Elemental

Mark Brinkley has been to EcoBuild. It obviously hit a nerve as he has a blinder of a post up on the contradictions of greening our economy. Well worth a read. He asks if he’s alone in his morass – he’ll find fine bedfellows in George Monbiot and Dave Pollard.

Reading as much as I do, it’s easy to find myself caught in the headlights – not knowing which way to jump. Occasionally I find myself flitting from one opinion to another, reminding myself of Indecisive Dave from the Fast Show. It’s all to easy to find yourself getting sucked into a mire of doubt. But that wouldn’t help anyone now would it? So, to lighten the spirit, here’s a clip of the genius of the Fast Show:

mel starrs Uncategorized Dave Pollard, Mark Brinkley, Sustainability

First we have what I class a ‘proper’ blog from Phil Clark over at Zero Champion (open comments, RSS, frequent posts, opinion, links).

Then, the subscription firewall for many articles seemed to come down with much more content available for free.

And now Building are embracing Second Life.  Second Life is one of those things I have filed away as ‘must have a look at when I have finished the MBA – must not get distracted by until then’ category.

What’s going on?

I have an explanation for the subscription firewall coming down at least.  It’s all to do with RSS and competitors.  Previously, Building’s RSS feeds contained the headlines and one or two lines of leader.  Then you had to click through to the article, which would then let you know you needed to be a subscriber to go any further.  Major frustration.  I for one stopped clicking through in many cases.  I didn’t need to subscribe, as I knew I could find a copy of the magazine if I really had to.  Sometimes I resolved to go hunt out the office copy of the magazine, but more likely than not it was buried under a mass of other magazines, pristine with it’s wrapper on.  I did however have the bare bones of the story, which if I was really interested I could plug into Google (other search engines are available) and look for another source of the story. Plus there were already competitors out there publishing their content in full for free.  Not exactly good news for Building – they could have gained a reader, but instead were losing them.

So if you can’t beat them – join them.  The model is already established for newspapers – expect to see adverts breaking into your reading on the free content in the future – most likely for conferences and publications.

There are no losers in this new model really.  It doesn’t cost Building magazine any more overhead to have 100,000 readers online as it does to have 10,000.  It is unlikely that this will harm paper sales (the vast majority of which are corporate subscriptions rather than personal) and indeed it is more likely to improve sales by enticing new readers.  Advertising revenue online is one route, but another is the jobs section.  With an increased online readership, companies can advertise to far more people, making the adverts much more lucrative.

Another winner is blogging of course.  It’s harder to accredit a source when it’s hidden behind a firewall.  So look forward to plenty more links in the future from me to Building.

mel starrs Uncategorized Blogging, firewall, Google, increased online readership, Marketing, News, Phil Clark, search engines

Gristmill have a great post up on how to answer critics who attempt to label those who attempt a greener lifestyle as hypocrites:

The merits of carbon offsets are hotly debated, so erring on the side of caution would mean abjuring all carbon-emitting activities. That rules out all non-self-propelled travel; it means going off-grid and growing all one’s own food and neither participating in nor purchasing the results of any industrial process. Etc. It’s possible to reduce one’s environmental footprint substantially, even to get it close to zero, but it requires extraordinary effort and self-discipline, and a life far, far out of the mainstream in any developed country.

Any attempt to live carbon free is in the widest sense of the word, not sustainable.  Sustainable development definitions commonly refer to the “interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars” of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection.

By attempting to do a “Tom and Barbara” and withdrawing from society, you ignore the economic and social development pillars.  So whilst carbon free on an individual basis is no doubt an exemplary state, if your sphere of influence does not extend beyond the boundaries of your own home, it cannot said to be contributing to a more sustainable planet.

On the other hand, this is not carte blanche for tearing round the world on private jets attending meetings (“It’s OK – we discussed renewable energy when we got there”) (not that many in the construction industry have private jets, but hey, I’m trying to make a point).  The diagram above shows a sustainable state in the centre.  This is a balancing act – a somewhat precarious one, and no doubt there will be slip-ups along the way. 

Sustainable development is a very complex issue, which includes factors far beyond the normal realm of a corporation (but which are increasingly becoming issues).  We are all now familiar with CSR (corporate social responsibility) but as we delve deeper into this, we will find ourselves becoming involved in politics, economics, social equality – issues which we may not be comfortable with proclaiming a public opinion on, especially as to do so may contradict or compromise longstanding relationships within the industry.

Focussing on carbon produces concrete facts and figures and draws attention away from more intangible or tricky fields of reporting.  The cynic in me fears for many it will be a welcome distraction, and an ideal vehicle in which to to bury bad news.

I believe the challenge which lies ahead for the industry is not how little carbon you have used this year (although that does seem to be flavour of the month at the minute) – but how you align your company activities so they all meet in the centre of the diagram.  In this more critical, political and transparent atmosphere, empty promises and canny marketing ploys will increasingly fail to meet the grade.  The sticky bit comes when deciding how to report this ‘balance’.  In order to report, your position must be stated – on matters which currently are often not made public outside the confines of the company and may very well never have been written down (such as social, economic and political beliefs and models).  There is a further danger that by stating these, rather than merely infering them, companies may alienate staff as well as clients.  Interesting times ahead.

mel starrs Uncategorized food, Management, Marketing, renewable energy, Sustainability, Tom

Today is the last date to book for early bird discounts at the National CIBSE Conference.  Find the booking form here (pdf, 8pages) and save £50. 

Despite the always frustrating business of juggling a plate of lukewarm buffet with a glass of orange precariously balanced on one of those wholly inadequate plastic holder thingies whilst never being able to find a seat, I have always enjoyed the CIBSE conferences.  I wish they still published the academic papers instead of the powerpoint slides (who ever reads these again?).  The quality of the speakers looks good, with panel discussions added in for the first time. 

Day 1 is fairly Londoncentric (with the Olympics looming I suspect this will get worse over the next 5 years), but Day 2 addresses energy labelling, procurement and materials.  Bill Dunster (of BedZED infamy) is talking on Day 2 too, which should be interesting – he’s a brave man getting up there in front of all those technically minded engineers, who no doubt will have some sticky questions for him.

mel starrs Uncategorized Bill Dunster, GBP, Sustainability

Move over pollsters, it’s the turn of the engineers.  This is doing the rounds:

Astronautics engineer Jon Jennings has this week leapt on the online petition bandwagon to call for the title of “engineer” to be a protected title.

Jennings has joined an escalating list of people using

10 Downing Street’s online petition trial to drum up support for his campaign to restore respect in engineers. “Car mechanics, plumbers and electricians are now commonly referred to as engineers and banks now regard engineers as semi skilled”, says his petition.

  With 3,700 signatories to date, the petition already tops the “business and industry” category. But it still lags well behind the road pricing petition which received 1.7 million signatories before it closed on Tuesday. So if you agree that the status of the engineer is undervalued in society sign the petition:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Engineer-Status/

Quite right too.  Looking on the website Jon goes on to say:

I believe for the long turn prosperity of the UK and to attract students back to science subjects the Government must act decisively and introduce laws to protect Engineers such that only “Chartered Engineers” ImechE, RAeS can use the title Engineer. This will give Engineers the same professional status in our society as doctors, lawyers similar to Europe

Obviously, as I’m already chartered, I am biased towards this proposal.  In the states, engineers have to be licenced to practice.  Those who argue that this would harm the industry in the UK go along the lines that there are so few engineers as it stands that by adding this barrier to entry, there will be even fewer.  I agree with Jon and believe that increasing the status of engineering will make it more attractive, meaning more engineers in the long term.

No rush on filling this in – the petition closes 23 January 2008.  I looked to see what kind of response other petitions were getting.  Just above this one on 3,881 signatories as I write this is “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stand on his head and juggle ice-cream” instigated by Tim at Bloggerheads.  Good luck with that one – I hope this is not the future of epetitions…

mel starrs Uncategorized Astronautics, Engineering, Europe, Jon Jennings, News, online petition bandwagon, online petition trial, United Kingdom

When I first had a play with this widget back in November, I was a poor D-lister. As Hana pointed out last week, this corner of the blogosphere is very much still in it’s infancy. The fact that I’ve managed to move up a class in 3 months shows how quickly it is beginning to expand. The widget is based on Technorati. My current ranking in Technorati is 274,602 which is a fairly high ranking for me.

edit::since I posted this the rankings in Technorati have moved – Phil especially has jumped from over 1million to 600,000 odd.  This is because in part I’ve written this post.  Cool.

Technorati explain the ranking as:

• Rank 274,602:the number of blogs, plus one, that have more than 15 blogs linking to them
• 27 links: the number of links pointing at this URL in the last 180 days
• 15 blogs: the number of distinct blogs pointing at this URL in the last 180 days

If I was feeling competitive I might have a look and see how others are doing.  (Phil at 1,214,544 and Hana at 255,924 - longevity and regularity count in this business). My very linking to Hana in this post will push her rankings up.  So, if you want to contribute to my daily ego-boost, start up your own blog and link to me.  Blogging etiquette, especially around linking, is somewhat of a black art.  Some uber-bloggers (Guy Kawasaki most blatantly – although I see he’s dropped to no.41) fish for links specifically to push their rankings up.

If you want to learn more about blogging and link etiquette a great start is Darren Rowse at ProBlogger.

Bloglebrity Groupings Explained:

The Low Authority Group [D-List Bloggers]
(3-9 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
The average blog age (the number of days that the blog has been in existence) is about 228 days, which shows a real commitment to blogging. However, bloggers of this type average only 12 posts per month, meaning that their posting habits are generally dedicated but infrequent.

The Middle Authority Group [C-List Bloggers]
(10-99 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
This contrasts somewhat with the second group, which enjoys an average age not much older than the first at 260 days and which posts 50% more frequently than the first. There is a clear correlation between posting volume and Technorati authority ranking.

The High Authority Group [B-List Bloggers]
(100-499 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
The third group represents a decided shift in blog age while not blogging much more frequently than the last. In keeping with the theme of the maturation of the blogosphere, it seems evident that many of these bloggers were previously in category two and have grown in authority organically over time. In other words, sheer dedication pays off over time.

The Very High Authority Group [A-List Bloggers]
(500 or more blogs linking in the last 6 months)
In the final group we see what might be considered the blogging elite. This group, which represents more than 4,000 blogs, exhibits a radical shift in post frequency as well as blog age. Bloggers of this type have been at it longer – a year and a half on average – and post nearly twice a day, an increase in posting volume of over 100% from the previous group. Many of the blogs in this category, in fact, are about as old as Technorati and we’ve grown up together. Some of these are full-fledge professional enterprises that post many, many times per day and behave increasingly like our friends in the mainstream media. As has been widely reported, the impact of these bloggers on our cultures and democracies is increasingly dramatic.

mel starrs Uncategorized Blogging, Darren Rowse, Guy Kawasaki, High Authority Group, Low Authority Group, mainstream media, Middle Authority Group, Very High Authority Group

Craig Macintosh over at Celsias has a somewhat Malthusian solution to global warming.  Rather than agriculture limiting population (and thus limiting carbon emissions, halting or reversing global warming) a major pandemic could do the job much swifter.  As I keep mentioning, Jared Diamond covers similar topics in ‘Collapse‘.  Gareth Kane has population on his mind too.  As always, Dave Pollard has thought about these matters already – some interesting theories there.

Low Carbon Kid has his response to the news that Greenpeace have won their court case against the nuclear power consultation (the process was flawed rather than the policy itself).  The BBC are reporting that Tony Blair isn’t phased and policy will remain the same.  The Guardian has a full rundown of the story here.

Mark Brinkley has some great photos from the BRE PassivHaus tour in Germany.  Good to see PassivHaus can look ‘normal’.  I tried my usual source of images, Flickr, to see if there were any other photos from the trip posted yet.  Couldn’t find any, but there are a few photos tagged ‘Passivhaus‘, including an intriguing SolArc earth sheltered dwelling.  The german site for the building is here.  You can use babelfish to translate the page here – it’s not perfect but gives the general gist.  Mark has his thoughts on the tour itself here including some of his reservations regarding the standard.  He explains very well the difference between PassivHaus target of 15 kWh/m²/annum and carbon emissions targets set in the UK. 

mel starrs Uncategorized BBC, Craig Macintosh, Dave Pollard, Gareth Kane, german site, Germany, Greenpeace, Jared Diamond, Mark Brinkley, Sustainability, the Guardian, Tony Blair, United Kingdom

ASC (Academy for Sustainable Communities) have:

“launched a major study to provide comprehensive information on current and projected labour shortages and generic skills gaps in the core sustainable communities occupations. We’re urging individuals and organisations involved in creating or maintaining sustainable communities to complete an online survey.”

The survey, which runs until Friday 16th March, can be found at: www.planningsurvey.co.uk/asc/individual.htm. There are only 25 questions to fill in and it only took a few minutes, although there are some fiddly boxes when you need to rate your skills.  They even ask how far of a commute (in time) is the maximum you would want to endure.

mel starrs Uncategorized Academy for Sustainable Communities, News, online survey, Sustainability, www.planningsurvey.co.uk/asc/individual.htm

Phil Clark over at zero champion has an interview with Peter Rogers of UKGBC (UK Green Building Council).  It’s a good read, and I was glad to see Rogers’ thoughts on UKGBC and BREEAM.  In the states, the USGBC backs LEED, the main international rival to BREEAM (in the middle east projects tend to be either).  With the imminent launch of UKGBC at EcoBuild at the end of the month, there had been speculation as to whether BREEAM would be ousted in favour of LEED.  Rogers thinks not.

Rogers also has reservations about the applicability of renewables on a building by building basis in city locations, including wind (which I have covered for the domestic market here).

He also advocates offices which rise in temperature with the weather, rather than sticking at a set 22ºC, something I covered back in May here, when it was reported that RIBA wanted BCO (British Council of Offices) to raise the temperature to 24ºC. 

Unfortunately, I’m not going to make it down to EcoBuild, but I am trying to persuade others to go and do some spying for me…

mel starrs Uncategorized British Council of Offices, Middle East, News, Peter Rogers, Phil Clark, UK Green Building Council

HEEPI (Higher Education Environmental Performance Improvement) have released a position paper on “Sustainable Laboratories for Universities and Colleges – Lessons from America and the Pharmaceutical Sector” (.doc, 29 pages). Although not a design code, it has some useful observations which will interest those involved in laboratory design, and outlines the Labs21 approach. Some points I have picked out:

• It is not unknown for laboratories to have a ten times greater energy consumption per square metre than offices
• Laboratories can account for 10% or more of floor space, and 20-30% of total energy consumption, in research-based universities
• it is very common for laboratories to have much higher consumption than their design specification – sometimes two or three times higher
• Up to 40-50% of electrical energy consumption in a typical laboratory is consumed by motors in the fans which pull air into the ventilation system, distribute it within the lab building, and expel it to the outside
• An additional 10-30% of total energy consumption can come from chilling air or water in order to cool spaces or equipment

The Labs21 approach intends to address some of these issues:

• Labs21 stresses the need for five key process features to achieve sustainable laboratories:
  • Integrated design
  • Setting of energy and environmental goals
  • Accurate profiling of operation
  • Incorporation of user perspectives
  • Commissioning as quality control

The Labs21 discussions suggested that there are five process, and five architectural/engineering, issues which need to be given greater weight by laboratory designers in Britain:

Process Issues

• More integrated and engineering-led design than at present
• Clear sustainability goals
• Greater involvement by a range of users and facilities staff
• More effective commissioning and evaluation
• Value engineering to minimise whole-life, rather than first, costs.

Technical Issues

• Low pressure drop design
• Rethinking fume cupboard ventilation systems, positioning and operating parameters
• Evidence based design parameters
• Modular solutions
• Effective controls.

Benchmarks such as BREEAM ‘Excellent’ are recommended:

“this is unlikely to be sufficient by itself, both because it only assesses the performance of the design as constructed rather than actual operating performance”

The HEEPI benchmarks are given below:

mel starrs Uncategorized Britain, Built Environment, electrical energy consumption, Energy, energy consumption, fume cupboard ventilation systems, News, Sustainability, Sustainable Laboratories, times greater energy consumption