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  • Biomass Heating - Is it suitable for everyone?

    Choosing Biomass as a heating solution which requires careful consideration for a number of reasons; Firstly is it sustainable? Building with trees and subsequently locking up the embodied carbon for 60 plus years is far better than releasing it into the atmosphere through burning, so what makes biomass sustainable?

    Wood fired heating of an autonomous house can be sustainable if the fuel is harvested on site, assuming the house is low energ and the burner is active (over 90% efficient). This, in combination with on site electrical generation by wind, solar PV, hydro etc would eliminate the need for importing energy to site and is probably the ambition of many eco-self sufficiency people such as me!

  • Joe's Response to 'Insulation is bad for old buildings' (The Times)

    The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) has highlighted concerns regarding the inappropriate use of non-breathing insulation materials in older properties and the need for carefully considered thermal upgrades.

  • Environmental risks over energy demand in our ‘Big global Society’

    Nuclear Power StationThe risks associated with nuclear power have reared recently following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, with the fall out travelling thousands of miles to America and even reaching our shores. There has been widespread public concern around the globe.

  • Times are a changin’ as the web & corporate social responsibility impacts on our built environment.

    Times are changing imageThe first green buildings were houses built by pioneering individuals, some with sandals and beards, but all realising their actions counted and wanted to reduce their impact on the planet individually as much as they could.

  • Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) can be Eco materials

    Lightweight Clay Blocks being laidI attended a mortgage lenders conference today at Buildstore on Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and eco materials; it was great to see almost 100 representatives from lenders and valuers turning up to find out more about better ways to build.

  • Photovoltaic (PV) Best Value or Best Price?

    Solar PV PanelsBuying Photovoltaic Panels is a long term investment with significant returns, but many within the industry, in the UK , are obsessed with buying at the cheapest possible price and are not aware or concerned about minimising the risk taken by investors.

  • Government stiffle Solar PV market

    The recent announcement by Chris Huhne regarding cutting the feed in tariff has impacted upon the already fragile financial markets by alarming investors in the solar PV markets.

  • Rain Harvesting - why install and what to consider

     There has been some debate recently about whether or not we should bother installing rainwater harvesting systems due to the levels of carbon emitted into the atmosphere caused by installing a Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) system compared with using the Civic mains sewers and piped water supplies.

  • Chinese Products

    I was at an event listening to a panel of experts discuss environmental construction. During the debate about PV the majority of the panel expressed anti Chinese views some even saying “PV panels from China are rubbish” and we should just buy European and Japanese technologies.

  • Joe Wild guest speaker at Bath University

    Sustainable building materials presentationI gave a lecture at Bath University yesterday to the architecture MSc students studying sustainability, Tom Woolley was leading the module and he wanted to introduce the students to real live commercial activity in low impact building materials.

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