Piers Sadler | Piers Sadler Consulting 

The risks associated with retrofitting solid wall insulation are well known amongst ‘green’ building professionals and practitioners. These risks include risks to built heritage, interstitial condensation, poor indoor air quality, mould and under-performance of the insulation.

Concern about roof retrofit is much less prominent and the guidance usually assumes simple situations, rather than the often complex reality. The risks are...

Jillian Mitchell | Project Logistics

At the recent celebrations of TGR’s 15th birthday, I enjoyed a trip round the Bristol Aquarium, in the company of two colleagues. The contrast in their reaction to the displays amused me somewhat, with one identifying exotic species and relishing big fish in even bigger tanks, and the other declaring he had eaten or cooked most of the exhibits, within the past month!

For me, being able to see flashes of brilliant colour and admire beautiful,...

Leigh J Caller | Kendall Kingscott

Cath Hassell | ech2o 

Water softeners

Anyone who lives in a hard water area in the UK (60% of homes) will be familiar with scale in kettles, on taps and shower screens, a lack of lather from soap, washing powder, etc, scum around baths and scratchy towels. While visible scale is unsightly and hard water is detergent hungry, the real issue is the deleterious effect that scale deposits have on heating systems by reducing the rate of heat transfer. This effect is not immediately...

Tom Dollard | Head of Sustainable Design Pollard Thomas Edwards

The latest instalment in the Zero Carbon Homes saga is rather shocking. Unlike previous chapters which have seen an almost understandable watering down of the policy, this time the Conservatives have let rip their true blue colours! George Osborne has completely given up pretending that the Tories care for environmental policy, and has lead a U-turn on policy that had achieved cross industry...

Lucy Pedler | Director | The Green Register

At the end of last year, I made a comment in one of my TGR blogs about the demise of the Code for Sustainable Homes stating: ‘For seven years, we have had a nationally recognised, holistic standard for measuring the sustainability of new buildings and in my humble opinion, abolishing the Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) earlier this year has been a big...

Cora Kwiatkowski | Senior Associate | Stride Treglown

The reuse and refurbishment of existing buildings with their embodied carbon is intrinsically sustainable, provided that they can operate effectively and efficiently and that they are located in a sustainable location. But are all buildings really suitable for refurbishment and how can a balance between sustainability and return be struck?

Given that we are just climbing our way out of recession, investment still mainly concentrates on the...

Rob Borruso

Two things have been vexing me quite a lot recently. Firstly, the resistance to actually getting things done caused by all the legislation I (we) have to deal with these days. And, secondly, ever since the radio broke in my digger, which of 300+ albums stored on my phone to play next.

I'll tackle the more important issue first. I've various apps on my phone that claim, after I make an initial choice, to be able to compile play-lists for me. Aside from the fact the apps don't know whether I'm path smoothing...

Chris Hocknell | Eight Associates

How is the Energy Efficiency Directive changing the way we do business? Is it really achieving its goals or is it just a soft-touch regulation without real tangible achievements?

Overview and Policy Context

Several regulatory instruments have been implemented within the UK to ensure that the UK achieves the cumulative final energy saving target of 27.86 Mtoe by 2020 (2014-2020 period), as per its NEEAP (National Energy Efficiency Action Plan) in...

Cath Hassell | ech2o 

Legionella pneumophila bacteria (first identified in July 1976) are found in all types of nutrient-rich fresh water environments, including rivers and streams. From these sources they enter and colonise man-made water systems such as humidifiers, cooling towers and hot and cold water systems. The bacteria are dormant below 20°C and do not survive above 60°C. Legionella only become a risk to health if the bacteria multiply rapidly, which occurs when temperatures are between 20-45°C...