Greenbuild Expo
Posted on April 25th, 2011
Greenbuild Expo, a sustainable refurbishment and building event is scheduled to be held on 29 and 30 June 2011 at Manchester Central. This expo is termed as “an essential and informative event for the construction industry covering everything from training opportunities and renewable technologies to sustainable materials and legislation updates.”
These are the highlights of the expo
- Ignition11
- Retrofit for Buildings
- Information hub about availability of training courses
- Code Clinic on surface water run-off
Here’s the link for you to register for the expo
Tags: Greenbuild Expo, Manchester Central, Renewable Technologies, sustainable homes, Sustainable Materials
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Towards a Meaningful Sustainability Policy
Posted on March 29th, 2011
In the UK, legislation on sustainable housing has been quite ambitious. But in practice, it appears impossible to implement them meaningfully.
What is apparent is that both industry as well as Government are yet to understand fully the meaning of sustainable housing. Does continuous legislation mean progress? Chairman of the Good Homes Alliance Neil May feels that the housing sector is in need of a sustainability policy that is rooted on “reality and on good science”. At present the policy is based on unrealistic targets.
More significantly, Mr May notes that “The principles for such a policy are simplicity, integrity and learning.” … ”In particular the energy, water, materials, and surface water sections are seriously flawed and have led to the installation of many poor designs and products which do not deliver environmental benefits, but rather cause unnecessary waste and cost. The Zero Carbon Homes policy was also fundamentally misconceived. No-one knew what it meant when it was announced and the Zero Carbon Hub has now spent three years of intense work trying to make the impossible possible.”
You can read the article here.
Tags: Sustainability Policy, sustainable housing, Uk Legislation
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Free solar PV offers – what you should know
Posted on March 3rd, 2011
Mid 2010, several companies began to compete with each other offering to install entire electricity-generating system in homes, for free! Believe it or not – you could get as much as £15,000 worth of solar panels on top of your house at no expense to you, and also get £150 – £230 worth of free electricity for more than two decades.
Sounds too rosy? Where’s the catch? All those firms, and newer ones, plan to put up solar panels in over 100,0000 homes in the next five years. Why are private companies promoting this unbelievable offer? What they may not tell you – there is an official, Government-supported programme of “Feed-in-Tariffs” (FIT) valued at as much as £900 to £1,450 per annum that the companies will be pocket for covering your roof with PV (photo voltaic) panels.
You can get the complete picture of the entire scheme, and also learn if you can yourself benefit directly from the FIT programme. See “What to ask if offered free solar PV” compiled by the UK’ Energy Saving Trust.
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Tags: Energy, Energy Saving Trust, Feed in tariff, Feed-in tariffs, FIT, Free Electricity, Renewable energy, Solar Panels, Solar power, Solar Pv
Filed under Renewable Energy | 3 Comments »
The ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’
Posted on February 15th, 2011
The UK Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes is a set of environmental standards for designing and constructing new houses. These standards are higher than existing building regulations requirements. The aim is to not only reduce carbon emissions due to housing activity, but also improve social sustainability, “through designing and building homes that are affordable to heat and run and pleasant to live in”.
There are as many as nine categories of performance measurement for a home - energy use and CO2 emissions, water use, materials, surface water run-off, waste, pollution, health and wellbeing, management and ecology. A builder needs to meticulously understand and follow the sustainability aims in each of these nine enviro-social categories, in order to achieve some of them before being eligible to gain a Code rating from level 1 (entry level) to level 6 (zero carbon).
You can download the Code technical guidance here. You can also get case studies of sustainable homes built to the standards laid down by this code.
And if you are an environmentally conscious architect or builder, you will be happy to know that a sustainable housing project for building a large number of dwelling units based on this Code’s Level 6 (Zero Carbon) scheme has recently been approved for implementation in Peterborough.
Tags: Carbon Emissions, Code for Sustainable Home, Environmental Standards, sustainable housing
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Act on CO2
Posted on January 24th, 2011
If you have arrived at this page, you are probably interested in some way in environment-related issues, and hopefully even concerned about climate change. For just such citizens, the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Department for Transport (DfT) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have constituted ACT ON CO2, a cross-Government campaign that tries to communicate the solemnity and urgency of climate change to the public through mass media – television and radio, print media and online advertising by explaining the link between CO2 emissions and global warming.
Visit Act on CO2 site to find out what the Government and corporate establishments and businesses are doing, and also to learn what you as an individual and the community you live in, as a whole, can do to lower CO2 emissions in homes, or on the move, or even when shopping.
Tags: Act on CO2, carbon footprint, Climate Change, Co Emissions, CO2 emissions, DECC, DEFRA
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HIP and EPC – current status
Posted on January 12th, 2011
New home buyers in the UK will need to note that the UK Government has announced the suspension of Home Information Packs (HIP) with effect from 21 May 2010.
What does this mean? The law now states that houses put up for sale on or after 21 May 2010 will not need a Home Information Pack (HIP). However, sellers will still be required to commission, but will not need to have received an Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) before actually finding a buyer.
The legislation regarding EPC is contained in the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, as amended by the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2010.
Visit Department of Communities and Local Government for additional information.
Tags: Energy Performance, EPC, HIP, Information Packs
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Home Insulation
Posted on December 21st, 2010
Home insulation is a must because your home’s walls and loft contribute to about half the heat loss. An insulation installer will be able to tell you how effective is your existing setup, and also suggest even more ways to improve insulation and thereby save energy.
You will need to adopt such measures as cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation, floor insulation, loft insulation, draught proofing, tank and pipe insulation and glazing / double glazing.
You would know that the Energy Saving Trust UK, a non-profit organization, provides free and unbiased advice on how to stop wasting energy. So trust Dave to advise you well, and inspire you to even generate your own energy.
Tags: Cavity Wall Insulation, Draught Proofing, Energy Saving Trust UK, Floor Insulation, Home Insulation, Insulation Installer, Loft Insulation
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Sustainable construction
Posted on December 13th, 2010
The UK Environmental Agency’s website provides some amount of guidance to builders and developers who are keen on showing that extra care and concern, much needed in the UK and elsewhere in times to come.
The basic guidelines for the construction industry on the topic of ‘sustainable construction’ – by no means exhaustive – can be found here.
If you intend getting your home built, be sure to look up several of the Agency’s compilations, available as pdf downlods from the same website.
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