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Monday 10 January 2005
| Coming up next time (10 February): | |
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Research news |
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Summit2005 Delivering sustainable communities |
Get Sust! needs your help
Happy New Year to you all. And to make it a truly Happy New Year for me, I need you all to spend a few moments providing me with some feedback about Get Sust!
The reason for collecting the feedback is to impress potential sponsors that you are reading and enjoying this FREE newsletter. Without financial support, Get Sust! will not be able to continue. So please do complete the feedback form (below) and send it in as soon as possible. Thanks to those readers who DID complete this form in December.
Research news is a bit thin on the ground this month, but there’s still plenty to read, including a new Case Study, and several exciting vacancies and placement opportunities.
Look out for Get Sust! no. 10 on 10 February, and do keep the news and comments flowing in. Send items and requests for information to editor@get-sust.com.
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 |  |
Feedback and win
We need to hear what you think of Get Sust! and any changes you would like.
As a small incentive, we have the following books to give away (names of winners will be pulled from a hat on 30 January):
| • | Urban Design: Street and Square, by Cliff Moughtin (third edition) |
| • | Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture, by Derek Phillips |
| • | Places of the Soul, by Christopher Day |
| • | Smart materials and technologies, by Michelle Addington and Daniel Schodel |
Please copy the text below (from **** to ****) and paste it into an e-mail, then type your comments inside the [ ]. Send your e-mail to: editor@get-sust.com and write FEEDBACK in the subject bar.
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| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Education minister should watch more TV
Dr Kim Howells MP, recently appointed as minister for higher education and therefore influential in decisions about the subjects taught at universities, reportedly has ‘mixed thoughts’ about global warming. The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) has learnt that Dr Howells told the Earth Science Education Forum in October that he is sceptical of the widely held scientific belief that carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming. The newspaper reports that Dr Howells’ comments about climate change were not included in the Department for Education's official transcript of his speech.
The THES says that senior scientists, including Lord May of Oxford, president of the Royal Society, are very concerned that a minister who has responsibility for science education disagrees with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change.
Get Sust! says: ‘Turn on the TV, Dr Howells’. There’s an excellent series running this week on Channel 4 called War on Terra, which is presenting the accumulating evidence that global warming is upon us. The series began on Saturday 8 January with ‘The end of the world as we know it’, in which no less a figure than Lord Oxborough, chairman of Shell, expressed his fears for our stormy future.
Learn more:
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• | Source: Off-message ministers cause alarm, by Anna Fazackerley, THES, 24 December 2004 |
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• | The War on Terra series runs all this week. Check out the details at http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/E/environment/index.html. |
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• | If you missed ‘The end of the world as we know it’, set your video: it’s to be repeated on Tuesday 11 January at 2am. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Getting the
best performance from boilers
Researchers at BRE and Oxford University’s Department of Engineering
Science have used computer simulation to demonstrate that the use
of poorly commissioned boiler controls and thermostatic valves are
contributing to uncomfortable buildings.
Their findings are reported in the journal Building and Environment.
Their paper also reports on a new boiler control algorithm that
can offer significant energy savings because it reduces the effect
of poor thermostatic radiator valve use.
Learn more:
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• | See: On the control of heating systems in the UK, by Z Liao, M Swainson, and AL Dexter, Building and Environment, Volume 40, Issue 3 , March 2005, Pages 343-351. |
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• | The article is available on-line to subscribers at http://www.sciencedirect.com. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Rooms with an (unusual) view
Here’s a challenge: to create a practice headquarters for consulting engineers in the beautiful New Forest that takes full advantage of the fabulous view without compromising the building envelope. Andrew Pettifer of Gifford and Partners Ltd, the client and designer (in conjunction with architects Design Engineers) of this development told CIBSE National Conference (September 2004) how they rose to the challenge.
The aim of the project was to make a commercially viable building that is also ‘green’. This meant avoiding ‘high-risk’ or relatively unproven strategies in favour of tried-and-tested technologies; while creating a stunning building that the occupants enjoy.
As Andrew Pettifer says, glass is the enemy of low energy; and high levels of glazing combined with intensive computer use make glare a significant problem. So the designers needed to find energy-efficient ways to provide a view while ensuring that energy efficiency was not compromised. The resulting development, which is an addition to existing buildings on the site, comprises two large open-plan technical design studios (totalling 1600m2), a new site reception, a staff cafeteria with commercial-standard kitchen and a training suite.
Getting the envelope right ensures that simple, user-friendly low-intensity services will be practical. Gifford’s solution is to have external walls that have a breathing wall construction - a full-fill sandwich construction using Panelvent on the outside; Stirling board on the inside; and a filling of 300mm Warmcell (re-cycled newspaper) insulation. Panelvent is a Swedish boarding system made of wood chip and forest thinnings. The walls are clad with a cedar rainscreen.
Windows are the key feature of this building. Glazing is only 21 per cent of the external envelope, but the views created and the daylight levels are dramatic.
On the ground floor there are full-height panels in each facade. The first floor (design studio) is flooded by daylight from northlights; while views of the surrounding tree-scape are ingeniously created using letter-box slits positioned at the seated person’s eye level. This strategy gives occupants a natural ‘art gallery’ that is an essential connection with the great outdoors, but keeps glare to minimum.
All the windows are timber-framed with aluminium outer casings, argon-filled low-emissivity glass, and have a U-value in the range 1.3-1.6 W/m2 K. (Building Regulations minimum requirement is 2.2 W/m2 K.) There is also a protective tint to reduce solar gain on all windows except the north lights. South-facing glazing is also protected by a large overhang to the ground floor and external brise soleil to the first floor. There are blinds to the main east and west-facing windows.
The installed lighting load is 7 W/m2 on the ground floor and 12 W/m2 on the first floor, but Andrew Pettifer reported to CIBSE conference that in practice much less is used. For example, on the ground floor the lights have been dimmed to 70 per cent output since they moved in and (at the time of his presentation) no one had complained and visitors think the building is ‘light and airy’. Mr Pettifer estimates that the total load for the two floors will be more like 9 W/m2.
Learn more:
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• | This building has many other interesting features. Contact Andrew Pettifer, Director, Gifford and Partners Ltd, for details. See http://www.gifford.uk.com or e-mail: andrew.pettifer@gifford.uk.com. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
The green building bible, 2nd Edition
Edited by Keith Hall
In the beginning there was the word... and in this case, the word was ‘green’. Apparently ‘bible’ means ‘big, authoritative book’, and there is no denying that this is a very useful book.
What makes the book well worth its cover price is the wealth of reference material. Many of the 46 essays list further resources (books, organisations and websites); and there are 80 pages of ‘listings’ that give contact details for trade bodies, interest groups, professionals and tradespeople, and products. There are also advertisements throughout the book, which have all been accepted on the basis that the companies offer products and services that have a clear environmental advantage.
However, I’m not entirely convinced that the book quite reaches ‘bible’ status. Given the title and the strap-line on the front cover, you might expect detailed guidance on all things green-building. Although the 200-pages of short essays cover a wide range of green topics - from materials selection to dealing with grey water - some of them assume a little too much background knowledge to be of real use to homeowners. For example, one or two articles stray into debating policy developments - which only serves to confuse new-comers to sustainability. My advice to readers is to check out the contributors’ credentials (at the back of the book) when reading the essays.
On the other hand, many of the articles are well-written and informative. Chris Morgan, for example, has produced three interesting items; and there is an excellent piece by Gideon Richards on ‘Smoothing the planning process’.
Overall then, a useful reference work for any sustainable builder’s bookshelf.
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• | The green building bible, edited by Keith Hall (ISBN 1-898130-02-7), is published by the Green Building Press, price 9.95 GBP (if ordered on-line). |
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• | See http://www.newbuilder.co.uk. |
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• | Check out the bible’s stable-mate - Building for a future magazine, published quarterly. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
Adapting buildings and cities for climate change; a 21st century survival guide
by Sue Roaf, David Crichton and Fergus Nicol
‘Why are architects building ‘glass houses’ and windowless plywood ‘blobs’ instead of the types of solid, resilient buildings that offer us some hope of survival in the coming decades?...It beats me...’ says Sue Roaf.
Her book doesn’t attempt to answer that particular question - we don’t have the time to ponder the mistakes of the past! Instead she and her co-authors present a detailed analysis of the ways the climate is changing now; what is likely to happen in the future; and how we should prepare to face the challenge ahead.
Along the way there is plenty of criticism for politicians, who are fiddling around the edges while the world prepares to ‘burn’, and for the rest of us, who are too complacent to demand action.
Taking its remit from the adage ‘knowledge is power’, the book presents a wealth of evidence for climate change, and the various impacts that we should expect. The data makes pretty grim reading. By the 2080s the summer temperature in Berkshire could soar to 35 degrees Celsius; snowfall in the Scottish highlands could be cut by 60 per cent; flooding will increase because rainfall will become more intense; and sea levels around the world will rise, inundating some tropical islands.
And the solution? Well, despite its title, this book does not present a blue-print for 21st century buildings - perhaps in the conscious knowledge that it’s the slavish following of architectural trends that has helped to create today’s unsustainable cities. Instead, it calls on us all to take a stand and start a revolution; a real revolution with everyone under the revolutionaries’ spotlight - politicians, professionals, business, industry, academia and (particularly) the media.
‘It is the responsibility of each and every one of our generation... to take up arms in this battle for our very survival,’ says Sue Roaf. Fighting talk indeed. So start your personal campaign: read the book today, but don’t wait until tomorrow to take action. For, as they say, ‘tomorrow never comes’.
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• | Adapting buildings and cities for climate change, by Sue Roaf, David Crichton and Fergus Nicol (ISBN 0-7506-5911-4) is published by Architectural Press, price 28.50 GPB. |
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• | Order copies from http://www.architecturalpress.com. |
| © Melanie Thompson 2005 | |
New briefing on thermal comfort in a 21st century climate
CIBSE has made this document freely available on its website. The Briefing summarises the key findings of research commissioned by DTI and led by Arup into the likely effect of climate change on thermal comfort and HVAC system performance.
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• | To access this and all the other free briefings, visit http://www.cibse.org. Please note that you will be prompted to log in as either a member or non-member (free to register). |
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Don�t miss - educators for sustainability
If you have a space in your diary this Wednesday (12 January), why not make good use of your time by heading to Sheffield for the second annual ‘educators for sustainable architecture’ conference. This event is organised by Dr Adrian Pitts, Senior Lecturer on Energy, Environment and Sustainability at Sheffield University’s School of Architecture.
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• | For more details contact Dr Adrian Pitts. E-mail: a.c.pitts@sheffield.ac.uk. Tel: 0114 222 0319. |
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Design for solar: the full picture
On 14 January The Green Register (TGR) is running a seminar at the Islington Ecology Centre, London. This event will discuss all the ways that solar energy can be employed in buildings, covering technologies including solar thermal panels, photovoltaics and passive solar design.
Speakers include Joanna Dawes from the Greater London Assembly, who will be describing the mayor's Energy Strategy and talking about planning issues. There will also be presentations by product manufacturers.
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• | Attendance costs 70 GBP (half day) or 130 GBP (full day), and there are reductions for TGR members. |
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• | For bookings, e-mail: PaulL@sustainable-energy.org.uk. |
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An event for football fans?
The tenth ‘Envirenergy in the North West’ event will be held at Manchester United Football Club, Old Trafford, Manchester on 25, 26 and 27 January 2005. This event comprises:
| • | Renewables Conference (day one) |
| • | Energy and Environmental Management Conference (day two) |
| • | Environment and Waste Management Conference (day three). |
The conferences include speakers from central and local government, utilities, NGOs, consultants, industry, and trade associations.
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• | This event is organised by Envirenergy in partnership with Renewables Northwest, the Carbon Trust and Envirowise. |
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• | This event is FREE. To register,
contact Alison Shields. E-mail: alison@washingtondowling.com. |
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Which way will the wind blow?
SPONGE, the network for young professionals interested in sustainable construction, is organising a debate at the House Of Lords on 25 January. The motion is: ‘Blow in or blow out: This house believes that expansion of wind power is the way to fuel our future.’
For the motion are Doug Parr, Chief Scientist of Greenpeace, and Gerry Jewson, Managing Director of West Coast Energy. Against are Kyle Blue and John Constable of the ‘Say No to the Whinash Windfarm’ protest group. Robert Webb, Director of XCO2, is in the chair.
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• | Attendance is FREE to SPONGE members but booking
is essential. Contact Lilja Katanka. E-mail: lk@bioregional.com. |
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• | Join the SPONGE network at http://www.spongenet.org. |
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PhD Studentship: Developing design decision-making tools and resources
VivaCity2020 ‘Urban Sustainability for the Twenty-four Hour City’ is a five-year research project developed by a consortium comprising the University of Salford, University College London, London Metropolitan University, Sheffield Hallam University and more than 30 partners. The PhD student will be based at Salford’s School of Art and Design (Design and Innovation Research Group), and will help to investigate design decision-making in three urban centres (Manchester, London and Sheffield). Closing date for applications: 31 January.
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• | Informal enquiries or application requests should be sent to Professor Rachel Cooper (e-mail: r.cooper@salford.ac.uk) or Joanne Leach (e-mail: j.leach@salford.ac.uk). |
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Full course sponsorship for a renewable energy analyst/modeller
The Energy Conservation and Solar Centre (ecsc) is a registered charity and trading company that offers technical consulting in the sustainable and renewable energy fields. It is seeking a graduate with a 2.1 degree/post graduate qualification in energy/environmental engineering who will develop models to demonstrate compliance of renewable energy sources with EU/UK Building Regulations.
This is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) appointment; the successful candidate will work full-time at the company, but will be employed by London South Bank University. Salary: 22-24,000 GBP plus enrolment on a fully sponsored higher degree.
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• | Contact Human Resources Department,
London South Bank University. E-mail: humanres@lsbu.ac.uk. Please quote reference number KTP/ECSC |
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Environmental materials research
Applications are invited for three research assistant/research fellow posts and one PhD studentship at Brunel University’s School of Engineering and Design.
Research assistant/research fellow - two three-year posts. Salary: 19,460-25,699 GBP plus l,814 London Weighting). Closing date for applications: 31 January.
| • | Project: ‘Lightweight eco-composites based on renewable materials’, sponsored by DTI. Please quote reference no: DL0156/1. |
| • | Project: developing lightweight eco-composites based on starch foams for building/structural applications. Please quote reference no: DL0157/1. |
PhD Studentship:
| • | Project ‘Lightweight eco-composites based on renewable materials’, sponsored by DTI. Please quote reference no: DTI/S. See the Brunel website, below, for application details for this post. |
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• | Visit http://www.brunel.ac.uk/admin/humanresources/jobvac.html.
E-mail: teamb@brunel.ac.uk. |
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PhD scholarships, Southampton
The University of Southampton’s School of Civil Engineering and the Environment has PhD research scholarships available for October 2005. Applicants should have a 1st or 2.1 class degree (or equivalent) in engineering or physical sciences. Closing date for applications: 28 January. Please quote reference number 04R0350.
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• | Details of some projects can be found at http://www.civil.soton.ac.uk/pgstudy/phd/projects.htm. |
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• | Contact Matt Pryer, School of Civil
Engineering and the Environment. E-mail: civilpga@soton.ac.uk. |
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Sandwich student work placement
The London Development Agency (LDA) has several placements to offer. These are one-year fixed-term contract commencing August 2005. Salary: 13-17,000 GBP subject to qualifications and experience. Of particular interest is Placement 1: Infrastructure development and sustainability. This covers town planning and/or urban design, sustainable development, urban development and regeneration, and housing.
These posts are aimed at students who are currently on a relevant degree course. Closing date for applications: 25 February 2005.
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• | For full details visit http://www.lda.gov.uk (choose ‘about us’, ‘recruitment’, ‘student placement opportunities’). |
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Wind farm engineer, Hertfordshire
Renewable Energy Systems Ltd (RES), which designs and develops wind farms, is expanding its engineering department and needs someone to coordinate the engineering input during the development and pre-construction phases in areas such as engineering surveys, site access studies, topographical constraints, and suitability to construct.
Candidates should have a background in civil engineering or construction and be able to work alongside the CAD team in the production of engineering drawings. Knowledge of the wind industry is not essential but would be an advantage.
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• | To apply, send your CV and covering letter to
Linda Markwell of RES. E-mail: linda.markwell@res-ltd.com. Please quote reference WS/26 clearly in the subject field of your email. |
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• | More details are at http://www.res-ltd.com/jobs/ws-26a.htm. |
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RIBA Awards 2005
The RIBA is calling for entries for its prestigious annual award. Nominations can be for a building anywhere in the world completed between 1 January 2003 and 3 March 2005, but the practice responsible must have at least one principal who is an RIBA member.
Entries will close at 5pm on 3 March 2005.
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• | Visit http://www.architecture.com/go/Architecture/Also/Awards_3992.html for details. |
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