Sustainability Focus – Page 12
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Features
Floor coverings
Floor covering specialists South East Coatings will be launching several products
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Air-source heat pumps
Calorex’s is launching its new Pro-Pac air-source heat pump range for the small-to-medium commercial market
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Victorian Passivhaus: a Haus in Hackney
Is it possible to refurbish a Victorian house in a conservation area to Passivhaus standards? In the last in our series on upgrading existing homes, Thomas Lane visits one east Londoner who was determined to find out
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District heating: The heart of the community
District heating could hold the key for greening the UK’s existing homes. So why, when the technology exists and is used throughout Europe, do we still rely on individual systems?
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Raising the green standard
Bennetts Associates went home a double winner as construction’s most eco-friendly practitioners were honoured at Building’s Sustainability Awards
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Building pathology: Photovoltaic panels
Photovoltaic panels can be great energy providers, as long as an eye is kept on potential problems with power output and deficiencies. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance explains what to look out for
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Imagine the world in 2020: climate change
The year’s 2020, and, having left Building for reasons far too shocking to go into here, former assistant editor Thomas Lane talks us through a day in his life as an engineer in a world that’s slowly coming to terms with climate change …
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A world awaits us: The Copenhagen conference building boom
A deal on carbon reduction targets in next month’s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen could create a boom for UK consultants working overseas
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Ropemaker or Watermark Place: The big square off
Two big hitters have emerged on the streets of the City: Ropemaker in the red corner (above left), Watermark Place in the blue (above right). But which will take the sustainability title and be crowned ultimate speculative office champ?
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Taming the beast: Winchester’s green office refurb
This is the story of how a sixties brutalist eyesore was turned into a building more becoming to the genteel town of Winchester – and made into one of the UK’s greenest offices in the process
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Complying with Part L: A question of cuts
L is for … Some building types need to shave their carbon emissions a lot. Others, less so. Yet the regulations say they all have to improve by 25%. The last in our series on Part L examines a proposal to fix this anomaly
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Part L: forcing historic buildings to be energy-efficient
In the first of a three-part series on the government’s consultation on Part L, will forcing historic buildings to adopt energy efficiency improvements, such as double glazing, do more harm than good?
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Features
What it costs: Commercial biomass
Biomass heating systems may cost a lot to install, but they’ll pay off in no time – assuming you choose the right system and the right fuel. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance assesses the options
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Tellytubby land: BedZed revisited
Peabody’s BedZed was the housing scheme that first got everyone talking about zero-carbon living. But is it all that it was cracked up to be?
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Neighbours: Lovell and Tarmac on reaching code level four or above
The house on the left aims to meet code level four, but next door they’ve got even loftier pretensions. Stephen Kennett reports on goings-on at a site in Nottingham
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Features
Lime render
Tradical Hemcrete from Lime Technology has been specified for use on the conversion of a 19th-century foundry into offices. The Baldwin Terrace scheme in Islington, north London, has been designed by Edward Cullinan Architects, which will also occupy it
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Natural ventilation
A Passivent natural ventilation system is being used on the latest phase of the Tamar Science Park in Plymouth, Devon
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What it costs: Heat pumps
They are amazingly efficient, but setting up a ground source heat pump may be tricky if you haven’t considered all the factors. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance gives us the lowdown
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How cool is that? Hull Truck Theatre's passive-ventilated venue
Hull Truck Theatre’s new performance space uses a passive ventilation system that relies on a warm audience reaction – fortunately, that has never been in short supply