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Friday 10 June 2005
Thanks to:
Earthscan for books to be reviewed
Acre Resources for assistance with this issue’s careers section
That end-of-term feeling
As the last newsletter of the 2004/05 academic session, this is a bumper issue, with a review of the recent Ecobuild conference, news round-up and full reviews and events sections. So, apologies for the length, but hope we’ve incorporated something for everyone.
Get Sust! is about to take a short break; we’ll be back on your desk-tops on 10 October. Over the next few months work will continue behind the scenes to prepare for the new academic year, with significant improvements to the Get Sust website - suggestions welcome please (e-mail: editor@get-sust.com).
We’re also investigating improvements to the Careers section of Get Sust!, so in this issue we’ve teamed up with Acre Resources, a recruitment agency that specialises in jobs in the environmental and sustainability sectors. Scroll down to see two current vacancies which we hope will be of interest. Acre has numerous other positions to fill and is keen to speak to potential candidates. Please contact them (Tel: 020 8584 5299), and don’t forget to mention Get Sust!.
Thanks also to the people and companies who took part in last month’s trial Candidate Profiles service. This was a success and may well re-appear in October.
Finally, a reminder that if you are moving on to a new course, a new employer, or have simply changed your e-mail address, please update your subscription to Get Sust via the website at http://www.get-sust.com/signup/default.html. (Please don’t use a Hotmail e-mail address, as these tend to have a short shelf-life, and we’d hate to lose you. Thanks.)
As usual, please do keep the ideas and comments coming in. Send to: editor@get-sust.com.
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 |  |
Back to the future at Ecobuild
I’ve never done it myself, but I assume that organising a conference is a bit like having a party. You think of a ‘theme’, invite the guests, organise some food and drink, and sit waiting for everyone to arrive. But once they turn up, things are never quite as you’d expected, especially if your best friend can’t make it, or gate-crashers descend. So I’m sure the organisers of Ecobuild (24 and 25 May) won’t be surprised to hear that their event wasn’t quite what I expected.
Courtesy of London Underground, I arrived a little later than planned at the first day of the Ecobuild conference, and for a moment I thought the lift to the fourth floor of the QE II Conference Centre had been masquerading as a Tardis and swept me off to a different time-zone. On the speaker’s platform stood architect Quinlan Terry, telling an audience expecting to hear about ‘designing and building a sustainable future’ that they’d got it all wrong, that innovation is not necessary, and that they should ‘reject our whole modernistic system of building and re-discover what our forefathers have handed down to us’.
Mr Terry criticised his fellow architects who, for the past 50 years, had built cities of metal, glass and plastics that are neither durable nor recyclable. He stated his case firmly, basing his argument on a data table that the audience had been handed as they entered the conference hall. The table assessed various construction materials and methods in terms of longevity, carbon emissions in manufacture, thermal mass, ability to be recycled and thermal movement; and scored them from A to C. Under Terry’s scheme solid masonry walls (brick or stone in lime mortar) up to five storeys high with dry lining insulation scored straight As, as did timber windows with secondary glazing, whereas steel-framed buildings with brick or glass cladding of eight storeys or more ranked bottom of his league, with all Cs. Glass wall double- or triple-glazing, aluminium and PVC double-glazed windows were singled out for particularly criticism (also scoring a row of Cs) because they often have poor seals, have to be replaced more frequently, and encourage designers to introduce larger windows that reduce thermal mass and introduce the possibility of more draughts.
Contentious stuff - the more so because Mr Terry later told me that the ratings he had given in the table were based partly on his own experience and ‘reading around the subject’ (e.g. the Green Guide and other BRE documents) and not purely on empirical and independently assessed data. Next on the list to speak was Stefan Behling of Norman Foster & Partners, who would surely have something to say about Mr Terry’s world view.
And that’s where the atmosphere took an unexpected turn. The anticipated verbal spat between the traditionalists and the modernists failed to materialise because Mr Behling was unable to attend. The presentations moved swiftly on to more general issues, with acceptable though predictable presentations from representatives of Greenpeace, the WWF, the Housing Corporation, and Michael Ankers (CEO of the Construction Products Association) who gave an update on the Code for Sustainable Buildings.
As it turned out, Quinlan Terry’s presentation set the ‘back to the future’ tone for the rest of my day at Ecobuild, the highlight of which was a presentation on lime mortar by Ian Pritchett (see below).
Notably, timber-framed construction was not mentioned in Terry’s table; and the various aspects of building with wood were scheduled for discussion on Day 2. Perhaps if I had attended Day 2 I would have had a totally different perspective on this new event in the conference calendar.
Learn more:
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• | Presentations from both days of the inaugural Ecobuild Conference can be accessed at http://www.ecobuild.co.uk. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
It's time to love lime
Ian Pritchett is a man with an unusual passion: lime mortar. He’s positively evangelical about its environmental benefits, as visitors to last month’s Ecobuild conference discovered. Few people can talk for 90 minutes on such a ‘dry’ subject and keep it both entertaining and informative.
Pritchett’s thesis is compelling. Lime is extracted from limestone (calcium carbonate) by heating at more than 900°C. The process emits carbon dioxide to the atmosphere leaving highly reactive calcium oxide, to which water is added. The resulting lime can be mixed with aggregate to make mortar and - here’s the clever bit - when the mortar dries out it takes up as much atmospheric carbon dioxide as had been released when the original limestone was heated.
Admittedly, heat energy, transport energy and so on are used during the extraction process, but when it comes to inorganic construction materials, lime is about as environmentally friendly as you can get. The more so because of its role in recycling materials.
Lime mortar is proven to be structurally strong (we’ve been using it for 8000 years), but it is also relatively soft and can be cleaned from the face of bricks so that they can be recycled. With the UK brick industry making some 3 billion bricks a year, using lime-based mortar presents a significant opportunity for recycling. For example, the National Trust has specified lime mortar for its new headquarters which is nearing completion.
Lime Technology Ltd, Pritchett’s company, has been working hard to make it easier to use lime mortars - developing a silo-based site delivery system, for example. But Ecobuild visitors were also given a preview of his novel twist on an age-old building technique: lime-hemp blocks.
This technology is the outcome of a DTI-funded research project, and has already been used in the construction of two houses at Haverhill, which were the subject of a recent study by the Building Research Establishment. Hemp absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide as it grows, and Pritchett reported that it does so in sufficient quantities to off-set the energy needed to manufacture the blocks. For every 1kg of material produced, 1.7kg of carbon dioxide is saved.
With the technology proven, Pritchett is moving on to ‘greater’ things. His next project is for Suffolk-based traditional brewer Adnams, which is planning to build a huge warehouse distribution centre that will incorporate 100,000 lime/hemp blocks and a ‘living’ roof. The project is due on site in September 2005. So let’s all raise a glass to a promising new material and traditional beer with not a trendy slice of lime in sight...
Learn more:
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• | View Ian Pritchett's presentation to Ecobuild at http://www.ecobuild.co.uk. |
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• | Contact Ian Pritchett of Lime Technology Ltd. E-mail: info@limetechnology.co.uk. See http://www.limetechnology.co.uk. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Your chance to view EPBD tool
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has commissioned the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and FaberMaunsell to develop a National Calculation Methodology (NCM) for the energy performance of non-domestic buildings. When complete, this tool will be used to show compliance with the forthcoming Building Regulations in the UK and to produce the Building Energy Performance Certificates that will be required by the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
BRE is inviting all interested parties to access and test the software which has been developed for carrying out this calculation.
Learn more:
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• | The tool can be accessed
at http://www.ncm.bre.co.uk where
you can also give your feedback. The first round of comments must be submitted by 24 June. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
More recycled aggregate for Scotland
A new aggregates recycling facility opened in Scotland in May. The plant - managed by Eagle Recycling (UK) Ltd and part-funded via the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) - is able to produce over 92,000 tonnes of recycled aggregate per year. Ross Finnie, the Scottish Executive Minister who opened the facility, said that such facilities represent a double benefit for the construction industry, because companies can both recycle their waste and buy recycled aggregates, saving money and increasing the sustainability of new construction projects.
Learn more:
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• | Contact Eagle Recycling (UK) Ltd. Tel: 01577 840010. E-mail: kathy@eagle-developments.co.uk. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
The university for sustainable construction
'Building' magazine reports that the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) is backing proposals for a new specialist university to be established in the East Midlands. The small news item (13 May, page 14) says that the university will open its doors to new students in 2007, and that it will offer undergraduate and post-graduate degrees and technical courses on sustainable construction.
Learn more:
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• | See ‘Sustainable building college’, Building, 13 May 2005, p14. |
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• | See the next issue of Get Sust! for follow-up information. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Design award for multi-purpose pavers
Joseph Hagerman, a US-based scientist and entrepreneur, has received a design award for his clever paving solution. The Biopaver is a system of interlocking concrete paving blocks that allows rainwater to permeate (thus preventing excessive run-off) and prevents pollutants from entering the soil. At the heart of each paver is a biodegradable core that contains seeds of phyto-remediating plants and nutrients to help them grow. The pavers are laid in the usual way, but once the elements set to work, the core breaks down, the plants can grow, and as they do so, they absorb pollutants from the atmosphere and from rainwater (phyto-remediation).
The new system received an award in the Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition, organised by the US-based magazine 'Metropolis'.
Learn more:
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• | See Metropolis, Jun 05, p 170 at http://www.metropolismag.com. |
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• | View the product at http://www.biopaver.com/. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Hydrogen-powered domestic CHP system
A hydrogen-powered domestic combined heat and power (CHP) system has received full performance and safety approvals, and its developers are now preparing to bring their innovative product to market. The system, developed by the Black Country Housing Group, is based on a hydrogen fuel-cell which has been used in trials to provide enough power and domestic hot-water for a new-build house that has virtually no space-heating load. The developers hope that their system could be a successful alternative to carbon-based fuels for domestic heating and electricity requirements.
Learn more:
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• | Contact
Richard Baines of Black Country Housing
and Community Services Ltd. E-mail: bainesr@bcha.co.uk. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
New journal for design and management
‘Architectural Engineering and Design Management’ is a new peer-reviewed journal published by James and James that aims to 'bridge the gap between architectural abstraction and engineering practice'. It will cover the latest research in architectural technology, engineering design, building performance and building design management. Its editor is Dino Bouchlaghem, Professor of Architectural Engineering at Loughborough University.
The first issue comprises an interesting combination of theoretical and review articles. For example, in ‘An approach to developing a performance brief at the project inception stage’, Jim Smith, Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, describes how a ‘strategic needs analysis’ (SNA) was used to gather and interpret information from the client in a project to build a community library. In particular he describes how client stakeholders took part in workshops to discuss, propose and identify strategic options for the library, and how their responses were analysed using ‘Situation Structuring’ and ‘Strategizer’ software programmes. The outcome of the analyses was a set of performance indicators which then formed the basis of the final performance brief.
In their paper, ‘A Hierarchical Design Optimization Approach for Meeting Building Performance Targets’ US-based researchers R Choudhary, PY Papalambros, and A Malkawi report the use of Analytic Target Cascading (ATC) in the design of the thermal and HVAC system of one floor of a healthcare facility. ATC is a technique that uses numerical optimisation to evaluate interrelated design-analysis tasks. The objective is to improve the decision-making process. In the example described, the ATC process is used to co-ordinate the dependencies between HVAC, energy and thermal comfort, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis tools.
Derek Clements-Croome, who is based at the School of Construction Management and Engineering, The University of Reading, sets a slightly different tone.
‘A building and its environment can help people produce better work, because they are happier and more satisfied when their minds are concentrated on the job at hand; building design can help to achieve this,’ he writes, in his paper ‘Designing the Indoor Environment for People’. He then assesses the importance of the indoor environment to people’s well-being, reviewing the existing literature, and proposing that an holistic approach to design of the indoor environment will provide healthier and more sustainable workplaces.
Also in the first issue:
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• | ‘A study of Virtual Team Working and Associated Technologies within the UK Construction Industry’ by D R Moore and M Abadi (of The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and UMIST, respectively. |
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• | ‘nD Modelling for Collaborative Working in Construction’ by Ghassan Aouad, Angela Lee and Song Wu, of the University of Salford. |
Learn more:
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• | Subscribe to this new journal, or view details of how to submit papers at http://www.earthscan.co.uk/defaultAEDM.asp?sp=&v=6. |
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• | Contact Jon Raeside, Marketing Manager, Earthscan/James & James. E-mail: Jon.Raeside@jxj.com. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Designing with solar power: a source book for building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)
Editors: Deo Prasad and Mark Snow
Only 14 percent of the energy radiated by the Sun reaches the earth’s surface, because the rest is filtered out by the atmosphere. Nevertheless, this is 2,800 times more than our current global energy needs. The premise of this book is that:
‘If BIPV is considered for incorporation as a matter of course for all rebuilding, new development and property upgrading, the vision of cities becoming overall energy suppliers rather than profligate energy consumers becomes an achievable goal.’
‘Designing with solar power’ is based on five years’ work by 30 international experts on buildings-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The studies were carried out as part of the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems programme (IEA PVPS), but are based on cumulative expertise dating back to the mid-1990s.
BIPV combines solar PV electricity technologies with conventional building construction technologies. The significant difference between BIPV and straightforward installation of PV panels lies in the word ‘integration’ - which in this case signals the interdependence and interaction between the power-generation equipment and the overall functionality of the building. Fully integrated PV will have an effect on all aspects of the building, from orientation to selection of other materials; and designing for BIPV is a multi-disciplined activity, involving architects, structural engineers, building services engineers and other disciplines.
The first two chapters of this book give a thorough yet accessible introduction to the theory, economics and politics of PV technologies, and present a list of ‘good BIPV design criteria’ which was developed as part of the IEA PVPS project.
The case studies (Chapter 3) form the bulk of the book. Arranged in alphabetical order by country (which, serendipitously, means that the Australian editors’ project is first in the list), each report includes: background and project brief; design issues; performance analysis; lessons learnt; post-installation feedback; cost data; and planning issues (where relevant). Feedback comments do not gloss over the potential problems. For example, the case of the ABZ apartments in Switzerland (where photovoltaic panels were retrofitted to 1970s buildings) describes residents’ concerns raised at the planning stage. They were worried about possible electromagnetic resonance. Modified AC inverters were installed to allay some of their worries.
One of the strengths of this book is its international perspective. Examples studied include residential buildings at the Olympic Village in Sydney; on the roof of a high-rise office block in Toronto, Canada; the Brundtland Centre, Denmark (roof and facade system); and the DoCoMo building, Tokyo - an integrated PV facade on a building that is over 200m high. The UK examples are of the Jubilee Campus, Nottingham University and the Solar Office, Doxford International Business Park. Full contact details for each of the case studies are given in an appendix, where the reader will also find a list of useful websites.
After the case studies there are more chapters covering non-building PV structures (such as bus shelters and canopies etc); design tools; technical issues such as connectivity, grid connection, and maintenance; and costs, barriers, and marketing issues.
Photovoltaic technology is developing rapidly, but this book will provide the reader with an excellent grounding in the principles and there are plenty of photographs of existing projects to add inspiration.
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• | 'Designing with solar power: a source book for building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)', Deo Prasad and Mark Snow (Eds) is published by Earthscan Books (ISBN 1844071472; 256 pages, hardback), priced 50.00GBP. Order copies at http://www.earthscan.co.uk (10 percent discount for orders placed before 30 June). |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Natural ventilation in the urban environment; assessment and design
Editors: Cristian Ghiaus and Francis Allard
Part of the Buildings, Energy and Solar
Technology (BEST) series, edited by Mateo
Santamouris, this book is based on the
work of the researchers involved in the
EU project ‘URBVENT: Natural ventilation
in the urban environment’. The
project aimed to create a methodology
(embedded in software) for assessing
the potential and feasibility of natural
ventilation in the urban environment
- for architects, designers and decision-makers
- and this book is the culmination of
their work. In this respect, it is far
more than a text book, because it incorporates
a CD carrying the software tool developed
by the project for assessing the natural
ventilation potential (NVP) of a site
(and hence the 65.00GBP price ticket).
The
methodology and tools presented here have
been tested by the software developers,
by end-users and the project integrator.
The book’s editors
(of University of La Rochelle, France)
co-ordinated the URBVENT project; and
the individual chapters have been written
by project collaborators and peer-reviewed.
The NVP evaluation method
is presented in Chapter 10. Before that,
chapters explain the physics of natural
ventilation, and the forces that can impact
on natural ventilation strategies - such
as wind velocities, noise, pollution, building
design and the urban landscape. There is
also an analysis of the various natural
ventilation options (such as combined wind-and
buoyancy-driven ventilation); a discussion
on the theory of fluid dynamics; and a
presentation of a ‘new concise algorithm
for air speed in street canyons’,
which was derived from experiments in Athens.
The final chapter looks at whole life costing
of ventilation options.
The
chapters present detailed technical information
in an peer-reviewed journal style, which
does not make for light reading, but the
book and, more significantly, the software
tool will be a useful addition to the practitioners’ bookshelf.
|
• | ‘Natural ventilation in the urban environment; assessment and design’, Cristian Ghiaus and Francis Allard (eds), is published by Earthscan Books (ISBN 1844071294; 256 pages, hardback); price 65.00GBP. Order copies at http://www.earthscan.co.uk (10 percent discount for orders placed before 30 June). |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Architecture week event at CAT
The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) at Machnylleth, Mid-Wales, is running a specialist tour of its buildings during Architecture Week (20-27 June). The tour will include a visit to the renowned AtEIC (Autonomous Environmental Information Centre) building, as well as other buildings around the site that use traditional slate and timber frames, straw-bale and rammed earth constructions and their integrated renewable energy systems.
The special guided tour takes place at 2pm on Tuesday 21 June. The tour is free to all visitors who have paid for admission to CAT.
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• | Contact Sandra Cutler. E-mail: info@cat.org.uk or visit http://www.cat.org.uk. |
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Tour the M25’s latest landmark
Renewable Energy Systems Group (RES), one of the largest wind energy companies in the world, is inviting members of the public to an open day at its sustainable head office at Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, where the company’s wind turbine has become a popular landmark with commuters who use the neighbouring M25.
This is a chance for the whole family to learn more about wind power, solar energy, biomass and sustainable architecture. But beware - this is a car-free event (disabled parking available). Visitors coming on foot, by bicycle or public transport will be rewarded!
The event is on Saturday 25 June, from 10am to 5pm, and features tours, renewable energy displays, childrens' activities, exhibits, green stalls and refreshments.
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• | For more information, see http://www.beaufortcourt.com. E-mail: info@res-ltd.com. |
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Sustainable procurement
Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment and the Sustainability Forum are holding a breakfast briefing on the theme of 'sustainable procurement'. The briefing is on Thursday 30 June from 8.30am until 10.00am at the Constructing Excellence’s offices in central London.
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• | For more information contact the CE events team. E-mail: helpdesk@constructingexcellence.org.uk or see http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk. |
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Meeting the demands of a sustainability brief - CPD Seminar
BRE is holding a half-day seminar in Watford on 19 July 2005, to provide developers, clients, designers and contractors with an overview of the principles of sustainable construction.
The seminar will include demonstrations of how the BREEAM and EcoHomes environmental assessment schemes can be used to help meet sustainability targets. Workshop sessions will discuss issues that are of specific concern to housing and offices and the environmental assessment process will be explained.
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• | The cost of attending this event is £100 per delegate (excl.VAT). All candidates will receive a CPD certificate for three hours. |
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• | Contact Rose Lester at BRE. E-mail: breeam@bre.co.uk. |
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Forward planning - resource05
resource05, which runs from 13-15 September at BRE’s Watford headquarters, is a conference and exhibition that focuses on low-carbon, energy-efficient and renewable energy solutions for domestic, non-domestic and community applications. This year’s event features a ‘Sustainable Communities Day (15 September), and a ‘Renewables Heat Pavilion’ run by the National Energy Foundation (NEF).
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• | Details of the conference programme and booking forms are now available at http://www.resource05.co.uk/programme.html. |
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Senior sustainability consultant - London
A leading global construction consultancy with a growing sustainability team is looking to recruit a senior consultant with experience in BREEAM and EcoHomes assessment tools. Salary: 35,000-40,000 GBP plus benefits.
Candidates should be enthusiastic, technically excellent, and have a minimum of four years’ experience in sustainable construction. This is an excellent opportunity to develop your career, and will have exposure to key decision makers in many of the UK's largest development and construction companies.
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• | For more information contact Acre Resources. Tel: 020 8584 5299. See http://www.acre-resources.co.uk. Please quote reference: GS499. |
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Sustainable buildings consultant - Oxfordshire
This position is working within one of Europe’s largest environmental consultancies. They are looking for Senior and Principal Consultants to help them grow and progress their sustainable buildings arm. Salary: 40,000-45,000 GBP plus a class-leading benefits package.
Candidates should have a minimum of 10 years’ experience in sustainable buildings, and a broad understanding of the dynamics of the buildings sector - covering construction, building services and facilities maintenance. You should have a successful track record and network of clients, and the ability to consult upon design, construction and refurbishment methods that are energy efficient and environmentally sustainable.
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• | For more information contact Acre Resources. Tel: 020 8584 5299. See http://www.acre-resources.co.uk. Please quote reference: GS483. |
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