Sustainability Focus – Page 10
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Features10 ways to make your office outstanding (in BREEAM’s eyes, at least)
These days the corporate world is falling over itself to improve its environmental credentials. Thomas Lane takes a look at the newest, greenest, office building on the block and finds out how your office can be ’outstanding’ too
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FeaturesCase studies: houses built to 2016 zero-carbon standards
The government’s recent announcement that ’zero-carbon homes’ need not include appliances will allow future green housing to ditch peculiar solar panel-toting designs to resemble, well, normal houses. Building tours some schemes that fit the bill
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FeaturesSustainability: In-use energy performance
Clients commission buildings expecting cut-price energy bills once they move in, but too often they are disappointed. Our expert from Cyril Sweett explains how ’Soft Landings’ can provide greater certainty
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FeaturesTesco's green specification process: Every little helps
Supermarkets don’t like to be beaten on price - or on their environmental credentials. To get ahead of the competition, Tesco is now testing every bit of green kit it can lay its hands on to build zero-carbon stores. Building reports on the savings
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FeaturesWhich domestic renewables incentive is best?
Adam Mactavish of Cyril Sweett provides a brief review of the incentive schemes for domestic renewables
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FeaturesWhy the Green Deal won't work for non-domestic buildings
The government’s Green Deal promises to revolutionise the UK’s energy efficiency. But can it deliver financial savings? Richard Quartermaine of Cyril Sweett investigated the payback implications of four non-domestic buildings, and the results are not encouraging …
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FeaturesRebuilding Iraq: Mott MacDonald's Marsh Arab school
How do you start to rebuild a country devasted by war? When Mott MacDonald was asked to make a school for the Marsh Arabs, it went back to using traditional woven reed – reconnecting the community to its roots.
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FeaturesSustainability: The power to persuade
Our industry now has a plethora of initiatives to encourage us to build sustainably, either through sanctions or incentives. Has the government has got the balance right?
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FeaturesGreg Barker interview: 'We've got to transform the built environment'
Minister for climate change is nothing if not ambitious. He’s pushing through the government’s Green Deal to retrofit Britain’s 26 million homes. Fine idea, of course, but will it actually work?
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FeaturesPassivhaus diaries: Keeping it all in
It’s taken longer than expected to turn a leaky Edwardian house into an exemplar of energy efficiency. Now it’s finished project architect reports on the exterior insulation, finishing off and how the house is performing
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FeaturesEcobuild: Five top trends
In this week’s Ecobuild special, we take a look at five top trends to find out about at the show on 1-3 March. And there are some surprising suggestions to help you get more green
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FeaturesRefurb: Comparing Passivhaus and Decent Homes
The government’s target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 means that housebuilders need to implement changes, starting now. But with so many ways to reduce emissions in new and existing homes, how do you decide which regulations to follow?
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FeaturesGreen army: How the Green Deal will work
The government hopes its Green Deal will encourage homeowners to install energy efficiency measures and create an army of 250,000 to do the work. Sounds great, says Iain Withers - but will anyone join up?
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FeaturesYour easy guide to the Code for Sustainable Homes
The new Code for Sustainable Homes has finally arrived. Here’s a 10-point summary of the changes and the suggestions that didn’t make it into the final document
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FeaturesSustainability Awards 2010: The winners and runners up
Who are the clients, contractors, designers and manufacturers leading the way in boosting green construction? Well, many of them are right here. Here we list the winners and runners-up in this year’s Sustainability Awards
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FeaturesQatar's zero carbon stadium: 96 degrees in the shade
Qatar wants to host the 2022 World Cup. But first it has to convince FIFA that the game can even be played in a Qatari summer. So it got Arup Associates to create a micro-climate inside a 500-seat test stadium. Cool.
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FeaturesPassivoffice: First UK office to reach Passivhaus standards
Powys council was worried by rises in gas prices, so it decided to make its Stag teaching facility the first office in Britain to reach Passivhaus standards. After horrendous design problems, the team spent 12 months collecting data on how it performed. And, as Thomas Lane reports, the figures came ...
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FeaturesEco co-housing schemes: Give it a spin
The UK has begun experimenting with co-housing schemes that aim to slash emissions while encouraging a more sustainable lifestyle - as you can imagine, communal washing machines that run on harvested rainwater are de rigueur
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FeaturesDavid Penfold on Sainsbury’s waste strategy
David Penfold is a driven man: he has to cut Sainsbury’s waste to as close to zero as possible. And given the amount of activity that the store engages in, he needs good ideas and even better suppliers.
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FeaturesCost model: Part L
The upcoming changes to Part L will crank up the low-carbon agenda. The authors consider the costs and their influence on design