Elemental

These are my links for December 18th from 17:15 to 17:15:

• When this gaseous burp explodes in the desert air, we’ll still have the Burj Dubai | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian – "The most mesmerising thing about Dubai is not its present but its future. Will it be Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat or Fatehpur Sikri? Will it become a place of sand and weeds, so many "trunkless legs of stone" lost on a scorching Gulf shore?
  What will happen when the world's funny money starts to flow elsewhere? What happens when a future sheikh goes either environmental or religious and tires of boosterism, returning to tents and camels, to order and respect for his ancestors? What happens when some political whirlwind sweeps across the Gulf from Iran, or down from Iraq, or across from Saudi Arabia?"

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These are my links for November 27th through December 2nd:

• Smart Vendors: Biomass Supply Chain (UK) – Innovation & Cleantech – Possibly interesting (but very expensive – £150!) report on biomass (not sure how independent the authors are?): "The future evolution of the UK biomass supply chain will be significantly impacted by the opening of proposed major biomass power generation plants by firms like Drax Power and Prenergy in the next 3 years."
• Debt storm threatens Dubai’s ambitions | Last Word | MEED – The most understandable commentary on Dubai which I have come across this week: "Dubai World has gone into a form of protective bankruptcy, similar to the US’ chapter 11 arrangements. It is a situation fraught with difficulties that could damage Dubai and the UAE. And the true scale of what Dubai owes is still unknown.
  But it is Dubai World’s creditors that face the biggest immediate problem. None can expect to receive any money until Dubai World’s assets and liabilities have been fully assessed, a judgement made about how big the gap between the two is and a schedule defined for when creditors will be paid, and how much. It is tough, particularly for those who are owed money today. But it is fair."
• Regulation shapes revolution in Gulf sustainable buildings | Last Word | MEED – Interesting summary of green building accreditation throughout the Middle East. Will the Dubai ripples have an impact?:
  "Abu Dhabi’s new building code, regulations that make sustainability compulsory in all buildings and major retro-fits throughout the emirate, come into force on 1 January 2010."
• First Net-Zero Neighborhood in the US Being Built in Boulder | Inhabitat – At last, some aesthetically pleasing (to my eye at least) net zero homes in my favourite US city, Boulder. Still enormous compared to the UK – 280m² for a townhouse is 3.5 times larger than the average new build UK home (76m² according to swing a cat):
  "Located on Broadway and Poplar Ave in Northern Boulder, the 1.5 acre neighborhood is conveniently located across from a market, shops and restaurants and with easy access via bus to the rest of the city. Six townhomes border Broadway, while six single-family homes sit back behind around a communal park. All the homes will be orientated to the south and photovoltaic systems can installed on the roof, which will completely provide the homes with all the energy they need."
• Rebooting Britain: transform cities into lush jungles – Another article from Wired. This time, I have to disagree slightly – IMO London is currently the *only* UK city suitable for walking and public transport?: "Cities are at present vulnerable to the smallest interruptions in oil and gas supply. The first step in cutting this dependency should be a ban on private car ownership in metropolitan areas. Even a sprawling city like London can be comfortably navigated by walking, cycling, and use of public transport – powered, like delivery vehicles servicing businesses and homes, by batteries, biofuels, or hydrogen fuel cells. The great tidal flows of commuters could be reduced by rezoning commercial areas for residential use and introducing workshops and offices into residential areas, as in the human-scale, mixed-use street plans of medieval cities."
• Rebooting Britain: tax people back into the cities – Really looking forward to PD Smith's new book. Here a flavour from Wired UK: "To create a low-carbon economy we need to become a nation of city dwellers. We tax cigarettes to reflect the harm they do to our health: we need to tax lifestyles that are damaging the health of the planet – and that means targeting people who choose to live in the countryside. We need a Rural Living Tax. Agricultural workers and others whose jobs require them to live outside cities would be exempt. The revenue raised could be used to build new, well-planned cities and to radically upgrade the infrastructure of existing cities."
• When provided a choice, do people choose? – The Social Enterprise – Suw is spot on about adoptation of social media within companies (my experience on Yammer and Skype backs this up): "The successful implementation of social software doesn't stop with a technically successful roll-out. In fact, that's when the process begins because that's when your adoption strategy should kick in.
  Adoption is ultimately about behaviour change: persuading people that, for example,
  instead of sending an email to everyone with a new version of a document they are working on, they should put it on a wiki where it's easier to collaborate. This might seem like a small step – and for a few people it is – but for the majority that's a fundamental change to the way that they have learnt to work on documents."
• Gordon Brown’s ‘eco town’ vision quietly shelved – Times Online – "Gordon Brown’s vision of establishing distinct “eco towns” across the country has been quietly shelved, it emerged today.
  The Government tried to keep up the project’s momentum by announcing a further 14 locations where “green developments” have local council backing.
  But it became clear the new sites will not be for the self standing towns of up to 15,000 homes originally envisaged by the Prime Minister.
  Most will be developments of no more than 5,000 homes on the edge of urban areas, which will be cheaper, easier to plan and attract much less local opposition than those first proposed by the Government."
• Futerra Sustainability Communications – Conspiracies, Climate and Communication – More climategate fallout – Solitaire from Futerra defends her position (well said): "So in my own voice I want to get one thing straight; I hate climate change. I really really hate it and wish it wasn’t happening. Some of the climategate posts seem to imply we’re part of a ‘pro’ climate conspiracy. Considering how deeply and passionately I wish the darn thing wasn’t happening that accusation left me fish-mouthing in surprise. I don’t want climate change, I don’t like climate change, and I’m bloody annoyed that my best years will be spent trying to combat the darn thing.
  The horrible irony is how much I want the deniers to be right. If I had one wish it would be for climate change to be untrue, a blip, misread data, to slope off in embarrassment. If only."
  Now, can we stop being distracted by the semantics and arguments and get on with some design? Thank you.
• CRED Guide | The Psychology of Climate Change Communication – Via Joanna Yarrow, a fascinating document on communicating climate change. Niggets include: "balance information that triggers an emotional response with more analytic information to leave a mark in more than one place in the brain."
• A Climate Scientist Who Engages Skeptics – Dot Earth Blog – NYTimes.com – Read the whole article: "In grappling with this issue, I would argue that there are three strategies for dealing with skeptics…
  Most scientists retreat into the ivory tower. The CRU emails reflect elements of the circling of wagons strategy. For the past 3 years, I have been trying to figure out how to engage skeptics effectively in the context of #3, … Some of the things that I’ve tried in my quest to understand skeptics and more effectively counter misinformation include posting at skeptical blogs, such as climateaudit, and inviting prominent skeptics to give seminars at Georgia Tech. I have received significant heat from some colleagues for doing this (I’ve been told that I am legitimizing the skeptics and misleading my students), but I think we need to try things like this if we are to develop effective strategies for dealing with skeptics and if we are to teach students to think critically."
• The Guardian – Poignant and depressing: "But I find I can't say this stuff anymore; not because I have stopped believing in climate change, but because I have stopped believing we can prevent it.
  Which is not to say that the End Times are here. One of the other problems with the climate change narrative is that it offers only two futures: Saving the World, or Apocalypse Now. We will probably get neither. More realistic is that we will experience what most previous human societies experienced – a painful decline after a period of over-expansion. We hear a lot about the year 2050: it is a handy date on which to hang our hopes of a "sustainable society", which has come to mean business as usual but without the carbon. It seems much more likely that by 2050 we will be mining our landfill sites for valuable metals and struggling to keep the electricity on, while we dream of the coral reefs that once flowered in the emptying oceans."

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These are my links for July 26th through July 27th:

• International Green Construction Code (IGCC) Now in the Works| News | Architectural Record – International in the same way the World Series is a global baseball competition: "On June 29, the American Institute of Architects, along with the International Code Council (ICC) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), announced their intent to create an International Green Construction Code (IGCC).
  The new code aims to cover all aspects of sustainability in the built environment, from roofing to ventilation strategies, drawing from existing codes and standards to create one universal code. The code will apply to new construction and renovations. “We hope this will bring all of the separate efforts together and put them under one umbrella to make it easier for jurisdictions to know what they are adopting,” says Adolf Zubia, ICC board president."
• CBI climate change progress tracker. CBI on climate change. – Climate change remains one of the most critical issues affecting the UK, but in tough economic times it is at clear risk of slipping down the political agenda. Urgent action to cut emissions must be delivered if we are to hit government emissions reduction targets, ensure a future independent supply of energy, and manage rising energy costs.
  The CBI’s Climate Change Tracker is a tool developed by the CBI to track progress against the priorities set out in the CBI’s 2007 climate change report, Climate change: everyone’s business.
  The Tracker benchmarks the progress of the priorities for action set out in the report, focusing on the immediate decisions and delivery needed up to 2010.
• Dubai development may be down, but it’s not out – Los Angeles Times – Fascinating and scary article on Dubai: "In the heart of most cities, the biggest piece of land that a single developer is typically able to control is one square block. …In Dubai, whole districts of the city, many covering dozens of square blocks and hundreds of acres, have been given over to single developments. Seeing architectural diversity within any project as a threat to the bottom line, their creators usually hire a single firm to design them around a recognizable theme…
  The result is a surprising twist on the privatization of cities like Los Angeles, where public space is notoriously scarce. In the privatized city, as the well-known critique goes, people aren't forced to mix with people who are different from themselves. They are hidden from that interaction inside their private cars and gated developments. … In Dubai, remarkably enough, the same is true for buildings, which tend to cluster together with other pieces of architecture just like them."
• Property’s Quangocracy – Property Week – Excellent dissection of the RDA's and their spending. MIPIM anyone?
• Charter of the New Urbanism | Congress for the New Urbanism – My Jane Jacobs obsession has lead me to the doors of New Urbanism and their charter. With LEED-ND and BREEAM Communities rearing their heads, time to get to grips with New Urbanism and what the future holds…
• Frank Gruber: New Urbanism: Very Misunderstood – "New Urbanism, although it has antecedents in mid-century voices (such as that of Jane Jacobs) …is a movement that arose in the 1980s among architects upset not only with the decline of the quality of the built environment but also with the failure they perceived of the profession of architecture to pay attention to the spaces between buildings and the larger urban or regional context…
  New Urbanists are attacked from both sides of America's cultural divide. Chances are, if you mention New Urbanism to group of forward thinking, contemporary design professionals, whether architects or planners, they will roll their eyes. To them New Urbanism, …is a facilitator of sprawl, not a solution. …New Urbanism is hopelessly nostalgic.
  But if you find yourself among a group of conservatives or libertarians, … you'll just as likely unleash a denunciation on the grounds that New Urbanism aims to thwart the natural desire of Americans to live in a single-family house on a cul-de-sac."
• Media library · Town and Country Planning Association – "Leading planning and housing charity, the Town and Country Planning Association(TCPA) will celebrate its 110th AGM today by publishing a Manifesto for the 21st Century. The Association’s vision – Towns and Countryside for a New Age of Challenge – sets out a new set of aspirations which directly address today’s challenges of climate change, globalisation and social justice.
  The TCPA’s Manifesto comprises four main elements: choice and diversity; cities and the larger task; a revitalised countryside; and networks of cities, towns and villages."
• The Effect of the Recession on Partnering in the Construction Sector – Excellent presentation from Don Ward, which he presented at the AEC networking meeting at the Building Centre last week. Slides 31/32 hold key messages for me. A lower price for the client does not necessarily have to eat into our profit margins (and in fact, shouldn't – we all need to make money).
• Real Time Carbon – I love this – I have a great deal of time for anything coming out of AMEE : "Until now, anyone trying to understand the carbon impact of the electricity they use has only had a single static Government conversion factor. The factor – currently 527 grams CO2 per kWh of electricity – is updated only a few times a year.
  The standard figure is based on a number of assumptions about the mix of energy used to generate electricity – the "generation mix". It tells consumers nothing about the carbon intensity of electricity at a given time.
  Real Time Carbon wants to help energy users see the real-time carbon intensity of electricity so they can avoid consuming at times of high emissions. We look forward to a time when appliances, buildings and factories automatically manage demand according to the carbon being released."
• Our Seven Commitments – Royal Town Planning Institute – Interesting work from RTPI, but it feels a little late? Interested to find out how they do with no.1, behavioural change, and good to see it isn't a "cast-in-stone" mainfesto : "The seven commitments are supported by a living and continuously improved action plan that will deliver practical outcomes, benefiting communities at the global and the local scale."
• U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu: “Global Warming Is the Greatest Challenge Facing Science” « The Dirt – "In the case of energy-efficient buildings, Chu argued local knowledge drives local building development, and needs to be updated to ensure best practices in energy-efficient buildings quickly go global. ”Buildings are local. We don’t ship buildings to Denmark.” He described the type of knowledge needed for creating energy-efficient buildings as a sort of “hands-on,” practitioner’s knowledge –”it’s like a gardener’s craft or like those who know how to cook well.” Still, he thinks it is possible to “teach each other how to capture carbon, how to create more energy-efficient buildings.” To those who argue that any intellectual property (IP) transferred overseas should be protected, Chu added “it’s not about intellectual property (IP), it’s about people.” He also argued that the case for energy efficient buildings is economic — highly energy-efficient buildings can reduce current energy consumption by four-to-five times, putting “more money into people’s pockets.”"
• Ch 13 Page 79: Sustainable Energy – without the hot air – From David MacKay's excellent book:"“it’s better to drive than to walk.” Whether this is true depends on your diet. It’s certainly possible to find food whose fossil-fuel energy footprint is bigger than the energy delivered to the human. … According to a study from the University of Exeter, the typical diet has an embodied energy of roughly 6 kWh per kWh eaten. To figure out whether driving a car or walking uses less energy, we need to know the transport efficiency of each mode. For the typical car …, the energy cost was 80 kWh per 100 km. Walking uses a net energy of 3.6 kWh per 100 km – 22 times less. So if you live entirely on food whose footprint is greater than 22 kWh per kWh then, yes, the energy cost of getting you from A to B in a fossil-fuel-powered vehicle is less than if you go under your own steam. But if you have a typical diet (6 kWh per kWh) then “it’s better to drive than to walk” is a myth. Walking uses one quarter as much energy."
• DOE: Building Energy Codes – News Item – "The decision to create the joint publication resulted from the recent legislation passed by the U.S. Congress, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Act establishes an energy efficiency goal of 90 percent compliance with the 2009 IECC and Standard 90.1-2007 in all 50 states by 2017. In establishing this goal, the Federal legislation recognizes the 2009 IECC and Standard 90.1-2007 as the energy efficiency benchmarks for residential and commercial buildings.
  Because the ICC and ASHRAE documents complement each other, publishing them in one book benefits architects, designers, engineers, and code officials. It makes it easier to choose between design options, and helps make sure new and renovated buildings are in compliance with the latest references and local building safety codes."
• Bad British Architecture: BLAR MHOR HOUSING IN CAOL, FORT WILLIAM BY ARCHIAL FOR LORNE DEVELOPMENTS – Very quickly, a firm favourite on my blogroll. Ghost of Nairn in acerbic form as usual: "One helpful rule of thumb, from Nairn to you. When someone presents a masterplan with a perimeter of a line of trees, it means they're trying to hide something. Do not trust these people."

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What I’ve been reading about:

• Survey warns of low profit margins – Building Design – A third of architectural practices made so little profit in the boom times that they could go bust with the onslaught of the credit crunch, an RIBA survey has revealed.
  This year’s RIBA Business Benchmarking Survey, released to BD this week, shows that just 67% of firms met the industry safe standard of profits equalling 15% of total turnover.
• EH’s Heritage Counts report calls for ‘recycling’ of older buildings to cut CO2 emissions – Building Design – English Heritage argues that a significant proportion of energy savings will come from adapting historic buildings. Properties built before 1919 contribute just 5% of carbon emissions, despite making up one fifth of all housing stock, it estimates.
• Dubai to tighten up its act on green regulations – Building – In practice, standards vary wildly across Dubai. Build on any land controlled by Dubai World, the investment company that controls large parts of Dubai and owns developers including Nakheel, and all buildings must achieve 29 compulsory LEED credits, many of which cover energy and water use. Smith says that these add up to a building a notch short of a LEED silver rating. Tecom, which controls Dubai Internet City, has another set of requirements. And all areas are subject to controls by Dubai Municipality, which requires compliance with Decree 66.
• Dutch to adopt BREEAM – Building – The Dutch Green Building Council is to adopt BREEAM rather than LEED as its building assessment tool for the Netherlands.

mel starrs News architect, BREEAM, buildings, Building_Regs, Dubai, existing, historic, LEED, netherlands, profitability, RIBA, statistics

What I’ve been reading about:

• Andrew Todd: ‘the Gehrys and the Libeskinds don’t add anything to a city’ ~ Cafebabel – "Architecture has now become a political act, involving huge amounts of money, so only good governments can support good projects."
• The Chinese Century – Review of a book I have on my bookcase on China and construction. Good article and tempting me to crack on with the massive tome itself.
• HOK Partners with Biomimicry Guild to Advance Green Design – GreenSource Magazine – Fascinating developments in the world of built sustainability: "HOK, the world’s largest architectural/engineering firm, recently announced a formal partnership with the Biomimicry Guild. In an audio press conference, representatives from both organizations strove to impress biomimicry as an emerging and vital element of sustainable design. The Biomimicry Guild was founded ten years ago by biologists Janine Benyus and Danya Baumeister based on their interest in using their special knowledge of biological adaptations to solve design and engineering challenges. They are to date the only group in the world dedicated to this approach."
• Green Prefab Architect Michelle Kaufmann Releases White Paper Calling for “Nutrition Labels” for Houses – Potential EPC competitor for global housing? "Michelle Kaufmann, award-winning green architect and sustainable living expert, today announced the release of the white paper, "Nutrition Labels for Houses." The white paper explores the need for a universal sustainability labeling standard for houses in the same vein as the federally mandated Nutrition Facts Label for foods. It also asserts that a universal labeling system would help grow the green building industry by making it easier for homebuyers to understand the environmental, health, and financial benefits of living in a green home. "
• UAE puts up £7.34bn to avoid property crash – Building – “The cost of capital is increasing, and a slowdown or correction in real estate pricing is inevitable. The margins are still healthy but it is getting harder.”
• Arts Energy – Home – Arts Council England has developed a self-assessment toolkit for arts organisations to help them implement an effective energy management programme. Such a programme can reduce energy usage and carbon emissions, potentially reducing energy costs by up to 20%.
  The toolkit consists of a number of modules that identify energy efficiency opportunities, develop good energy management practices and set up an action plan. In addition the tool will allow registered users to track their energy performance over time using relevant performance indicators.

mel starrs News Architecture, Arts, biomimicry, book, China, competitors, Council, Dubai, Energy, HOK, Housing, labelling, recession, review, toolkit, UK

These are my links for August 26th through August 28th:

• Sending recycling to China ‘better than binning it’ – "This study sought to answer the specific question of whether the CO2 emissions from the transport outweighed the benefits of the recycling. It quantifies the CO2 emissions from transporting one tonne of recovered mixed paper or recovered plastic (PET/HDPE) bottles to China. It assumes that the carbon savings of recycling in China are similar to those identified in other countries, including the UK. "
• Soft Landings – "Welcome to Soft Landings, a joint initiative between BSRIA, the Usable Buildings Trust and the Darwin Consultancy, that enables a graduated handover for new and refurbished buildings. The Soft Landings project will result in a set of procedures and worksteps for project teams to stay engaged with buildings after practical completion."
• National Statistics Online – Product – Construction Statistics Annual – 266 page pdf – "Responsibility for producing the Construction Statistics Annual, starting with the 2008 edition, has been transferred from BERR to the ONS.
  Brings together under one cover a wide range of statistics that are currently available on the construction industry. It gives a broad perspective of statistical trends in the construction industry in Great Britain through the last decade together with some international comparisons and features on leading initiatives that may influence the future.
  Contains construction output and new orders, tender price, output price and cost indices, data on building materials, floorspace statistics, local and central government expenditure, lottery funded projects, international comparisons, employment statistics, workload of professionals, planning applications,…"
• Puffbox.com » Archive » Another reason to use Twitter – Good advice from Simon on how businesses could be using Twitter.
• Inhabitat » ZIGGURAT: Dubai Carbon Neutral Pyramid will House 1 Million – Another grand plan for Dubai – this time a Ziggurat. Apparently they'll be able to grow food (in greenhouses???). Would love to know more about this – for instance how will they get daylight deep into the middle of the base of the pyramid? And who are these 1 million inhabitants? It really does look like something from Star Trek, which sadly quite excites me, despite my inner cynic screaming that it can't possibly be sustainable. Quite happy to be proven wrong…

mel starrs News built_environment, China, construction_industry, Dubai, handover, POE, recycling, seo, statistics, Sustainability, twitter, waste

These are my links for June 24th through June 26th:

• My M&M’s® – Get Your Favorite Faces on Your Favorite Candy – Upload a Picture and Message – Completely OT, but really? Printing photos on M&M's.
• Sex and the City and Handbag Insanity » Transition Culture – Poor Rob is stunned that women rent handbags in NY. I don't have the heart to tell him they do it in the UK too…
• workinproperty: Spinning Blocks in Dubai – OMG. In fact OMGG. Where do I even start on this one. Twisting to optimise orientation would be almost forgiveable, but on the occupants whim? Barking…
• Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (National) RAB says UK’s proposed renewable energy target is achievable – 3.3% of 15% to come from built environment.
• GOOD Magazine: The Life And Death Of Green Design – Living on The Huffington Post – Excellent article on LEED from Huffington Post: "Like any standardized test, LEED works best as a measurement tool, not a paradigm shifter. Change has to come from the architects themselves."
• BeGreen Launches First-of-Its-Kind Calculator to Help Businesses Achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED(R)) Certification – The tool allows businesses to calculate the number of RECs required to meet the Green Power LEED certification standard, based on actual or estimated energy usage.
• Home – The Carbon Trust Standard – The Carbon Trust Standard certifies that an organisation has genuinely reduced its carbon footprint and is committed to making further reductions year on year.
• Where Has All the Water Gone? | The American Prospect – via the Triple Bottom Line. "The world may not exactly be running out of water, but it is running out of clean water."

mel starrs News BERR, blogger, calculator, carbon_footprint, certification, crisis, Dubai, Economics, global, LEED, orientation, OT, renewable, renewables, skyscrapers, water

What I’ve been reading about:

• Building cities from scratch in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. – By Witold Rybczynski – Slate Magazine – Slide show showing two approaches to new cities in the Middle East
• The Sustainable City–Ecological Dream or Technocratic Nightmare? – Something I've been giving thought to recently. I'm veering towards the Jane Jacobs view…
• Energy Companies Fear Renewables Bubble – Fifty-two percent of those surveyed believe that high valuations are a factor restricting growth in the sector
• Instapaper – via LifeHacker – a way of keeping track of longer articles you want to read later
• …as sustainability chief moves west – Building Design – Trevor Butler leaves BDP, moves to Canada and starts a company called Archineers.
• Waterfootprint.org: Water footprint and virtual water – Not surprised to see this pop up on my radar. The next logical step…

mel starrs News aggregator, calculator, competitors, development, Dubai, international, planning, Productivity, renewable, sustainability_water, tools, toread, water

What caught my eye today, January 15th:

• Weather Data – For use with Google Earth – loads of weather data in EnergyPlus weather format ? 295 locations in the USA, 71 locations in Canada, and more than 800 locations in 100 other countries throughout the world.
• Lyons-Dubai – via BLDGBLOG, news that “The Arab emirate of Dubai will build a replica of Lyons” – why???? And how does this fit into their sustainability push?? I’m confuddled…
• USGBC Publishes Catalog of LEED Innovation & Design Points Online- 1/14/2008 9:01:00 AM – Building Design & Construction – Building Teams pursuing certification under the USGBC?s LEED now have the opportunity to view the Innovation & Design Credit Catalog ? a listing of proven green building strategies that have been submitted and utilized by LEED Certified projects.

mel starrs News Canada, Dubai, Google, United States

What caught my eye today, January 10th:

• A tale of tall cities – Construction & Industry – ArabianBusiness.com – Antony Wood makes some valid points regards tall buildings and their sustainability, but misses the mark entirely when he excuses Dubai’s current crop by claiming concensus on climate change is only 8 months old. 7 years ago when Burj was conceived, susta
• globeandmail.com – End architectural diets and building binges – Value Engineering compared to South Beach Diet, whilst scope creep is the bingeing. Canadian article.

mel starrs News Antony Wood, Dubai