After doing the two day Sustainable Building & Services course I felt better informed when working with clients on making projects as sustainable as possible. For example using FSC ply rather than the cheap imports stacked outside the timber yard. Presentation of information about green issues is important, as many people want to reduce their carbon footprint and are willing to pay a little more for greener building materials and sustainable design.

The one day eco-refurbisher course in Bristol was enjoyable, and there was much discussion of the practicalities of reducing energy use. That weekend I stayed in a converted listed building with little insulation and huge heating bills, suddenly it all made sense!

Published by Green Books (2009)
In the past I have attempted to make compost in a somewhat haphazard fashion and I have often been frustrated by the results, so I jumped at the chance to review this book in the hopes that it might improve my output.

Nicky Scott’s book provides a comprehensive guide to many aspects of compost making, from small scale wormeries through to large volume systems such as school compost making enterprises which are capable of processing substantial quantities of food waste. It sets out clearly the basic ingredients for good compost and explains the chemical and biological aspects of the composting process. A broad spectrum of systems are examined in considerable detail,  making recommendations according to the scale of the facility required and aspirations of the user. Pros and cons of each system are set out clearly allowing the reader to choose a suitable system based on the space available and anticipated cost. Sketches and photographs are used throughout the book to illustrate equipment, principles and techniques.

Following on from this the author provides an informative chapter on how to use compost, including approaches to “no-dig” and conventional gardening and recipes for compost mixtures to suit specific purposes. A valuable A-Z section provides explanation of terminology. The final chapter includes a valuable set of resources for further information including other books, websites, organisations, and manufacturers and suppliers of equipment and ingredients.

In the current debates on climate change and environmental issues compost tends not to be a headline grabbing subject. However compost making, at any scale, addresses numerous issues such as reduction of waste going to landfill, preservation of important ecosystems by reduction of the use of peat in commercial composts, and conversion of a waste management problem into a valuable, locally generated resource. This book provides a broad spectrum of achievable strategies, including guidance on community composting, and is informed by the author’s wealth of experience.

Armed with improved knowledge and having been inspired by Nicky Scott’s infectious enthusiasm I returned to my allotment last weekend and filled a compost bin with carefully considered layers of ingredients, with the author’s mantra “AirWaterFoodWarmth” foremost in my mind. I have high hopes for the product that will emerge towards the end of summer, and expect that “How to Make and Use Compost” will occupy a space on my bookshelf for years to come.

Our house is a larger-than-typical detached property built in 1934 and lived in for many years by an elderly couple who loved their garden but did not do much to keep their house up to standard - an ideal property for two architects to use as a laboratory for some of our more challenging ideas. We also wanted to collect as much data for the house once it had been finished to inform the eco-refurbishment debate. We were lucky enough to have the help of Dr. Paul Benson from De Montfort University who helped collate the data and format it into digestible documents.

The house had 225mm thick solid brick walls, a timber roof and leaky metal single glazed windows and when we bought it, there was not a millimetre of insulation to be seen anywhere. 18 months later and the house has a lovely warm tea cosy of insulation (80mm polyisocyanurate) on all the walls, a double layer of insulation in the roof (we converted the loft into our architectural office so our commute was down to a minimum), floor insulation (with recycled newspaper material) and new double glazed low E-coated windows. As a result, our house uses about a third of the gas for heating consumed by the same size house (accounting for the fact that we also work in the house all day).

We use compact fluorescent or LED lights (plus a few conventional bulbs) and this, combined with occupant habits, has resulted in the use of electricity being one quarter of a house of the same size. It should also be said that 1930’s houses are often designed to let lots of natural daylight in and ours is particularly light, meaning that we don’t need to rely on artificial lighting a lot of the time.

We also wanted to see if we could reduce the use of new, high environmental impact materials and to this end have used the existing floor boards on the first floor and reclaimed timber for the floorboards of the ground floor. Sourced by Bioregional Reclaimed, these boards used to be joists in an old house and were reclaimed, planed down and made into beautiful tongue and groove flooring. We used linoleum and slate where we needed a smooth washable surface and there are no fitted carpets in the house to ensure a healthy interior environment. The old plastic gutters and downpipes were replaced with aluminium rainwater goods and we built a deck on the back of our house with reclaimed decking and green oak timbers.

We wanted to reduce our water use to a minimum – although we will not run out of water on the planet, it still has a carbon load in that each time we flush water down the drain, it takes energy to clean it and pump it back into our houses. We have showers with low flow heads, dual flush/low flush WC’s, water butts in the garden and again, occupant habits (even with two teenage girls!) means that our daily water consumption is 71 litres (the average water consumption in the UK per person is 150 litres per day).

And last but definitely not least, we have been growing our own vegetables. This has been a mixed success – having lived in London most of my life, the most I had ever done was growing tomatoes in my back yard but when we moved to Bristol we had the opportunity of digging up some of the flower beds and making a productive garden out of them. After planting several sets of seeds at the wrong time and in inappropriate locations, I went on an organic gardening course and this year have high hopes of providing at least some of our vegetable needs this summer. We also have a veggie box from local company Better Foods which fills in the quite large gaps in our food production.

All in all, the project has been a fantastic learning experience for us as practicing architects and although I drive my family mad with all the geeky graphs and monitoring data I collect, they would all agree that the house is a very comfortable place to live. We give tours of the house through Old Home Super Homes– the next one is 11th September and bookings can be made through the OHSH website www.sustainable-energyacademy.org.uk

In addition to running our architectural practice, I am director of The Green Register, a not for profit organisation that provides training in sustainable building practices throughout the UK. We are running a series of seminars on eco-refurbishment for both professionals and homeowners in 2010. The next seminar for construction professionals is in Bristol on 13th May (see www.greenregister.org.uk for more details) and a new one day course for homeowners will be held in Bristol in September (date TBC).

Eco-renovation features to 29 Redland Hill, Bristol

1.            External Works:

·         Existing compost

·         Gardening/recycling garden ‘waste’

·         Fence posts & doors

·         Willow fences

·         Porous paving

·         Existing herb garden

·         New vegetable garden

·         Heat treated timber cladding

·         Green oak canopy over deck

·         Reclaimed timber decking

·         Aluminium rainwater goods

2.            External Envelope:

1.  
   • Airtightness test
   • New high performance timber windows
   • Cellulose insulation under flooring
   • 2x insulation in roof with breather membrane
   • 80mm external wall insulation and render
   • Draft proofing front door

3.            Heating/hot water:

·         Gas condensing boiler

·         Solar panels

·         Passive solar/conservatory

4.            Lighting:

·         Use of natural light

·         LED/compact fluorescent lighting

5.            Interior finishes:

·         Natural & clay paints

·         Reuse of existing floorboards on 1^st floor

·         Reuse of existing 1930’s interior doors

·         Reclaimed flooring on ground floor with natural oil finish

·         Slate, sea grass, linoleum

6.            Water:

·         Dual flush WC’s

·         Low flow shower

·         Water butts outside

7.            Waste:

·         Bristol Wood recycling project

·         Firewood

·         Garden waste

·         Skips

·         Yard sale

·         Cardboard packaging

7. Technical data available:

• Architects drawings – existing and proposed
• Construction details of external envelope (walls, floor and roof) – before and after
• Photos (before and after)
• U-values (before and after)

8. Data collected after occupation:

• Airtightness test
• Thermographic imaging
• 12 months of bills (water, gas and electricity)
• 12 months temperature logging with graphs illustrating the outcomes
• 12 months solar thermal panel output
• Energy Performance Certificate
• SAP rating
• NHER rating

9. Other post occupancy information:

• Food growing
• Waste reduction
• Transport

10. Lifestyle

• No tumble dryer
• Open fire
• Veggie box

All is Explained by TGR Trainer David O’Rorke

What is the Code for Sustainable Homes?

It’s an environmental assessment for the design and construction process of new homes, including both apartments and houses. It looks at a range of issues, split into the following categories: energy, water, materials, surface water run off, waste, pollution, health & wellbeing, management and land use & ecology. Credits are awarded for meeting the criteria of each issue and the total credit score is translated to an overall percentage. Depending on the percentage achieved, a rating is achieved, ranging from Code for Sustainable Homes levels 1 to 6. Though be warned that there are mandatory requirements that must be met to achieve each level of the Code.

Why would I want to have a development assessed?

If you’re trying to build an environmentally sustainable home, it’s a very useful structure around which to consider environmental issues. By setting out best performance benchmarks and prompting design changes needed to meet them it can help guide the design. And once built, the rating demonstrates through a verifiable method that the dwelling achieves a certain standard, which can be used as for marketing. It also acts as an indicator for the direction that legislation is headed. So for an architect to be able to design buildings to a high Code level now, they are likely to have a head start as Building Regulations become more demanding.

Furthermore, since May 2008 it’s been compulsory for all new dwellings to achieve a Code rating and include the result in the Home Information Pack. At the moment there is a ‘nil’ rating that can be downloaded at no cost, so there is no need to actually carry out the assessment. The government has, however, set out a timeline for all dwellings to achieve certain ratings as mandatory.

What’s the timeline for making the Code mandatory?

For affordable housing: It’s been mandatory to achieve Code level 3 since 2007. From 2010, Level 4 will be mandatory and from 2013 it’ll be Level 6.

For private housing: A minimum ‘nil’ rating has been required since last year. From next year this is scheduled to be Code level 3, level 4 from 2013 and level 6 from 2016.

Whether this schedule is realistic or feasible is another matter… many think that the government may not stick to this timeline.

How do I get a development assessed?

Appoint a Code for Sustainable Homes assessor! There are many out there, though be warned that their level of service may vary greatly: carrying out an assessment is a complex process so find a well experienced assessor - it will make your life much easier. They should then be able to take you through the process.

How long does it take and when should the assessment start?

The earlier an assessor is appointed and starts, the better. Ideally this would happen as early as RIBA stage B, at which point the requirements of the assessment can guide the design. If it’s started too late then the design may have progressed to an advanced state from which some of the easiest and cheapest credits can no longer be achieved. The formal assessment then takes place in two stages: (1) a Design Stage review, to be completed once the design is finished and before work starts on site; and (2) a Post Construction Review, to confirm that everything has been complied with in the finished building.

How much is it likely to cost?

There is a compulsory fee for the certification body (either the BRE or Stroma), but because the assessment process is time consuming the major cost will be from the assessor. This will vary depending on the rating to be achieved and alsoon the number of units under assessment: single units may be very expensive on a per unit basis compared to the economies of scale for larger developments. In addition to these costs, there are likely to be some costs involved with designing and building the development to meet the requirements.

How can I find out more?

There’s a huge amount of information available on the internet. The detailed assessment manual can be downloaded for free from:http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/code_for_sustainable_homes_techguide.pdf

About David

On completing an MSc in Environmental Technology with Distinction at Imperial College London, David was employed by the university to manage their contribution to an EC funded project called LEnSE (Methodology Development towards a Label for Environmental, Social and Economic Buildings), helping to develop a trans-European building assessment methodology.
David is now employed at Eight Associates, a team of environmental assessors that specialise in building design and eco-ratings. He has trained as an assessor for BREEAM Offices, BREEAM Industrial, the Code for Sustainable Homes and LEED, and has since been involved in dozens of assessments. These projects have been located around the country and range from large industrial developments to top-end residential refurbishments. This work involves running seminars, providing design advice and helping clients to reach their sustainability goals.

I have recently attended an “Eco-refurbishment” day-seminar created by The Green Register and felt that I’d like to put “pen to paper”, as it were.

The content of the day was varied, covering many aspects of this rapidly evolving field of construction. I was particularly impressed by the calibre of the speakers – each of them being “fresh from the front-line” and enthusiastically sharing their recent experiences and thoughts of this valuable work.

It was interesting to learn of the practical side through speakers such as Duncan Baker Brown, allied with some of the theoretical and technical solutions suggested by the economics of the work, explained by Johnny Lewis.

Although there was only a day to explore this valuable and interesting field, the scope of the subjects covered allowed for many aspects to be examined, albeit briefly. The excellent lunch, included in the course, allowed me to socialise with like-minded professionals, sharing experiences and outlook. I found this day to be most inspirational and motivating and hope that the Green Register can follow it up with further similar courses on this most dynamic area of construction.

I really enjoyed last Friday’s Green Register ‘Becoming an Eco-refurbisher’ course. I think all of The Green Register events I have attended have been really good and useful, and this was no exception. All of the speakers gave very good presentations, and were really focussed. They complemented each other very well, with very little overlap, and covered a broad range of approaches and topics. So very impressed, thank you.

Also worth saying that TGR seminars are not expensive, and I think among the best of those I go to.

I thought his introduction of the topic of waste was very interesting, also ideas on resources generally

I suppose almost inevitably a one day course on eco-refurb is going to be broadranging and cover a whole series of topics, but only to a certain depth. I appreciate also that the target audience may be to some extent people who do not have a great deal of background knowledge or experience, whereas there are people like me who have been at it some time. May there’s scope for a more advance course with in-depth exploration, going into greater detail.

I wonder if this might be more topic based, so for example there might be a seminar on ventilation, which looks at passive stack, MVHR, windcatchers and the discussion around those. Or perhaps one on heating, and on the various options for heat sources within an low carbon building. As an architect I am aware that I feel on safer ground with the building fabric, and understanding the issues there, but less sure about environment and services.

Having said that perhaps also there might be something on details of the fabric design, cold bridging issues, alternative insulation choices, moisture movement, etc.

I was very glad to have attended, and do really value the work that TGR is doing, and my membership of it.  

Denovo Design team said: “ We joined the Green Register originally to enhance our commitment to environmental construction, and also to open opportunities with regards to networking, and learning from like-minded individuals.

The benefits, however, have exceeded our expectations, and, have provided a useful means, (particularly working in the current challenging economic climate) of reassuring our clients that we care about what we do and how we do it.

Being able to use the Green Register logo on our stationery and promotional material is an added bonus, which provides strong visual impact and tangibility of service.

Only this morning we have had an enquiry from France, as a result of our website listing on the Register…what more can we say?!”

To find out more about Denovo Design Limited and their Sun Tunnels Project contact the team on 0151 708 4999
Email: post@denovodesign.ltd.uk Web: www.denovodesign.ltd.uk

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.

Secondly, this week we are running our two day Sustainable Building and Service training course in collaboration with Westminster University for 50 delegates (the maximum the venue will allow) and have a waiting list for this course of 20+ people.

Thirdly, our Eco-refurbishment course on 29^th January has had so many bookings that we have had to find a bigger venue and bookings are still coming in-showing just how focussed the building industry is on getting our existing stock up to standard.

The challenge of combining sustainability and conservation issues were thoroughly debated at the conference with input from conservation officers, architects and engineers. Some questioned the need to debate this issue when there are ‘only’ 380,000 historic buildings in the UK - perhaps we should be concentrating on the many thousands of non-historic buildings that are below current standards of sustainability.

Others wanted to discuss what should be tackled first and what makes most carbon sense. The contrast between the photovoltaic panels at the nearby Heelis project costing £450,000 and only contributing 10-15% of the building’s electrical needs and Kevin McCloud’s modest but effective eco-refurb of a terraced house in Manchester reducing carbon emissions by over 30% but only costing just over £2,000 could not have been sharper.

However, it is clear that unless we conserve the environment first our historic buildings will be (perfectly preserved) under water due to rising sea levels.

Paul King, UK-GBC Chief Executive described the conference as:  “A thoroughly enjoyable event, with lots of good natured but challenging views about how we can reconcile the sometimes competing demands of sustainability and the conservation of heritage buildings. How to make loft insulation glamourous, sexy refurb, and a preference for passive measures over high-tech eco-bling, were just some of the hotly debated topics, to lift our spirits on a cold November day in a train shed in Swindon.”

His session on the Great British Refurb was fully booked, and provoked a lively debate. Photo above from left to right: Paul King UK-GBC Chief Executive, Kevin McCloud, Lucy Pedler TGR Director, and Jon Watkins Head of RIBA SW.