zerochampion

Some optimism

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After getting thoroughly grumpy about Government fudge and inaction this week it was nice to get out of the office and visit the BRE Innovation Park, which are housing new prototypes of efficient houses. Here I was greeted with some refreshing optimism. Yes, admittedly it was from the people who are behind the new schemes but I was pleasantly surprised at how livable they were. I popped in to the Sigma house, developed by Stewart Milne, and the Lighthouse, put together by Kingspan.

CNN's Planet in Peril show

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CNN has produced a four-hour documentary on the affects of Global Warming called Planet in Peril. It started last night and continues this evening. From the looks of the programme, which appears on CNN International, it's a guide to the affects on nature and to humans of overpopulation and consumption, including obligatory trip to the Poles, to rainforests, Africa and it contains plenty or meaningful looks from the CNN reporters. Not sure how much it looks at the solutions.

Eco-dilemmas

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I was wondering whether to start a section in the Building website called eco-dilemmas. It's a bit consumery but could be a good way to work out difficult decisions. As a consumer it's the 'should I buy Fair Trade or organic' or 'should I buy a new efficient car or a second hand banger' type of question but I'm sure there must be some burning questions out there for those working on projects/trying to green their offices/attempting to reach Code Level 4 or 5 etc etc. Anyone with a burning query they would like answered?

Plug number two - housing online seminar

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I'm in full puff mode this morning, this time marketing a new online seminar on the Building website that will take place next week on the Code for Sustainable Homes. There more information on it in an article on the site.

Plug number one

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I failed to mention a piece I wrote in last week's Building on blogging. Not just a plug for mine own of course but an (ahem) serious attempt to direct a print audience to a world that many of them have little knowledge or experience of. Hopefully it may change some minds and inspire some new sites to appear. One unintended consequence of the piece is that I appear to have brought out the man/woman behind Bollocks2architecture out of retirement. The power of print eh?

Renewables target down, Gordon doesn't get it

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Energy minister Malcolm Wicks admitted tonight that the Government was targeting to hit between 10-15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 under some pressure on Newsnight. This followed the splash in today's Guardian that the Government was wriggling out of hitting its promised 20% target. "We are negotiating on this right now. It will be a considerable percentage," he told presenter Gavin Esler. Wicks reckoned that the 20% target was one for the whole of Europe rather than for all the individual nations to comply with. Wicks then added that cutting carbon emissions wasn't just about renewables - there's carbon capture and nuclear that can play a part.

Backwards thinking

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Hooray. At last further proof that turning our clocks back in autumn is truly crackers. A report by Cambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing reckons its adds 5% to energy bills given it gets darker earlier. "No evidence in favour of imposing Greenwich Mean Time in winter was found," it says. The co-author, Dr Elizabeth Garnsey said the age old argument about the Scottish being much worse off if the time didn't change was phony on Radio 5 Live last night. Let's bin this out of date custom.

Deja Vu

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Broken record time listening to the news this morning:

• Government trying to wriggle out of its European renewable targets, according to the Guardian
• Supermarkets not doing enough to reduce packaging according to the Local Government Association
• More CO2 is lingering in the atmosphere, according to scientists. yes it's getting worse says the Independent
• Science centres are not being funded properly reckons a report in the BBC

New CHP figures. Any use?

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The Government has put out some new figures and projections on future use and take up of CHP (there's two report on a CHP section of the Defra site). I've scanned through two documents released and it appears that CHP fired by renewable sources has "potential" but is not expected to make up a significant share of the market in the UK by 2010. The same is true of micro-CHP, adds one of the reports.  I'm not quite sure where this leaves the technology. Is Government squarely behind it as a key renewable for the future? maddeningly there doesn't appear to be too many clear conclusions from either report I scanned through.

Cost values

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I'm not sure how closely one can compare the supply and the market for food and building materials, but on first consideration there seem obvious parallels. I was drawn to this reading an article written by Organic food provider Abel & Cole I received with a delivery earlier this month. It was on the rising cost of food - the reasons and how consumers would need to change their attitudes to buying food.