Category Archives: News

3DCamp

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Suddenly find myself with the possibility of speaking about our second life activities on the Public Works Island and International Eco Code Park at the 3DCamp in Limerick on the 24th May.

By a coincidence I will be travelling through Limerick that day. The event will be live within second life, through twitter with questions to speakers via tweets. A right old mash up !!

so what is it?

3Dcamp is a themed Barcamp which will focus on virtual worlds (Second Life, the Metaverse), mirror worlds (Google Earth and Virtual Earth), mapping mashups, GPS, Location based Services (LBSs), haptics (eg. Wiimote hacks), 3D modelling (Blender, Sketchup) and all things 3D. Essentially the internet beyond the 2D browser.

Everybody is welcome, from users to entrepreneurs, developers, interaction designers, sociologists, artists and business people. More details to follow…

When: Saturday 24th May 2008
Where: Engineering Research Building, University of Limerick
Start & Finish: 10am start, 5pm’ish finish

on the zero carbon house

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Barratt Developments has unveiled what it calls the first zero-carbon house developed by a volume housebuilder, built at the Buildings Research Establishment in Watford, packed with the latest technology, including solar panels, rainwater harvesting and an air source heat pump.

Its new kind of concrete walls and floors, combined with super insulation and triple-glazed windows, means its heat requirement will be minimal as it is airtight. Fresh air is brought into the building through a heat exchanger, which extracts the heat from outgoing stale air and puts it back into the house.

Mark Clare, chief executive of Barratt, said it would not be easy to reduce the cost of the prototype to commercial levels but he was confident it could be done. The important thing, he added, was to build houses that people would buy.

The public and builders still need to be convinced, according to the NHBC Foundation report, and it would seem todays kids – who will buy the homes – Kids dream homes – whose dream homes aren’t high on eco features.

The UK Green Building Council released a report this week defining what a zero-carbon house should be in practice. This is likely to form the basis of the legislation that the government is soon going to work on.

Housebuilders had been unhappy at the costs of going zero carbon and had wanted to be able to invest in off-site renewable energy such as wind turbines that would be cheaper for them. But the government is likely to endorse the GBC proposals that a zero-carbon house should produce almost all its energy on site or very near by in, say, a communal heat and power system.

Barratt plans rolling out its zero-carbon homes on the site of Hanham Hall hospital near Bristol. It will build 200 of them, a third of which will be affordable to lower-income buyers. All will be code level six and will completed in 2011, five years ahead of the deadline.

Source

rethinking construction – ten years after

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From Constructing Excellence:

Reviewing change in the UK construction industry and the next ten years, your chance to shape the future of the industry by learning from the past

CE are reviewing the last ten years of improvement and its impact, kick-started by John Egan‘s landmark report – Rethinking Construction – and before that the Latham Report – Constructing the Team, llooking forward to the next ten years as well, and seek your views as an opinion former in the UK construction sector.  Looking for your views, on how the projects you work on have changed over the last decade or so and what you think the drivers for change are, or should be, for the future.

We aim to discover what has been achieved; who has benefited, and how; and what now needs to change. Our findings will form part of the basis for a major new industry report which seeks to set the agenda for the next ten years, so in completing this survey you will be helping to set the future agenda. The survey can be found at: http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/survey/EganPlus10.jsp

You can register at the end of the survey to receive a copy of the report, so you can see how its findings may affect you and your company in the future. Thank you in advance for your help, in enabling us to continue the process of improvement essential for the future prosperity of the UK built environment sector.

eco town round up

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My google alert for eco-towns has being spewing forth over the last couple of days, collectively painting a picture of the current reactions to eco-towns across the country. First up is Wayne’s piece from Building:

Wayne Hemingway on eco-towns: Ready to rumble
The shortlist for England’s 10 eco-towns is out but now the real contest begins. With the winners due to be announced by the end of the year we brought eco-town supporter Wayne Hemingway and eco-town protester Myles Pollock together to …

FORD ECO-TOWN: Campaigners say no to government ‘eco-madness’
Bognor Today – Chichester,England,UK
“Yet they want to start building eco-towns by 2010/11, which is going to mean five or six years of substantial construction traffic and the first households …

Blow for eco town plans
Norwich Evening News – Norwich,England,UK
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has signalled how he wants 10 new eco towns built around the country and a proposal for the Coltishall site is the only one in …

Outcry over Selby eco-towns shortlist
Yorkshire Post – Leeds,England,UK
Last month the Government announced the sites around the UK where eco-towns are likely to be built. They left the last slot on the shortlist open, …

Ready to rumble
By Emily Wright The shortlist for England’s 10 eco-towns is out but now the real contest begins. With the winners due to be announced by the end of the year …

Policies set for conflict
PlanningResource (subscription) – London,England,UK
Ministerial proposals for handling eco-towns will only add to the massive difficulties councils already face in operating the plan-led system, …

The Eco-town debate
BirminghamMail.net – Birmingham,UK
CHRONIC housing shortages coupled with government targets to become ‘greener’ have given rise to the idea of eco-towns. These new settlements will be the …

Eco-town shortlist all local
Selby Times – UK
We don’t need these so-called eco-towns, which are anything but eco-friendly. “Housing shouldn’t be built just to meet the Prime Minister’s targets. …

FORD ECO-TOWN: Eight to lead in-depth inquiry into Ford project
Shoreham Today – Worthing,England,UK
This is in contrast to the government’s private decision-making which led to Ford being chosen as one of 15 possible locations for the ten eco-towns it …

ECO-TOWN DETAILS REVEALED
Leicester Mercury – Leicester,England,UK
The Pennbury plans have been put on a Government shortlist of 15 possible eco-towns, which will be cut down to a final 10 in October. …

Prince’s eco-town gets green light

Environmental Data Interactive – UK
“The design vision for Sherford begins to address the house building challenge that Government has laid out when it speaks of eco-towns. …

FORD ECO-TOWN: Councillors abstain in eco-town vote
Shoreham Today – Worthing,England,UK
The recommendation had to be amended twice because the original phrase, which attacked the principle of eco-towns in the district, worried members who were …

government overcrowding England
Telegraph.co.uk – United Kingdom
And, paradoxically, the dumping of whole new towns in the middle of the English countryside is all right as long as they are labelled “eco-towns“. …

Revolt against plans for 200000 eco-homes
Telegraph.co.uk – United Kingdom
Last month ministers unveiled a shortlist of 15 sites across England that will eventually be whittled down to 10 eco-towns. The towns will have green …

Eco-towns: Living a greener future
By lilyheart
2008 looks at the potential of so-called “eco-towns”. Eco-towns are intended to be “a combined response to three challenges: climate change, the need for more sustainable living and the need to increase housing supply. …

Think08 reviews and posts

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On route to Think08 today so watch this space for live twitters and blog posts, so if you are attending and see me – please say hi !

Comments, reviews and posts from Think08 will also be carried by the group of UK bloggers who are meeting up later today at Think08, including:

carbonlimited

Elemental

extranet evolution

sustainability blog

zero carbon ‘floating’ development for Preston

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Green, innovative and zero carbon project development on our doorstep in Preston, Lancs, !

The RIBA have recently awarded a zero carbon design as the visitor center at the new Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve in Preston, to regenerate a former quarry site into a major visitor attraction.

The project called “A Floating World”, consists of zero-carbon floating buildings (the name coming from the fact that the zero-carbon buildings will be built on an island of floating pontoons)

Adam Khan Architects, won the RIBA design competition to work on the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Britain’s largest eco-regeneration scheme. The project is zero-carbon in both use and production, with materials of low embodied energy – thatch, willow, timber, with off-site prefabrication and on-site energy generation and waste treatment.

Floating world will feature cafe, shops, gallery, education areas and meeting rooms and is part of the £59 million Newlands Scheme, a project that will turn 900 hectares to community woodland and green space.

On announcement of the winner, Peter White, Head of Infrastructure & Development at the Northwest Regional Development Agency said:

“This site has the potential to become an important visitor attraction for the region, building on its rich natural assets and impressive biodiversity. The Agency is supporting its development through Newlands, a wide reaching scheme that aims to reclaim brownfield land and transform it into thriving community open spaces, and has so far invested £800,000 in Brockholes. The chosen design will not only create an inspirational open space for the local community to enjoy but will also enhance a key gateway into Lancashire and attract further investment into the area. We look forward to working with our partners to progress these plans.”

More on this as the project develops …

isite radar 30 april

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Prime Minister, Gordon Brown MP has become the latest politician to give his support to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) “Building a Greener Britain” campaign. (press release)

Homeowners are not informed or prepared for the lifestyle changes needed to live in zero carbon homes, according to research launched by the NHBC Foundation. (April 2008)  The report, Zero carbon: what does it mean for homeowners and housebuilders? identifies the attitudes of homeowners and builders towards the 2016 zero carbon agenda and the Code for Sustainable Homes. And draws the obvious conclusions – home owners dont want zero carbon, 100% sealed homes, and, builders think they will be too expensive.

Raven Housing Trust, housing association,  the first inhabited flats in the UK built to “level 5” on the Code for Sustainable Homes scorecard.

resource efficiency could save construction industry millions

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The latest report from the EA (The Environment Agency Science Report – The economic and environmental benefits of resource efficiency in construction ) calls for better resource management in construction. For this to happen, the report recommends Continue reading →

interseasonal heat transfer

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Pams second post on snow and ice clearance over at Public Works blog, reminded me of two items I had collected into my google notebook for future isite posts.

The GuardianReported in the Guardian Friday last Under Road heaters may beat snow and ice , the Highways Agency plans to install pipes underneath a section of road to gather solar energy in summer and recirculate it in winter. Experts hope the scheme could be a way to treat the roads which are the first to freeze.

The scheme, known as interseasonal heat transfer, or IHT, will lay a network of plastic pipes filled with water just below the road surface. In summer, when road temperatures can reach 40C, the water is warmed and pumped to pipes insulated with polystyrene. In winter, when sensors detect the temperature at 2C, warm water is pumped back under the road to heat the ground and prevent ice forming.

Also a Guardian mp3 audio item to download Which discusses the technology and approach to using IHT on UK roads.

Too cool for schools – featuring a pièce de résistance of the building as the construction of the world’s first IHT system underneath the playground. IHT will take heat from the sunshine that falls on the tarmac playground, then stores it and releases it in the winter to heat the school.

new sustainability forum

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I really should promote Phil’s new sustainability forum at Building.  There is a danger of being awash with forums and blogs and comments, but the caliber of those registered so far gives this forum much promise.

Now trying to sort out the RSS feed from the forum into my igoogle homepage, and wondering how long before twittering tweets appear within the sustainability question section.

Good luck Phil and team …