki, blogs

October 29th / 30th V

Elevate’s Constructing The Future national sustainability conference.  Details to follow but get the date into your diary now.

Note that it is planned to host a Best Practice Club Question Time Event on the evening of October 29th

Details: background competition contact for more info

Watch this space for more events and updates

sustainable stars

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Friend and colleague Liz Mutch at Creative Concern has sent over details of the Sustainable Stars programme:

Constructing The Future are looking for the best examples of sustainability from across the Pennine Lancashire area, in a new competition launched this month. The project aims to uncover the unsung green heroes of the region who are doing their bit to promote sustainable practices across wide range of activities.

From house builders, to technology providers, community groups to eco decorators Constructing The Future are searching out projects that can show others how it is done and to increase the awareness of sustainability across Pennine Lancashire towns.

The 13 categories within the Sustainable Stars include sections for the best heritage renovation, most innovative use of renewable technology, a waste management and recycling award and a prize for the best eco home builder. There are also categories for the general public and community groups including the best eco home renovation which includes any improvement made to a home from eco paints to a solar panel.

The competition is free to enter and every project will have the chance to be included in the Sustainable Stars exhibition and book. The culmination of the competition will be an awards ceremony at Elevate’s Constructing The Future national sustainability conference to be held at the end of October in Burnley.

If you are involved in a project or know of one that could be suitable for a Sustainable Star and you live in the Pennine Lancashire area, we want to hear from you!

Please contact catherine hackett Project Administrator, Constructing the Future Elevate East Lancashire for more information or download the application form here