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Monday 10 February 2005
| Coming up next time (10 March): | |
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Research news |
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Case Studies |
Thanks to:
Everyone who replied to the readership survey. The first name ‘out of the hat’ for the book prize was Daniel Sant’Ana who is taking an MSc in Energy Efficient and Sustainable Building at Oxford Brookes University.
More details about the survey in the next issue.
We apologise that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we can’t bring you the full range of items we had planned for this month. But this issue does include a swift round-up of the news and announcements that have crossed the editor’s desk since last time. We hope to be back to full strength for the March issue - with more news, features and case studies. In the meantime, please do keep the ideas and comments coming in.
Send to: editor@get-sust.com.
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 |  |
Astounding lack of forethought on housing
The government’s plans for one million homes in the south east of England were criticised last week by an all-party group of MPs, who say that not enough thought has been given to the impact these homes will have.
The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee says that issues such as energy needs and transport had not been properly addressed in proposals put forward by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott. The Committee was ‘astounded’ that the government departments overseeing housing-related policies - Defra and ODPM - had not done anything to assess the overall environmental impact of these proposed ‘growth areas’ or the ‘sustainable communities plan’.
The Committee’s report, ‘Housing: Building a Sustainable Future’, says the industry doesn’t appreciate the need for substantial improvements in the way homes are built, and that the Building Regulations are not tough enough. It also says that unless significant steps are taken to reduce emissions from the housing sector it could account for 55% of the UK’s target carbon emissions by 2050, almost double today’s figure of around 30%. This would make it impossible for the government to achieve its reduction targets.
But the report did have a few positive ideas for Mr Prescott’s department to consider - such as reduced stamp duty for homes that achieve a certain standard of energy efficiency, and setting a clear timetable for achieving zero-emissions homes.
Learn more:
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• | Visit http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environmental_audit_committee.cfm |
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• | Download the report from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmenvaud.htm. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
More hot air in Westminster
A debate at the House of Lords last month left some young built-environment professionals feeling a bit hot under the collar.
At the event - staged by Sponge, and hosted by Lord Howie of Troon - two teams debated the motion: ‘Blow in or blow out: this house believes that expansion of wind power is the best way to fuel our future’. Reporting for Sponge, Henrietta Lynch of Fulcrum Consulting says that the audience lost patience with the teams, who exchanged hostilities with fervour. The problem was that both sides bombarded their opponents with statistics and ‘facts’. This was hard for the audience to follow, and ultimately had little effect on the outcome of the debate. At the start, a show of hands had indicated a majority in favour of the motion; and the result was the same at the end.
No doubt they were all relieved when the time came to adjourn to a local watering hole!
Learn more:
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• | The debate was held on 25 January
in Committee Room 4, at the House of Lords. Read Henrietta Lynch’s report on the Sponge website at http://www.spongenet.org/. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Professional accreditation for sustainable architects
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has launched an evidence-based professional accreditation in sustainability. The ‘Sustainable building design scheme’ is said to be the first of its kind in the world.
The scheme recognises the work of designers who have created sustainable buildings. The idea is to encourage other professionals - and their clients - to put sustainability on their agenda. It was developed by Gaia Research, with support from the DTI and the Ecological Building Society. A pilot for the scheme, which began in 2003, accredited 13 chartered architects in 2004. Buildings cited as evidence for the scheme must have been in use for at least one year.
Lori McElroy who runs the scheme says that, unlike convention schemes which assess the environmental characteristics of buildings around the world, this one tests the skills and experience of the designers, adding: ‘I hope this encourages other disciplines such as building services engineers to follow suit’.
Four chartered architects - Tom Morton of ARC Architects, Gokay Deveci of G Deveci Chartered Architect, John Gilbert of John Gilbert Architects, and Howard Liddell of Gaia Architects - presented their work at the launch ceremony. Each is accredited at a different level, but they all obtained a star rating for innovation.
Learn more:
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• | Full details are at http://www.rias.org.uk (choose ‘Need an Architect?’, then go to ‘RIAS Sustainable Design Accrediation’) |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Three-year sustainable homes project kicks off
The Sponge Sustainability Network is running a three-year research project that aims to build the market for sustainable lifestyles by demonstrating the case for sustainable homes.
The ‘Building the Market for Sustainable Lifestyles’ project will research, compile and disseminate information that demonstrates the benefits of sustainable homes and lifestyles. An industry group will be established to help steer and review the project.
The project is part-funded by Defra’s Environmental Action Fund (EAF).
Learn more:
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• | Contact Sonny Masero, Director of Sponge. E-mail: sonny@spongenet.org. |
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• | Visit the Sponge website at http://www.spongenet.org. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Insulating earth walls
Researchers at the University of Plymouth have developed an earth wall construction that meets the current UK Building Regulations.
Writing in the journal Energy and Buildings, Steven Goodhew and Richard Griffith review possible methods for thermally up-grading existing earth walls, by adding an internal insulated timber frame construction, and they report in detail on the practical aspects of testing the system they have developed. This comprises un-fired clay bricks, with paper, straw or wool cavity insulation. This was tested using a thermal probe technique and found to have a U-value of less than 0.35 W/m2 K.
Learn more:
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• | See: ‘Sustainable earth walls to meet the building regulations’ by Steven Goodhew and Richard Griffiths, Energy and Buildings Volume 37, Issue 5 , May 2005, pp 451-459 |
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• | The article is available on-line to Science Direct subscribers at http://www.sciencedirect.com. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
A cellar built of straw
California’s wine producers are developing a taste for green architecture. Architects Semmes and Co. of California, USA, have begun constructing a 2,500-square foot barrel storage facility for a winery. What’s different about this build is that the ‘above-ground cave’ is made primarily of straw bales covered in plaster. The thick walls should keep temperatures fairly constant, and eliminate the need for refrigeration units.
The facility will be a third more expensive than a traditional warehouse with a cooling system, but the client expects that up to 90 percent of the energy usually needed to cool a comparable building will be saved. In addition, it is a good way to recycle rice straw - the main material used - which is an agricultural waste product that doesn't decompose easily.
This is not the first time the straw bale technique has been tried in California. A similar building completed in 1995 is proving very popular with its owner, Claiborne & Churchill, which has created a special wine in honour of the building. It was designed by local architect Habitat Studio Architecture, which designs three or four straw bale structures each year.
Learn more:
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• | Source: ‘Straw walls stand
tall’, by Michaela Baltasar, The San Luis Obispo Tribune,
California, USA, posted on 28 January 2005. See http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/business/10757573.htm. |
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• | View pictures of the Claiborne & Churchill ‘cellar’ at http://www.habitatdesigns.com/projects/winery.html. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Greener wiring
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the most common insulation and jacketing material for wiring in buildings, because of its good flame resistance and low cost, but some of this insulation contains lead and halogen-based compounds, especially fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP).
A report in the US journal, Architectural Record, reviews the alternatives. One option is to use polyolefin products for wiring insulation, although these need flame resistant additives. Another option is to use fibre-optics. These cables, used to carry voice and data signals, require less insulation than copper wiring because they transmit light signals instead of electricity; they are also more energy-efficient.
Learn more:
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• | Source: ‘Getting Down to the Wire’, by Alex Wilson, Architectural Record, December 2004. http://archrecord.construction.com/features/digital/archives/0412feature-1.asp. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Predicting the performances of light pipes
A team at Napier University’s School of Engineering in Edinburgh has developed a model that describes the distribution of light from light pipe diffusers.
Light pipes are a simple way of directing daylight into interior spaces. The technique used by David Jenkins and his colleagues models the amount of light coming in, and takes into account pipe elbow pieces or bends. The output from the model is a ‘luxplot’ prediction for any given light pipe. This can be used to design configurations that maximise the potential of these daylight providers to suit any situation.
Learn more:
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• | See: ‘A design tool for predicting the performances of light pipes’, by David Jenkins, Tariq Muneer and Jorge Kubie, Energy and Buildings, Volume 37, Issue 5 , May 2005, pp 485-492 |
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• | The article is available on-line to Science Direct subscribers at http://www.sciencedirect.com. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Continuous productive urban landscapes:
Designing urban agriculture for sustainable cities
Edited by Andre Viljoen
Andre Viljoen, of Bohn and Viljoen Architects, is a senior lecturer at the School of Architecture and Design, University of Brighton. His new book is the first to present ‘urban agriculture’ - a new kind of sustainable urban landscape - to architects, landscape architects and urban designers. The book makes uses inspirational cities and settlements across the world to present a viable alternative to urban sprawl.
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• | Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes: Designing Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Cities, Edited by Andre Viljoen, is published by Architectural Press (ISBN: 0-7506-5543-7), priced 29.99 GBP. |
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• | Order copies from http://www.elsevier.com. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Environmental management systems
The new BS EN ISO 14001:2004 specifies the requirements of an Environmental Management System (EMS) to control and improve a company’s environmental performance. It supersedes ISO 14001:1996.
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• | BS EN ISO 14001:2004 (ISBN 0580447715) costs 96.00 GBP. Order a copy from http://www.tso.co.uk/bookshop. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Assessing building performance
Edited by Wolfgang FE Preiser and Jacqueline Vischer (Editor)
This book, which is suitable for students of environmental psychology, architectural programming, post-occupancy evaluation, and design methods, is a collection of essays from leading experts in building performance evaluation (BPE). The editors are from the University of Cincinnati, US and the University of Montreal, Canada, respectively, but the text includes case studies from around the world, including UK-based specialists such as Bill Bordass and Adrian Leaman.
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• | Check out the full contents list, or order a copy of Assessing Building Performance (ISBN: 0-7506-6174-7) at http://www.elsevier.com (price: 34.99 GBP). |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Free seminars on wood works
Wood for Good is running a series of free seminars that provide an overview of building sustainably with timber. The events use case studies to demonstrate why architects and engineers have used wood in their projects. The last in the series is:
| • | 2 March at 6.30pm - Craig White, of White Design will discuss his practice’s approach to context sensitive, integrated low-energy, low-environmental impact buildings such as Kingsmead Primary School. |
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• | These free events are held in conjunction with
the Building Centre Trust, at its London base: The Building
Centre, 26 Store Street, London, WC1. Visit http://www.buildingcentretrust.org. |
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• | Booking information is at http://www.woodforgood.com. Tel: 0800 2790016. |
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The 40% House conference
The Environmental Change Institute’s Lower Carbon Futures programme will launch its ‘40% House’ report, at the Royal Society in London on 23 March 2005.
This one-day conference will set out an agenda for low-carbon residential energy use in the UK, which will be of interest to architects, engineers and builders, researchers, and anyone with an interest in energy policy, climate change and the future of housing. The programme will include presentations from members of the ECI research team and Professor Tadj Oreszczyn of the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London.
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• | This is a free event, but places are limited,
so please register at http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/lowercf/40house_conference.htm. |
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• | Learn more about the project at http://www.40percenthouse.org.uk/About.htm. |
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• | Please send any queries to Rudra Kapila. E-mail: rudra.kapila@eci.ox.ac.uk. |
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Masters Programme: Leadership for Sustainable Development
Forum for the Future runs two programmes in leadership for sustainable development: one UK-based and a new international programme. Applications for 2005 entry to the UK programme are now open.
This ten-month programme combines intensive work-based learning with expert tuition, group learning, reflective practice and skills development. Students graduate with up-to-date knowledge of sustainability solutions, and the programme is validated as a Masters in Professional Studies by Middlesex University.
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• | To apply, download the prospectus and application form from http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk (go to ‘About us’, then choose Programmes & Projects: Education and Learning Programme). |
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• | For further enquiries, contact Tessa Carder. E-mail: t.carder@forumforthefuture.org.uk. |
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