For an excellent and refreshing read of a collaborative project that is aligned to and sensitive to nature, read the the account of the new fishing store development at LL Bean (an old haunt of mine when living in New England many years back) on the Building Design and Construction website
To reinforce that we cannot address sustainability, carbon reduction and waste management from a hearts and minds, save the planet for future generations, common sense point of view and approach, JCT have started a consultation process as to which sustainability items should be made contractual within JCT forms of contract, as in legally binding commitments.
Details are on the JCT site
One of the consultation questions allows you to choose from a list of themes you would like seen as a contractual issue (see below), which gives a pretty good indication of what JCT is thinking.
Would the sustainability contract be with client and contractor, or all, as per the JCT Constructing Excellence Collaborative Contract (one would hope!). Or following a growing school of thought that that the earth should have ‘legal status’, hence with the earth itself?
Which would you like to see as a contractual clause:
| Carbon emissions associated with construction process |
| Carbon emissions associated with the end use of the ‘project’ |
| Commercial vehicle movements |
| Consumption of energy during construction process |
| Consumption of energy associated with the end use of the ‘project’ |
| Consumption of water during construction process |
| Consumption of water associated with the end use of the ‘project’ |
| Economic sustainability in construction supply chain |
| Maintenance or optimisation of biodiversity |
| Origin of construction materials |
| Waste management in construction process |
| Waste management associated with the end use of the ‘project’ |
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.
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.
Face it – the on line web cast from Architecture 2030 is now available to watch on-line
Sub titled Turn it Around, Watch and start to understand the impact the built environment has on global warming, the impact the built environment has on demanding power from coal fired power station – and the proposed solution – stop and replace the demand on coal!
Also available for educational use is the 2007 Global Emergency Teach-in
Manchester city council is embarking on an ambitious plan to tackle global warming by controlling all aspects of the city’s energy supply by 2020. Report – Guardian 31 Jan
Excellent news, that will put it in the league of other cities around the world with similar aspirations.
As it appears to be a daunting goal, the council has produced a strategy which includes bite-size targets in three key areas; commercial, domestic and transport.
However, will this drive improvement in the energy and domestic and commercial built environment sectors ? Will universities, academia and collages in the region gear up to be able to deliver the skills required – (the track record dosen’t look good).
Also that date 2020 – how does that tie in with all the other milestones for acheiving zero or low carbon in the built environment sector?
Good to see Charles back into the discussion …. raising again a key and essential element of sustainability – of communities, of heritage and of sky lines.
Prince Charles locked horns with Lord Rogers and the architects of Britain’s skyscraper boom yesterday, warning that historic cities are at risk of being wrecked by a “rash” of “carbuncles” in the form of office and apartment towers.
Details of the Lancs Best Practice Club event on 12th Feb looking at sustainability targets, site waste management plans and carbon calculators are now available to download on the events page. Fittingly the event will be held at the Solaris Centre in Blackpool
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).
Details of the state of the art sustainable design (and construction) for Liverpool Lower Lee Special school were posted on Building website earlier this week. (Story, pictures and strategy)
The school is only targetting a Very Good BREEAM level accreditation – beacuase, according to Mouchels architect “An BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating would only be achievable with a considerably larger outlay on renewables,”
How does this square with Ed Balls announcement recently that wants all new school buildings to be zero-carbon by 2016 and has put a few million in the pot to help achieve this? see Zero Carbon Schools
And indeed how does it square with the (albeit draft) Construction Strategy for Sustainability that calls for public buildings to have BREEAM Excellent Assessments by 2008. Construction on Lower Lee finishes in 2009.
Where is the watchdog for all this?
Whilst Lower Lee has some fantastic sustainable design aspects and it is to applauded for that, this does raise the question – are we building schools for the future?
Fairsnape 