We’re used to the narrative power of endings in books, films or music, but lots of digital experiences just sprawl on forever because they can….
So maybe as our experience of digital life matures we need to write more endings.
I’m taking Russell’s advice. To be frank it’s a little late in coming. The original purpose of this blog was sustainability in the built environment when I kicked it off back in February 2007. Until the end of last year I was just about able to keep it up, with a few sprinklings of other topics thrown in. As a new decade kicked in I was kidding myself that I could continue. My only remnant of responsibility in this area was chairing sessions at the Sustainability Now virtual event. The pregnant pauses between posts have now provided ample proof of that – one of the most popular series on this site was the guest posts from the team on the Hackney refurbished house, so my services have largely been surplus to requirement.
This blog was part of a professional role I took on three and a half years ago. That’s not to say that I hope I showed the required passion in the topic to make it not just a dry pen pushing exercise. In fact the experiences I’ve had knocking out these posts for the past few years have been the most valuable I’ve had as a journalist.
So I’m a fickle hack moving on to the next hot topic. That’s somewhat the case, which is a little depressing. In fact I’m no longer a journalist any more. Budgets, business cases and revenues now occupy most of my time. Which is not to say carbon has exited from my head, just that I’m afraid I don’t have much original or of interest to say about the matter.
So, so long. Do not despair. Mel, Casey and Mark – for me the consistent benchmarks in this field - will doubtless continue (please). I will be watching closely. And for those that are still interested in my ramblings on topics such as culture, cycling, London and, yes, sustainability I will be over at posterous for the time being.
I popped along to the Building Centre last week for the launch of a report by CIMCIG, an organisation for marketing bods in construction. The group commissioned a report entitled The Commercial Value of Sustainability. It’s written by Jeremy Sumeray who has an industry marketing background as well a policy experience – most recently he worked at the UK Green Building Council after stints at some Government departments and materials outfit Lafarge.
The report is somewhat lacking in detail but could be the catalyst for a much deeper industry debate on the human and social side of sustainability. A great deal of effort is being heaped into working out u-values, overheating and solar gain, but not enough on how we sell the benefits to the punters. In his address at the launch Sumeray stressed that simplicity of message and of execution were vital for selling sustainability, especially to homeowners. Immediate turn-offs for persuading the vast swathe of consumers include offering them a myriad of options for funding and actual technical solutions, as well as the language itself. As Sumeray said using the words ‘low carbon refurbishments’ probably doesn’t register with most residents.
Sumeray threw out an idea which plays into the idea of plugging into “emotional and social psychology” of people. So instead of having an EPC in document form for a house, display it on the front of the property in colour coded form (red for rubbish, green for good). It’s a solution that’s been used for energy display devices and could be effective in visualising the energy performance of houses, playing into social status.
This feeds into a lot of emotional psychology thinking that is coming out at the minute. Books such as Nudge and Predictably Irrational are pointing to the foibles of human nature: how our decisions and actions defy logic or how a small change in the way we communciate or design a policy or procedure can lead to significant results.
Another less recently published book is called Persuasion. It offers a an intriguing example of an experiment in encouraging residents in Iowa to reduce their energy usage: they were first approached by an interviewer offering them energy saving tips who then asked them to implement them. Result: no change. Next they tried another selection of residents, and this time offered a twist: gave them advice and then declare that if the residents agreed to try and save energy their names would appear in the local newspaper. Result: drop in energy use by 27% in a month. Then a further twist: soon after the publicity offer was then retracted, removing the reason that the residents had reduced. The effect? A return to bad old ways? Nope. The residents actually improved energy efficiency: in the month after the publicity offer was dropped energy savings went up to 41%. Why? Author Robert Cialdini posits firstly that the homeowners became convinced within themselves that it was the right thing to do once the publicity offer was made. Once it was kicked away Cialdini then thinks something else happened:
In a way the opportunity to receive newspaper publicity had rpevented the howeowners from fully owning their commitment to conservation. Of all the reasons supporting the decision to try and save fuel, it was the only one that had come from the outside; it was the only one preventing the homeowners from thinking that they were conserving gas because they believed in it. So when the letter arrived canceling the publicity agreement it removed the only impediment to these residents’ images of themselves as fully concerned, energy conscious citizens.
This is the second instalment of build Dave Manby’s review of the bold and ambitious Culford Road refurb project. This Hackney project aimed for outstanding efficiency in reshaping a Victorian house. So much so limited heating requirements are required. So, does it work as a house and are there policy ideas or implications for the scheme? Over to Dave..
Does 89 Culford Road work as a eco-friendly house? You will have to ask the client in a few months time when the heating controls have buried their differences with the internet and have started talking to each other – at present Palestine and Israel are on more amicable terms. However before the boiler was even switched on I had two painters living on site when all the snow and ice was around and they did not complain about the cold, in fact during this time I went up to see how the plumber was doing connecting up the boiler to find him with his overalls tied around his waist and the windows open. Yes the insulation works! Continue reading →
Readers of this blog may remember several posts on a groundbreaking Victorian house refurbishment in east London (see links at the bottom of the post). Here’s the first part of a post-project review by the builder Dave Manby, looking at the key technical challenges he faced during the job
So we get to the end of another building job – well it will never be the end because it is my sister’s house and I will always be “on call” to maintain the house as it gets older. Mind you she will always be on call for when I need a place to stay.
So how did the job go? When I last wrote for the blog we were still at the change-over stage from demolishing the old building and starting building the new. So the build starts and the challenge of making an eco-friendly house begins. Continue reading →
I propose a new awards ceremony. Champagne, gongs made in the shape of helmets, held in the West End to ensure half of the attendants get their bikes stolen during proceedings etc. Awards to be presented by Boris, of course. The following categories for outstanding achievements in the field of two-wheel commuting in the capital in 2010:
Most consistent and continued ignorance of basic Highway Code
Most ridiculous use of lycra
Energy efficient award for overuse of bike and clothing lighting
Most defined calves
The most outrageous red-light jumping/use of pavement manoeuvre
Distraction award: For outstanding multitasking on two wheels. To largely be focused on the use of mobile devices
Tunnel vision award: For those that show the consistent ability to ignore surrounding activity
A fast growing segment of the United States green construction market is building retrofits. Numerous reports indicate retrofitting will become a huge market in the US over the next three to four years. To take advantage of upcoming opportunities, electricians will need to “green” their skill-set. Software Advice recently put together a guide on five aspects of retrofitting electricians should be promoting to drive more business. While the guide is intended for electricians, it can be used by any homeowner or building owner looking to adopt sustainable building practices. Here’s a quick look at our five suggested retrofits:
Relamping – According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), lighting accounts for more than 40% of the commercial sector’s electricity consumption. Installing energy efficient lamps significantly reduces lighting energy use. Not only does this present a great opportunity for electricians, it also presents a great opportunity for building owners to reduce costs and energy at the same time.
Daylight Harvesting – Daylight harvesting is the practice of reducing artificial light in a room when sunlight is available. The system uses photosensors to detect light levels in a room. According to a study performed by the NRC Institute for Research in Construction, it can reduce lighting energy costs by 20 to 60%!
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Retrofits – As electricians move into the role of energy contractors, they will need to provide a complete energy solution for building owners. For example, they should consider installing electrical consumption economizers – devices that reduce energy use of AC units – or programmable thermostats that optimize efficiency of HVAC equipment.
Grid-tie Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems – “Grid-tie” solar systems allow buildings to remain connected to the utility power grid and disconnect when enough solar power is available. Because these systems actually generate electricity, building owners may be able to receive payment or energy credits from their utility company.
Energy Management Systems and Monitoring Devices – With the aim of helping consumers monitor and manage energy consumption, these programs have the potential to drastically reduce our country’s carbon emissions. Studies show that giving consumers access to detailed home energy information results in 5 to 15% savings on monthly electricity. If half our country adopted these systems, Google says this would be the equivalent of taking eight million cars off the road!
Houston Neal is the director of marketing for Software Advice. He reports on trends in software and green technologies over on the To read the full post go here
For those of you eagerly anticipating news on the refurb of my house – which could well add up to the fingers on one or two of my hands, or in fact be zero – I have some news. The barrier preventing me from progressing has well and truly been shattered. That sounds quite melodramatic. Put simply, I have some money for the project having sold my flat to a banker. My previous disgust at said profession trousering ridiculous bonuses was put on hold as I gladly accepted cash from one of their tribe. I comforted myself that such hypocrisy was in a good cause.
For those not up to speed on this – shame on you – my wife and I bought a completely clapped out Victorian property in Tooting South London (see below) just over a year ago. We’ve cleared it out, done some urgent works on it, ahead of a more ambitious refurb to come.
So what now? Well accept that we can’t get everything right. For a start we progressed with repairing and draught-proofing our windows last year without incorporating whizzy new types of high-efficient panes. Secondly we got the roof repaired and didn’t incorporate solar thermal at the same time. No reason to return to that.
I need to kick back into gear into the research front. Such is the pace of debate and new research/products/solutions out there things have probably changed quite radically since we started looking into it last year.
I will now allow any businesses to shamelessly plug their products or services in the comment box. I am now a buyer so sell me stuff now.
Our latest virtual event Sustainability Now starts today. Having focused on international issues at the last one – which coincided with the Copenhagen conference – we’re now turning our attentions to more domestic matters. Not surprising given the unprecedented events in Whitehall in the past six days. So a variety of questions to consider. Here are four of them, for our fourth show (see what I’ve done there?):
How much influence will the Lib Dems have on Government green policy? Nick Clegg’s outfit had a lot more concrete to offer on this area, including on existing stock. Will this be heard by a Conservative Party in which scepticism on environmental issues is more prevalent? What will the policy on nuclear be?
Passiv at scale: Momentum is building amongst green circles around Passivhaus. But how scalable is using these techniques in areas such as housing or schools?
Existing stock: As I mentioned the Lib Dems offered some specific policies on this, as did Labour. However you still feel there are key drivers to get this happening to scale missing. Can broader political ideas such as localism or the big society help?
Sustainability and property: There’s the mother of all headaches for the property sector to deal with this year, the Carbon Reduction Commitment. Can we offer more encouragement for developers, funders and agents to drive the sustainability agenda in the sector?
So when big news breaks other headlines either get shoved down or avoided. So Friday’s frenzied events completely overshadowed what was a major story: the collapse of the London Underground PPP, broken by Evening Standard journalist Paul Waugh (a heroic achievement given his ongoing coverage of the election). The story had been brewing but is nonetheless a potential line in the sand for such programmes. And what drama and contradictions: a clear statement of failure against Gordon Brown, who pushed the deal through whilst Chancellor; the death blow was dealt by Boris Johnson, whose party effectively created the PFI programme; and how does former mayor Ken Livingstone feel about this, given that he was itching to kill the PPP during his tenure?
Boris is due to unveil his new strategy for London Underground investment later today. I’m presuming he’s looking to simplify any new structure that is put into place. I still remember former GLA transport boss Bob Kiley describing the PPP as “the most complicated contract system in the history of Western civilisation” at the Labour Party conference back in 2001. PPP wasted time and plenty of money, neither of which are things that Boris has much of right now.
So what future then post tomorrow for the sustainable quangos? I’m thinking the main ones that you and I come up against regularly: the Carbon Trust, the Energy Saving Trust and WRAP. Climate change minister Ed Miliband pledged to keep the first two whilst on a green road show last Friday which I attended. The clear implication being that the Tories will wield the axe – part of Labour strategic scare tactics on what to expect if Cameron gets in. I’m pretty sure the Conservatives have not named where the cuts are to be made as far as quangos go but they clearly have them in their sites. Whether cuts or potential merges are on the cards very much remains to be seen.
N.B./plug – For post election green debate to go Sustainability Now next week.
