Archive for the ‘General News’ Category
Posted on December 20th, 2011
As 2011 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on where The Green Register (TGR) was last year (facing challenging times) to where we are now (increasing in strength and numbers) and realised quite how many folk have contributed to our resurgence and ongoing success.
The Green Register has run about 60 events in 2011 which is some feat considering the small number of staff we have and the extremely tight budget we work to but this would not have been possible without the rock solid support of The Green Register team – Birgit, Elaine and Viv – who work tirelessly to keep TGR on track, on budget and on people’s lips. Our Steering Group members – Jillian Mitchell, Nicola Thomas, Jim Allen, Brian Murphy, Cath Hassell, Rob Borruso, Jean Pierre Wack, Emma Storey, Brian Gerhardt and Tom Dollard – have continued to guide us through this tricky year and out the other side. We’ve had some excellent local events run by TGR’s Regional Coordinators, in particular Steve Bradshaw and Tom Dollard who bring our message to the regional level and the TGR team have worked in the Bristol area with the Genesis Project in Taunton, Bristol City Council Sustainable City team (particular thanks to Celia Beeson and Christine Davis), RICS South West and Catherine Gandon and Jon Watkins at RIBA South West. Thanks to the Environment Agency in Bristol for hosting our End of Year event in December.
Nationally, TGR has enjoyed a very positive (and ongoing) relationship with: the RIBA in London who are working hard to promote sustainable construction to their members; SusCon in Kent (hope you are enjoying your travels Stephen!) and internationally we ran a very successful event with the Canadians on their Super E system of house building.
We have also had some very generous either low cost or pro bono support from: Greg Annadale who keeps our website sharp; Paul Liptrot whose graphic design skills can be appreciated every time you read a TGR flyer; Emmelie and Pete Brownlee who are working on some short videos for our website (watch this space); Mike Fawcett, Charlie Howes, Christina Robino, Nigel Locker and Lilly Storey who have graciously given their time to work on marketing and PR for TGR; Alex Gostelow whose IT skills have kept our computers going.
TGR is very grateful for occasional and ongoing assistance from Knauf insulation (thank you Craig) and one time sponsorship from Ecological Building Systems, Southern Solar and Steelcase – all these donations have been used to oil TGR’s joints as we get back into gear for 2012.
Last but certainly not least, we are hugely grateful for the continued support from all our members and everyone who attended a Green Register event in 2011. We have reason to celebrate this year with over 60 very well-received events taking place in 2011, but successful events can only be so when they are supported by attendees, so I will take this opportunity to thank you for your support throughout 2011 and for your continued positive feedback which keeps us looking forward into the New Year to new events to come.
I write this with trepidation as I may have missed someone off the list-if this is so, it is not because you are not appreciated, more that the old grey matter is a little tired as we approach Christmas time but thank you to each and every person who has supported TGR.
Happy New Year and roll on 2012!
Lucy Pedler, TGR Director
Posted on December 8th, 2011
By Jim Allen | E&M West Ltd | www.eandmwest.co.uk
And yet here we are rushing towards 2012 with alarming rapidity. Remember the disastrous floods that overwhelmed parts of the South West in 2007, and Cumbria in 2009? As I write the rain is lashing the north again, last month it was Mevagissey, bringing back memories of Boscastle, shrinking the distance of time. Flooding is a direct cause of human misery, dislocation on a local and national scale, with a heavy cost directly to individuals, their insurers and the country as a whole.
The Pitt review in 2008 led directly to The Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This seeks to make management of flood risk a pro-active, rather than a reactive mopping up exercise. Local authorities are key to the brave new world it seeks to create, looking up towards the Environment Agency for a strategic framework, and outwards to drainage boards, water companies and the design community to create, implement and manage solutions on the ground. Management of surface water is the issue, and the adoption of sustainable drainage systems the key component.
All well and good, but over 3 years on from Pitt almost none of this is in place, and the current framework for enactment will not complete until the very end of 2014, over 3 years hence. So why the delay?
The Bill will impact on planning processes, with sustainable drainage solutions a requirement for all but the very smallest schemes. This at a time when one of the coalition’s much vaunted strategies for recovery is the abolition of red tape and reform of the planning processes.
Local authorities are the key to successful implementation, and while they have skilled engineers they are too few in number, and not always trained in the design of sustainable drainage schemes. Yet they are charged with establishing Sustainable Drainage Boards to sanction development and management of schemes and other assets post construction. They are not ready.
On the other side of the fence, sustainable drainage schemes, done well, use space that could be used to raise scheme density and payback for developers on their expensively acquired land-banks. Compliance will generate upfront costs and potentially delays. Government is desperately keen to raise new housing starts, and is looking at ways to incentivise rather than discourage development.
Perhaps no surprise then that implementation is so slow, although so far no one seems to be admitting to any dragging of the feet.
The design community must put the counter arguments as strongly as we can. We have a golden opportunity to use good design to improve amenity and biodiversity to the benefit of the wider community. Permeable paving has its place, but it’s not paving paradise. The existing system is broken, and is full of inconsistencies and hard to reconcile interests. Reform is essential if we are to move forward and make the right kind of investment, saving costs to the wider economy in future years.
The politicians would do well to remember the misery flooding creates. It’s twice this year residents in Mevagissey have mopped out their homes; they may not know much about the Water Bill 2010 but they will surely want to know why this is happening again.
Posted on November 1st, 2011
By Lucy Pedler | The Green Register
I was discussing with my family tonight who we might put on the bonfire this Saturday 5th November if given the choice and I said I’d like to choose Climate Change Minister Gregory Barker. This is because of the spectacularly disappointing decision announced yesterday to cut the Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) for micro-generation by more than half, reducing the FiT from 43p to 21p as of next April.
We all knew that the basis upon which FiT’s were introduced was that the unit payment would drop off over time but today’s decision is really unacceptable – both in terms of the degree to which it has been cut and the date when it comes into effect. Installers have been left with an unreasonably short time to adjust to this and their customers will understandably be furious if they don’t get the technologies installed by 12th December.
What really bugs me is the fallout from this decision: all the jobs that will be lost and the loss of faith in renewables that the public, already highly sceptical of the technologies, will have.
Whatever one’s opinion of the FiT’s – and there are many detractors – there are several positive outcomes so to date. According to Ofgen, the scheme has increased the amount of solar power installed in the UK from 30 to 321 megawatts (from before the subsidy started in 2010 to October this year). FiT’s have also kick-started many small businesses, created jobs and generally raised awareness of the fact that we have to start to decarbonise the grid right now and one of the many ways (although not the most efficient cost to benefit option) is to generate power from the sun.
With such a good start, it seems madness to pull the rug out from under micro-generation so fast and so soon. As shadow energy and climate change minister Caroline Flint said in response to the news “With growth flat-lining everywhere else today’s announcement threatens to strangle at birth the solar industry.”
Posted on July 21st, 2011
By Alan Mash | RIBA | AM Design
Having been wooed by the venue; the warm welcome at the reception and the very enjoyable refreshments on offer, the day got even better with some splendid and entertaining presentations. The speakers were excellent, up to the minute with info and very well presented. By the end of the morning session I thought that it couldn’t be bettered. How wrong I was. Anyone who doubts that we, that is the inhabitants of this planet, have to make substantial changes to the way we live and use the precious resources available, would need no further persuasion. Professionals, those of us who have chosen careers in the shaping of the environment we live, have a responsibility to take on board as much information as possible and use it to ensure our clients make the correct decisions. Some options are not cheap but in the long term the rewards will manifest themselves in the sustainability of the planet and us!
The day’s event was a great success. Everybody was buzzing with enlightening info and enthused to go forth and multiply! The day was rounded off by more splendid nibbles and delicious Canadian beer. What more does one need? So, any new prospective members should get on board. This train is moving. Don’t miss it, all in all a day to remember.
The Super E® House conference was held in partnership with the High Commission of Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Canada’s national housing agency.
Posted on March 23rd, 2011
On 11th March I attended the British Institute of Interior Design’s (BIID) first Retrofit conference in London. TGR has been running Healthy Interiors seminars for years now. I have been waiting for Interior Designers (IDs) to embrace sustainable issues, so I was pleased to be part of this event, billed as ‘The first Retrofit Conference directly addressing this sector of the industry’.
Prior to the event I was on a judging panel for the BIID Awards for Residential and Commercial Retrofit Awards and there was also a category for Sustainable Product Award. Despite there being a disappointingly low number of entries, I enjoyed reviewing the submissions that attempted to tackle the environmental impact of IDs work. The awards were presented by Wayne Hemingway who gave a truly inspiring talk about his and his business partner/ wife’s modest beginnings and their ethos. Despite his success, his ego was nowhere to be seen and he presented a cast iron case for using reclaimed products and materials. They’re cheap, unique and they reduce waste: a bit of a no-brainer.
On the expert panel with me in the afternoon were some very interesting people. In particular Russell Smith from Parity Projects who talked about a tool that could be used to assess the environmental impact of retrofits, which sounded like a far more useful tool than the ineffective EPC’s currently in use.
TGR is planning a full day Retrofit seminar for IDs on 14th July in London with case studies from the commercial, residential and hospitality sectors, so take a look at our events page in a few weeks for more details.
Posted on January 31st, 2011
Last night The Green Register celebrated our 10th anniversary in Bristol. Having held two celebratory parties earlier in the year (one in Manchester and one in London) this one was the finale and we celebrated in style. Held at the fantastic Aardman studios (designed by TGR members Alec French architects) our guest speaker was Alastair Sawday, long term environmentalist and mover and shaker in the southwest. Alastair talked about the potential Bristol has and how we should grab this and run with it.
Tony Prescott and Stuart Briggs of Aardman did us proud with hearty wine and gorgeous food. Favourite dish: Cornish Mackerel, beetroot horseradish and Sharpham cheese rarebit with tomato chutney.
Thanks to Leadbitter for sponsoring the food and drinks-we could not have done it without you. The evening was rounded up by David Mellor, Director of Alec French introducing a 40 minute film documenting the extraordinary building of the Aardman studios-a really positive addition to Bristol.
Despite the gloomy outlook within the UK construction industry, TGR is looking forward to the next ten years of sustainable building!
A quote from a happy customer, Elke Dittrich, architect and TGR member:
‘Thank you for the fantastic evening. It was very inspirational with great surroundings and fantastic food. Well done you for your hard work and success with the Green Register. I hope this year will be better. It felt great being together with so many enthusiastic people who genuinely care for Bristol. We need to do more events like that. My dream is to bridge over the port way and make the gorge accessible and a real destination, rather something you peer down from the bridge. The Avon is so underused and unloved.’
Posted on October 14th, 2010
The Steelcase showroom, Manchester – 3 November, 5.30pm-8pm. The Green Register (TGR) is inviting construction industry professionals to a FREE event to mark its 10th year as one of the UK’s leading organisations promoting sustainable building practices and providing unique industry-led training events.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on September 23rd, 2010
ech2o are pleased to announce we have some funding to carry out a series of workshops in the SEEDA region with Housing Association or Local Authority tenants. These fun and interactive workshops are designed to provide tenants with practical and behaviour change solutions to reduce their water consumption, resulting in lower water and energy bills and reduced CO2 emissions. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 21st, 2010
Green shoots: I am delighted (and relieved) to say that The Green Register has had a very positive start to 2010.
Firstly, we are celebrating surviving 2009-a year when many small businesses and organisations like us did not survive the credit crunch. TGR has done so and this is despite numbers at our 2009 events dropping due to tightened budgets. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 27th, 2009
Kevin McCloud was a big hit in his ‘breakout session’ at yesterday’s Green Register/RIBA SW conference ‘Towards a Green Heritage’ that took place at Swindon STEAM museum.
The challenge of combining sustainability and conservation issues were thoroughly debated at the conference with input from conservation officers, architects and engineers. Read the rest of this entry »
As 2011 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on where The Green Register (TGR) was last year (facing challenging times) to where we are now (increasing in strength and numbers) and realised quite how many folk have contributed to our resurgence and ongoing success.
