tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80422540281039499592024-03-05T17:04:08.405+00:00CIBSE Resilient Cities Group Blogadminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14807404068837872739noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-81083563805058182492018-06-13T10:41:00.003+01:002018-06-13T10:50:37.066+01:00Is collaboration the key?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">As an intern at CIBSE, I was fortunate to be invited to be a participant in two events concerning the London Plan (Draft):</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The London Plan Discussion</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Blue Roofs Event</span></li>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Both events highlighted a major challenge in policy-making and implementation – the lack of collaboration. And it is this theme of collaboration that the blog tries to address.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">—<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>H.E. Luccock</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This quote serves as an analogy for collaboration in the built-environment sector as well as policy-making in general. Think of the built-environment as an orchestral concert. The various disciplines associated with it are the different instruments. The orchestra symbolizes the disciplines working in collaboration with each other. While they may be good enough by themselves, the symphony sounds the best with all the instruments played together in a rhythm. This is also true for policy-making, where collaboration between individual actors from different backgrounds can lead to better policies and implementation. The CIBSE Resilient Cities group also shares the ideology of collaboration in its objectives which state:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To seek collaborations with other groups, networks and societies within and outside of CIBSE.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To facilitate a two-way interface with the research community, encouraging knowledge co-generation, highlighting knowledge gaps and working with relevant bodies to ’translate’ research into practical advice.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Objective 3 and 4, Resilient Cities Group. </span><a href="https://www.cibse.org/networks/groups/resilient-cities/about-the-group" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">https://www.cibse.org/networks/groups/resilient-cities/about-the-group</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having worked in the construction sector, I have been privy to how collaboration generally happens in the industry. Early stage involvement is still a theoretical concept in many projects. From the discussions, I have come to understand that this may also be true of development projects and policy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Collaboration contributes to building holistic systems. It can help link a variety of cross-disciplinary ideas and creation of better systems which serve more multiple functions. For the London Plan (Draft), it was identified that most policies were considered in isolation. For example, in the flood risk management and the sustainable drainage sections under the chapter titled ‘Sustainable Infrastructure’, integration of green infrastructure was not considered while it might have been used to address both these challenges. This issue of the lack of integration (and thereby lack of collaboration) was identified by stakeholders at the consultation along with a more comprehensive focus on integrative design. Bringing all the issues together at a policy level also has implications for the level of collaboration that occurs on the field for development projects. Clients and designers would be more likely to address issues at early stages if policy guidelines are more holistic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another reason that collaboration is important, especially in the policy context, is that the way a policy is worded may have a unique meaning in different professions and guidelines/standards. One stakeholder identified that the word ‘standard’ in the context of trees might mean different things depending on the guidelines followed. It was also noticed that many guidelines, policies and standards were not on the same page. In a world where technological change is rapid, it is necessary that the standards keep pace too. Potential conflicts in standards inhibit the application of technology. It was prescribed in the consultation that revisiting them might lead to a better implementation of policy and application of technology. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Development projects have interdependencies like fire safety, monitoring, maintenance etc. which come to the fore after a project has been handed over. Early stage involvements in the design of projects and, more importantly, of policies would enable stakeholders to take better care of these interdependencies. New technologies are accompanied with a reluctance on the part of insurers due to their perception of risks related to them. This impedes quick adoption of these technologies. In turn, clients and designers are reluctant to use them in their projects. Collaboration might be a key to solving this problem. Including professionals at an early stage in the design process (of a project or a policy) could lead to a better understanding of risks associated with them. This, in turn, could lead to better prospects for insurance and increased trust on the part of clients and designers. Hence, collaboration could help to extract the maximum benefits that the technology offers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As CIBSE points out in its response to the draft plan, the planners could collaborate with and learn from other cities that have successfully implemented collaborative efforts in the past. For instance, in Gentofte Municipality in Denmark, by forming ad hoc committees called “Task Committees”, the local councillors have reduced the time spent on case processing. This is done by tackling the most pressing problems confronted by the locals by policy interventions which are created through sustained interaction over time with the citizens and concerned stakeholders. This way, not only is the policy contextually sound but also more responsive to solving the problems. </span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="file:///G:/My%20Drive/Susie%20Jobs/125_CIBSE%20Resilient%20Cities%20group/Resilient%20Cities%20Blog/20180612_Shobhit%20Chepe_CIBSE%20Blog%20Draft.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A global city like London faces enormous environmental (pollution, climate change etc.) and social challenges (housing, infrastructure etc.). And like every challenge, this also presents opportunities – including for policy interventions. As one of the greatest cities on this planet, London could stand out as an example of collaborative working (/planning). Collaboration will not only help in creating solutions to the problem it faces but also spur innovation for London. In summary, collaboration can help build holistic systems, allowing for better design and implementation. It also has implications for better risk sharing and insurance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This blog would not be possible without the inputs (collaboration!) from Julie Godefroy, Susie Diamond and the people at both the London plan events. Thanks!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="file:///G:/My%20Drive/Susie%20Jobs/125_CIBSE%20Resilient%20Cities%20group/Resilient%20Cities%20Blog/20180612_Shobhit%20Chepe_CIBSE%20Blog%20Draft.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="text-indent: -24pt;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 15.6933px;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="text-indent: -24pt;"> </span><span style="line-height: 16px; text-indent: -24pt;">Ansell, C. et al. (2017) Policy and Politics: Improving policy implementation through collaborative policymaking [online]. Available from: <a href="https://discoversociety.org/2017/09/05/policy-and-politics-improving-policy-implementation-through-collaborative-policymaking/" target="_blank">https://discoversociety.org/2017/09/05/policy-and-politics-improving-policy-implementation-through-collaborative-policymaking/</a></span>. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Shobhit Chepe</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">MSc Disasters, Adaptation and Development</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Department of Geography</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">King’s College London</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-68155088166303298172017-11-27T12:28:00.001+00:002017-11-27T12:53:01.793+00:00Tranquil City - Curating urban calm to promote healthier city living<h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think of a city. One that offers space for nature, respite and calm.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A city where you can wander and listen to the sounds of people and wildlife together.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the Tranquil City. This is London.</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYdtxKF_bLJ8I_IivwHZQtDp2RMs0F9VQsNdB9yMUi_jkzeq6EBa8o01zlHfcAZpEJEAQ4k3SdFFlOoLmzSxnZUqdcQaiXPKoNHSSoOPnFH811G5jE8M1tsHkSM3iAy7nbBxqolmlWD_0/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1067" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYdtxKF_bLJ8I_IivwHZQtDp2RMs0F9VQsNdB9yMUi_jkzeq6EBa8o01zlHfcAZpEJEAQ4k3SdFFlOoLmzSxnZUqdcQaiXPKoNHSSoOPnFH811G5jE8M1tsHkSM3iAy7nbBxqolmlWD_0/s400/1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cities are traditionally looked at as dominated by noise, congested, and polluted. But what if they also offered opportunities to slow down?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tranquil City is a grassroots urban initiative that seeks to challenge preconceptions of cities. We believe that, by better understanding and promoting the concept of tranquillity in urban areas, we can create cities that better respond to the often-forgotten need for respite from stress, congestion and pollution, providing an escape without the need to leave the city.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our approach: focusing on appeal, combining objective with crowd-sourced subjective data.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The initiative started with two key questions:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>“Can tranquillity be found in the city?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> Where?”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We take an open approach to tranquillity: we recognise that, as a state of mind, it has a subjective element, and we want to understand and celebrate the environments which can help evoke the feeling of tranquillity within the bounds of the city.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoj50neca9POH6RhcT5U2ObXuIcd9T843zot3afZEEVXvNIX6VHyANolwIiosLMuzYvn6pkxVPqNq0f3daxUwOb5AGA0xfNultwJDva7cQxeKrPFp5cWA55SZM0Jo91vMUmtONgriBQv0/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="507" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoj50neca9POH6RhcT5U2ObXuIcd9T843zot3afZEEVXvNIX6VHyANolwIiosLMuzYvn6pkxVPqNq0f3daxUwOb5AGA0xfNultwJDva7cQxeKrPFp5cWA55SZM0Jo91vMUmtONgriBQv0/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Tranquil City approach:</span></h4>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We share interests with many other initiatives for better cities and better wellbeing;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We combine objective data with subjective crowd-sourced data;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We promote positive attributes and personal exploration, rather than providing “top down” advice and set routings.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We crowdsource London tranquil spaces via Instagram, where anyone can post images and videos of “their” tranquil spaces tagged by <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23tranquilcitylondon&src=typd" target="_blank">#tranquilcitylondon</a>, with short descriptions of why they feel their spaces are tranquil if they wish. The spaces are then collated to form the Tranquil Pavement map, which is freely accessible online at <a href="http://www.tranquilcity.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.tranquilcity.co.uk</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The idea is that by showing where tranquil spaces are, within an easily-relatable visual representation on lower pollution areas, we can help people navigate the city via tranquillity along relatively low pollution routes, and help facilitate the discovery of more tranquil spaces.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDaxMnJY8hsAkUHhKgZAWAMZIdySvVXbL0igAUG72cM9NFyUB4GhD5mPWLhN3pE-tOuOlDYVN-dkf3vJvRDiXdBnrDr2PWfceJTkrQ-prxn_mOGaA-8gh97fgfUUIvh3BS29zPDYUq0y0/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDaxMnJY8hsAkUHhKgZAWAMZIdySvVXbL0igAUG72cM9NFyUB4GhD5mPWLhN3pE-tOuOlDYVN-dkf3vJvRDiXdBnrDr2PWfceJTkrQ-prxn_mOGaA-8gh97fgfUUIvh3BS29zPDYUq0y0/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extract of the Tranquil Pavement map, showing crowd-sourced tranquil spots; the background colours reflect annual average levels of noise and air pollution</td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption"></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The attributes of tranquil spaces: nature, local, a respite from surroundings</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Interestingly, while the dictionary definition of tranquillity is most closely associated with noise levels, among our crowd-sourced tranquil spaces the strongest correlation is with green space. Most show design and soundscape elements related to nature even if the urban environment is not necessarily absent as most spaces also include built structures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another notable point is that many spaces are not “flagship” green London areas and large parks, but rather small and dispersed across the city. This highlights the value of green spaces in proximity to people’s homes and workplaces, which they can easily and frequently use or pass by in their daily lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our findings align with best practice principles of urban design and the work of others (ref 1, 2, 3, 4). Furthermore, many crowd-sourced tranquil spaces are routes rather than destinations, highlighting the opportunity to contribute to the promotion of low-impact transport and active lifestyles.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_X0KPbZHzWp-qF-J1Jjh-NJ1C2yQp3-d9xlD9gs4kW_y4FwzqEwzKIOos36WrpTzpun-ZRk8-CTrSEOrRBq1cQJwHcGkNzq-ttH_SVyChCvIsJ8Jl_N6Spsq4LeSnQRkccWKD9khiu2c/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="1339" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_X0KPbZHzWp-qF-J1Jjh-NJ1C2yQp3-d9xlD9gs4kW_y4FwzqEwzKIOos36WrpTzpun-ZRk8-CTrSEOrRBq1cQJwHcGkNzq-ttH_SVyChCvIsJ8Jl_N6Spsq4LeSnQRkccWKD9khiu2c/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pillars of tranquillity</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Support from Organicity helped us to carry out an initial analysis of noise and air pollution levels in tranquil spaces. On average they offer (unsurprisingly) lower exposure levels, although in some contexts, places with relatively high noise levels are still considered tranquil (at least at some times or for some users). This highlights the importance of relative tranquillity, and even more so in the city: that difference in sound level when you walk away from the main road onto a quieter street or park; the moment you take a breath, calm down and connect with your environment again. This is what Tranquil City is exploring, the tranquillity that is relevant to you, on your doorstep, part of your every day.</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Can travelling via tranquillity improve our health and wellbeing?</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A comparison was made of sample A-to-B routes with alternative routes through tranquil spaces, identifying potentially significant reductions in exposure levels (20-30% in annual average levels – and probably even greater reductions in exposure in peak, busy periods).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This means adopting tranquil routes regularly could offer health benefits directly related to reduced pollution exposure, in addition to enjoyment and wellbeing benefits.</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Community engagement and co-creation</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have conducted a series of workshops and walks to demonstrate how the Tranquil Pavement could be used to help people find low pollution and tranquil routes.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwyqlIaSQDvM__2YH_1GOgO2O8ChTPo8hX5HWxb_5BQbSALsJchb-a6sOEl6UT9cuFpuYnArCDyPdV_VCj7j4UTslmYSQqKk_vaYzosEUGOXF8VFYQ6nd6yry-Loojv1U5s41fhhX5_o/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwyqlIaSQDvM__2YH_1GOgO2O8ChTPo8hX5HWxb_5BQbSALsJchb-a6sOEl6UT9cuFpuYnArCDyPdV_VCj7j4UTslmYSQqKk_vaYzosEUGOXF8VFYQ6nd6yry-Loojv1U5s41fhhX5_o/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workshop held at the Future Cities Catapult in February 2017 to present the initial iteration of the Tranquil Pavement to the public. This helped us improve its readability and test its potential impact.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During Green Sky Thinking 2017, we held walks between Highbury and Islington and Holloway Road in London. The first was along the quickest route, as from Google Maps, and the second went through crowdsourced tranquil spaces in the area. After both walks we asked participants how they felt and what they smelt, heard and tasted.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0T8uNN0Zn-uxT7iGoO86r9sAWiAzhrODv_s4WKWo0zRmbirWdTtoRDEAHrQ0LUBYxWptGxABxS43Cmxjl3sfneGeDurc66j3B9uip1P5m8-uiwAoIgOSfsDJhNSUDvx-KDFQ6gk3b3ps/s1600/7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0T8uNN0Zn-uxT7iGoO86r9sAWiAzhrODv_s4WKWo0zRmbirWdTtoRDEAHrQ0LUBYxWptGxABxS43Cmxjl3sfneGeDurc66j3B9uip1P5m8-uiwAoIgOSfsDJhNSUDvx-KDFQ6gk3b3ps/s400/7.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walks during Green Sky Thinking</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Along the tranquil route, participants travelled via green spaces, they smelt flowers, they looked up more and they felt calm, peaceful and content. They were more inclined to slow down, stop and sit down and even be a little late. Almost all of them said they were very likely to walk or cycle this route again. Additionally, the route offered a 20% reduction in noise exposure and a 50% reduction in NO2 exposure, based on average annual levels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A notable finding is that some participants had been working in the area for years but did not know about some of the green spaces we took them through, despite them being on their doorstep.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICCSCMCrQdRbvIMXGD6kH-XxlHBWzxu5H999x7N3UbqAKHbsmo5bvEUsbXNwqGmrUjNzoba_Q9zFJtd3iAW6ryfCItsRWLPOJ4EiYof973uGUXvpsWwf4E6fmIf028CBoLzPHHqU-zHo/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICCSCMCrQdRbvIMXGD6kH-XxlHBWzxu5H999x7N3UbqAKHbsmo5bvEUsbXNwqGmrUjNzoba_Q9zFJtd3iAW6ryfCItsRWLPOJ4EiYof973uGUXvpsWwf4E6fmIf028CBoLzPHHqU-zHo/s400/8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
Green Sky Thinking 2017 ‘Walking through the Tranquil City’ event route highlighted on the Tranquil Pavement map, alongside comparative pollution exposure histographs</td></tr>
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<h4>
<br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What’s next?</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are now about to start a new stage of our development, with further support from OrganiCity. This will focus on two elements:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Community engagement, with three pilot areas in London: City of London, London Bridge/Southbank and Deptford, where we will work in partnership with local authorities, businesses and resident groups; this will help us grow the Tranquil City crowd-sourced data, better understand what tranquillity means in different contexts, and test how it can help encourage walking, cycling, respite, and urban exploration;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Creation of a freely available Tranquil Pavement app, which will be co-created with our partners in the three pilot areas.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, we believe Tranquil City can support and add layers of understanding to existing environmental and health and wellbeing initiatives on transport and urban design; it also highlights further opportunities for citizen engagement through its crowd-sourced and open approach, inclusive of subjective aspects. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Join the movement</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Post your tranquil spaces to Instagram with #tranquilcitylondon to be featured on the Tranquil Pavement map and celebrate urban calm for all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tranquilcity.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.tranquilcity.co.uk</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post has been <span style="background-color: white;">reproduced for the Resilient Cities blog (with permission), based on an original post for the Tranquil cities</span> website.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>References</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">National Planning Policy Framework, in particular policies 4, 8 and 11</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tranquillity and soundscapes in urban green spaces — predicted and actual assessments from a questionnaire survey, University of Bradford, 2011</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Westminster Open Spaces Noise Study, 2008</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Quiet City Project from the City of London, 2010</span></li>
</ol>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJuE3acEy6KjEfWoXH2E3M6PrUb5Azn7Js9ePpk2yswAyNxqAuITOiw2e9s4JOjLCWGDDO8xYX24_GlICxVQ-VKYX2aavFgzso6z-QzjXjMcAjYWhj3NcrU1Ke7sFNj4Gy0q0WAIMZ5g/s1600/Julie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJuE3acEy6KjEfWoXH2E3M6PrUb5Azn7Js9ePpk2yswAyNxqAuITOiw2e9s4JOjLCWGDDO8xYX24_GlICxVQ-VKYX2aavFgzso6z-QzjXjMcAjYWhj3NcrU1Ke7sFNj4Gy0q0WAIMZ5g/s200/Julie.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Julie Godefroy</b> is a chartered engineer, WELL Accredited Professional (AP) and BREEAM AP.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She is a member of the National Trust Historic Environment Group and its Design Advice Forum, and a member of the advisory group for UCL IEDE's new MSc in Health, Wellbeing and Sustainable Buildings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.juliegodefroysustainability.co.uk/">http://www.juliegodefroysustainability.co.uk/</a></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-19819570386169237272016-11-24T12:18:00.000+00:002016-11-24T12:24:23.579+00:00Julie Godefroy - Reporting from the Biennale<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This year’s Venice architecture Biennale offered some inspiration to imagine resilient cities, focusing on projects which “report from the front” and tackle the key issues of inequalities, pollution, limited resources and waste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a sustainability consultant in London, I became interested in the <a href="http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/exhibition/" target="_blank">2016 Architecture Biennale</a> when they announced it would be curated by Alejandro Aravena, the Chilean architect behind the “half-a-good-house”. The idea opens home ownership to people on low income, starting with simple shells which are finished and tailored over the years as budgets allow</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: super;">1</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>"What does the lady on the ladder see?"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Biennale poster is archaeologist Maria Reiche on a ladder, scanning rocky ground. In the 1940s she walked the Peruvian desert to study the Nazca lines, carrying an aluminium ladder. From the viewpoint at the top, the lines turned from random assemblies to reveal themselves. For Aravena “the idea is to listen to those who have been able to acquire a new perspective so that those of us on the ground can share the lessons they have learnt.” </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAE2RuXC0YE-pVL4dKV_ILvxERiP3y23b86ufk71qzF1jMEd06WjVWvqiZADjqM24t9Xal1BdGWiRwNA3Bg5VKyQtGZN0ltt45UUFc60nzPc_di7bFoPhOni2dcfWY1L2tWar6gqdxIuE/s1600/J1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAE2RuXC0YE-pVL4dKV_ILvxERiP3y23b86ufk71qzF1jMEd06WjVWvqiZADjqM24t9Xal1BdGWiRwNA3Bg5VKyQtGZN0ltt45UUFc60nzPc_di7bFoPhOni2dcfWY1L2tWar6gqdxIuE/s400/J1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Biennale poster © Bruce Chatwin / Trevillion Images</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Biennale displays over 150 practices and national pavilions, from architectural concepts through to small individual buildings and country-scale initiatives, via “temporary” settlements such as refugee camps and religious festivals attracting millions of pilgrims to a single spot for a few weeks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So these are my very biased and reductive highlights. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH20iHJuS06mGSrARApMEjgP0cWJR29tAMPpjkDXUpI5tUJPgE7ImOOmbztRnpe54xOpAkZalSwIwZ2CynQZIpn95nEo8QtjU3zFtiYZdquXSx4T6x-4_8p_bV9DBOuW26wPdufwJhoKI/s1600/J2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH20iHJuS06mGSrARApMEjgP0cWJR29tAMPpjkDXUpI5tUJPgE7ImOOmbztRnpe54xOpAkZalSwIwZ2CynQZIpn95nEo8QtjU3zFtiYZdquXSx4T6x-4_8p_bV9DBOuW26wPdufwJhoKI/s400/J2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The historic Arsenale, one of the Biennale sites</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reporting from the front </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Aravena has stated that the Biennale selection was driven by talent and creativity rather than an ethical approach, and that architects have no particular duty to “do good”, though they may do so to test their skills in challenging environments</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: super;">2</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I certainly found it infused with social and environmental responsibility as well as cautious practical optimism. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The exhibition did not revolve around a handful of starchitects but instead a variety of firms from around the world. Some projects straddled over arts and architecture. Others were practical responses to natural or political crises where architecture acted as catalyst for change, such as “replacing guns with tools” in Sri Lanka by training soldiers to rebuild schools, making use of their organisational skills while facilitating their conversion to civilian life</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: super;">3</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The projects often heavily involved local communities and in large majority were very much anchored in reality and action rather than theoretical exercises (British pavilion probably excepted, as despite ostensibly addressing housing it felt somewhat detached from current issues in the UK market). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many projects were less concerned about the buildings than about the spaces in between and their use for public life and environmental services – parks, squares, playgrounds, markets ... This often involved small incremental interventions over long periods and collaboration between disciplines and public and private actors rather than traditional fractioned approaches. For example a project in Medellin, Columbia, started when the mayor and utilities company noticed that high violence typically occurred in the areas least illuminated at night, which also happened to be the locations of the city’s water tanks. An improvement programme was carried out by successive administrations, regardless of political factions, turning the tanks and their surroundings into lively parks and public spaces</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: super;">4</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfM3Puyz86EQI5EcroSyIdz_yqCAK_9QjjtjLLHn955Sw0SrWQsSCHXduhtnWqB575YAbsGxq2isOlvSBPceq05YDOsf_AujByUlFEM3EgbHepanHPCs4Ro7xYLW9pIZbW22z-AGWDD60/s1600/J3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfM3Puyz86EQI5EcroSyIdz_yqCAK_9QjjtjLLHn955Sw0SrWQsSCHXduhtnWqB575YAbsGxq2isOlvSBPceq05YDOsf_AujByUlFEM3EgbHepanHPCs4Ro7xYLW9pIZbW22z-AGWDD60/s400/J3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In Chandigarh, engineer Nek Chand worked for decades in his spare time to create a 35-acre rock garden on an abandoned plot, using discarded materials from Le Corbusier’s city </span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZgAMFV_WcJiIpnIUXMmKDTlszMVh9TKncSGRgkwghcjrCElmZCDeYXQSG-g1tgkxT0g5LedzexvwXVBjHQsnuTl38kJEf_N-LNltN_p_8n9i4gXcQ-rfIbaWb1wf_EOiA2eWolMg2-Q/s1600/J4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZgAMFV_WcJiIpnIUXMmKDTlszMVh9TKncSGRgkwghcjrCElmZCDeYXQSG-g1tgkxT0g5LedzexvwXVBjHQsnuTl38kJEf_N-LNltN_p_8n9i4gXcQ-rfIbaWb1wf_EOiA2eWolMg2-Q/s320/J4.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Incremental housing by Bel Architects, with basic multi-storey structures gradually tailored by residents, allowing built efficiency as well as cultural flexibility</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Doing more with less </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was also impressed by the creative and efficient use of resources, starting with the stunning Arsenale introduction room made out of last year’s exhibition materials – that’s 100 tons, or 10,000m² of plasterboard and 14km of metals studs… Cue to Ecobuild 2017! <a href="https://twitter.com/JulieG_Sust/status/793101508711686144" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/JulieG_Sust/status/793101508711686144</a>. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Arsenale introduction rooms</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This theme ran through numerous exhibits, from structural design challenging assumptions to bring significant savings, including the work of Werner Sobek on vacuum, negative pressure and “air beams”, through to up-cycled and re-used materials. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ochsendorf, Block and Dejong, claiming 70% savings in structural materials </span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rural Studio’s Theatre of the Useful: Benches made of insulation panels, to be used in social housing post-Biennale; partitions made of bed springs </span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Benches from quarry “waste”, by Teresa Moller (The crane in the background is a piece of British engineering heritage in need of conservation – see Venice in Peril campaign</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">5</span></sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">) </span></span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was inspirational given that in the UK, construction generates half of the country’s total waste</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: super;">6</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. It is also very much a land planning issue for future cities: in 2010 it was estimated that unless we drastically changed our use of resources, England would run out of landfill space by 2018</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">7</span></sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">… To end positively, the Biennale also provided a great example on this topic: the restoration of a landfill site near Barcelona into a park and farming landscape</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">8</span></sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vall d’en Joan landfill restoration © Battle i Roig</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">References:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.elementalchile.cl/en/projects/quinta-monroy/" target="_blank">Elemental, 93 Incremental Houses Complex</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Building Design, <a href="http://www.bdonline.co.uk/alejandro-aravena-architects-do-not-have-a-moral-duty-to-do-good/5080300.article" target="_blank">Alejandro Aravena: 'Architects do not have a moral duty to do good'</a>, February 2016</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lafarge Holcim Foundation,<a href="https://www.lafargeholcim-foundation.org/Projects/post-war-collective" target="_blank"> International Examples of Sustainable Construction, Post-War Collective – Community Library and Social Recuperation </a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/arts/design/fighting-crime-with-architecture-in-medellin-colombia.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New York Times, A City Rises, Along with Its hopes, May 2012 </span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Venice in Peril, Armstrong Mitchell Hydraulic Crane, <a href="http://www.veniceinperil.org/projects/armstrong-mitchell-crane" target="_blank">http://www.veniceinperil.org/projects/armstrong-mitchell-crane</a></span></li>
<li><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547427/UK_Statistics_on_Waste_statistical_notice_25_08_16_update__2_.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK waste statistics</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sustainablewoodstock.co.uk/Less%20than%20eight%20years%20of%20landfill%20space%20left.pdf" target="_blank">Local Government Association, Media release, Less than eight years of landfill space left, warn council leaders, 8 July 2010</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Architizer, Landscape restoration of the Vall d’en Joan landfill site, 2010 <a href="http://architizer.com/projects/landscape-restoration-of-the-vall-den-joan-landfill-site/" target="_blank">http://architizer.com/projects/landscape-restoration-of-the-vall-den-joan-landfill-site/</a> </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Julie Godefroy</b> is a chartered engineer, WELL Accredited Professional (AP) and BREEAM AP.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She is a member of the National Trust Historic Environment Group and its Design Advice Forum, and a member of the advisory group for UCL IEDE's new MSc in Health, Wellbeing and Sustainable Buildings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.juliegodefroysustainability.co.uk/">http://www.juliegodefroysustainability.co.uk/</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-40901320722375736342016-10-10T14:19:00.000+01:002016-10-13T12:39:42.509+01:00Stefanie Stead - Never mind the bollards…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was in horror that we watched last year’s events unfold in Paris. Places of apparent safety - a restaurant, a music venue - became unsafe; a city violated. We may think that the impact of a troublesome political climate is a relatively new thing, that it is really only now that we feel unsafe, insecure, paranoid even, whilst going about our daily business. Yet is this really the case? Medieval Britons would think twice before venturing far without being armed to the teeth. Georgian homeowners would literally nail themselves within their property. It is the threats - and perceived threats - that have changed.<br /><br />And we are not just referring to the impact of contemporary terrorism on our built environment - it is also about safety. Creating places that feel safe at all times of the day is crucial to the success of a neighbourhood, resulting in reduced crime and increased business. It can attract investment, people and culture. Indeed a little anarchy can be a good thing for an area, cultivating alternative thinking, artistic endeavours and literary inspiration. A counter-culture can be good for business - just look at New York’s Meat Packing district or Brixton. Unfortunately safe places = terrorist targets. Boston, for example, is consistently voted as being one of the safest cities in the US, although this illusion was shattered during the Boston Marathon, giving rise to the question as to whether a balance can be struck between ‘safety’ and ‘security’. It would seem this shift in the balance is only temporary. Cities are amazingly resilient - largely due to its people who rebelliously will not hide, but also the buildings, infrastructure and public spaces that continue to endure.<br /><br />Many of our cities developed because of their defensive position. Whether a small city like York or a metropolis like London, the very existence of these conurbations is due to their foundations as fortifications. The quaintness of Yorkshire market towns like Richmond or Knaresborough belie the once strategic importance of their associated castles, but these fortifications influenced how our cities developed and in turn shaped our society, becoming places of safety in turbulent times. How things have changed. From the blitz, the threat of nuclear war and alternative tactics from terrorist organisations have made these urban areas look less like refuges and more like targets. How has modern day urban planning responded to these new challenges and is there a way that we can learn from past defensive design to bring sanctuary back to the city?<br /><br />There is a great deal of research on how the creation of spaces that give residents and users a feeling of sanctuary, reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. However it would seem that this theory is taken to the extreme; that rather than creating urban design that engages people, some local authorities and developers are keen to ‘design out’ certain activities, and ipso facto, certain people. Whether it is the anti-loitering "Mosquito" device, anti-skateboarding studs or benches that prevent any other use other than the act of sitting, urban spaces are becoming less about inclusive design and more about defending our cities from the homeless, ‘anti-social’ youths and feral pigeons. What are the consequences of such design? How can we design urban spaces that are all embracing to the wider society in which we live, yet remain safe and welcoming?<br /><br />Is the Internet of Things possibly the future of the industry, and the development of the concept of intelligent buildings is leading to significant shifts in the way buildings are designed, operated and used. From the designers, constructors and users, everyone stands to benefit from the optimisation of space, energy efficiency and connectivity, whether a workplace or home, changing demographics come with increasing user expectations of modern and flexible space design, improved comfort, productivity, and pervasive connectivity. Sounds great, but the downside is that the greater the reliance on digital technology, the greater the chance of the building - or elements of - being hacked. Can terrorists turn out the lights out of a city, can a burglar hack into your security alarm, can your kettle turn against you? Is this the future or will there be a revolution against the digital age?<br /><br />Maybe the armed forces can help solve some of the challenges. The armed forces have incredible skills in design and engineering; skills used to overcome some extraordinary circumstances in places of extreme danger. These skills, developed in response to defending security, can be used to overcome peacetime problems. Whether in the aftermath of earthquakes or, as the Boxing Day floods demonstrated, the army’s skills in design were indispensable in keeping communities together and society functioning. However, can these skills be used for more than emergency situations, when all other options have failed? Are there innovative solutions that the industry can use as a matter of course?<br /><br />I realise that I have introduced more questions than answers, but that, I think, is because there is no single answer in creating safe and welcoming spaces. Indeed it is questioning what has been done and how we can work together in the future that is the basis of the <a href="http://cic.org.uk/events/event.php?event=2016-11-02-never-mind-the-bollards" target="_blank">Construction Industry Council’s sixth annual Yorkshire & Humber conference</a>.<br /><br />The aim of this day is to explore the ways in which our built environment has developed and continues to develop strategies that respond to safety and security risks, and questions how we, as construction professionals, can work together to create safe yet welcoming spaces. What this conference is not about is bomb blast bollards, barriers and anti-parking paving, but rather an interrogation of new threats, what we can learn from past threats and what we can do to defend the future.<br /><br />For further information on the conference please click <a href="http://cic.org.uk/events/event.php?event=2016-11-02-never-mind-the-bollards">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Stefanie Stead</b> chairs CIC's Yorkshire and Humber regional committee and is an Architect at </span><a href="http://www.pbarchitects.co.uk/" target="_blank">Pearce Bottomley Architects</a> <span style="background-color: white;">in Leeds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This blog was first published on the <a href="http://cic.org.uk/blog/article.php?s=2016-09-16-never-mind-the-bollards" target="_blank">CIC blog</a> in September 2016, and was reproduced here with their permission.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-55216818282875211922016-07-27T16:51:00.002+01:002016-07-28T11:17:57.897+01:00Jason Fitzsimmons: Resilient people - designing buildings for a healthy nation<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Resilience to climate change in the built environment covers many areas. Buildings can be designed to protect us from the elements and with security of water supply. There is no need for them to overheat with the modelling tools and data available today. Good thermal design is well understood, (if not always practiced), water can be saved with low flow rate design and optimum drainage strategies can be implemented to reduce flooding. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What about the people for whom these buildings are being designed? Designing to enable resilience in people can also be part of the design process; this is about designing buildings beyond comfort from a physics perspective and looking at it also from a biological and health perspective. A healthier individual is one who is more resilient and adaptable to climatic changes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What should be considered that affects the health of an individual? Social isolation and exclusion, designing community cohesion, air quality, chemicals, electromagnetic radiation (EMR), noise, fuel poverty, shared green space, and permaculture design are a few areas considered below. </span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Torrington Blue Coats School designed in accordance with Building Biology
(BBA) principles</span></i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Social isolation</b> is an important issue today. It is well known in health circles that together with a healthy and active lifestyle people who are part of a local community live healthier and longer lives. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During the 2003 European Heatwave more than 40,000 people died with almost 15,000 deaths in France alone. Lessons can be learnt from this. In Paris the majority of victims of overheating were those who were elderly, living alone in the roof spaces of high rise ageing and poorly insulated apartments. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The office for national statistics in the UK found that in 2011 there were over 7 million people living alone and almost 60% of people aged over 85 were living alone. Social isolation of vulnerable people is a key issue. In Paris the key factors that contributed to the deaths of so many were exasperated by the fact that heat wave occurred during the months of August during the holidays, where less were people checking on the elderly. Together with social isolation the build up of heat stress in a poorly insulated fabric went unchecked. In a society that is increasingly isolating itself, designs need to do more to counter this.<br /><a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/default/files/jrf/migrated/files/climate-change-social-justice-full.pdf" target="_blank">Work by JRF has also found similar issues</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvo_WzV6s3CS4oC8dACQCBvcVLh1nJdq6x1dPgf4lxD6EPWNFiBHqppcz5kXftBe0t5J97dd9fOuBfXYKRJe8rfGibq5PdDpRu-8AsnIfR-iss4xw1KWkbeQPAP295s4N6rnnNOkpmqGA/s1600/pic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvo_WzV6s3CS4oC8dACQCBvcVLh1nJdq6x1dPgf4lxD6EPWNFiBHqppcz5kXftBe0t5J97dd9fOuBfXYKRJe8rfGibq5PdDpRu-8AsnIfR-iss4xw1KWkbeQPAP295s4N6rnnNOkpmqGA/s400/pic2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">An example of a shared permaculture
garden space<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s important that with the design emphasis on building physics and climate change that other important design considerations do not get forgotten such as <b>construction material selection</b>. Many modern building materials and insulants which save energy often contain inherent chemical, physiological and biological risks, made with chemicals that can ‘off-gas’ into the internal environment for many years. Buildings are being made increasingly air tight and rely on occupants opening trickle ventilators. This coupled with the fact that more and more time is being spent indoors that leads to exposure times that even low concentrations of harmful agents could affect health in the long term and cause chronic diseases. It is even more important therefore that any construction materials used are as natural and healthy to the individual as possible. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVqaFxk-56FA2DdZPwMRXG5Hr-MGHdUNd-7uUOGtRBWq7CVUT_zAkgyzUjhO6caaIuvArQHfTfp7SSE4iwi90wAP6piT963BMGWhkhIEGf9QArKS8sCXG-GmyjFNccvgSlmKgHHKmrLA/s1600/Pic3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVqaFxk-56FA2DdZPwMRXG5Hr-MGHdUNd-7uUOGtRBWq7CVUT_zAkgyzUjhO6caaIuvArQHfTfp7SSE4iwi90wAP6piT963BMGWhkhIEGf9QArKS8sCXG-GmyjFNccvgSlmKgHHKmrLA/s320/Pic3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Wood fibre insulation (Mike Wye)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another area for concern is <b>electromagnetic radiation (EMR)</b> from low frequency electric and magnetic fields from electrical circuits to high frequency radiation from mobile phones and broadband. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and various worldwide health studies have identified that certain exposure levels to EMR <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/" target="_blank">can lead to migraines, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and can even be carcinogenic</a>. Nevertheless, we continue to fill our buildings with levels of EMR that exceed levels recommended by the WHO and without consideration to their possible side effects. With the ever increasing inclusion of Wi-Fi in so many of our consumer goods, such as Wi-Fi in light bulbs, smart meters, Wi-Fi in fridges telling you when to buy cheese etc., we are becoming further tied into the need for continuous high frequency radiation without stopping to think about the health effects. </span> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8h0u7l73_FYVIly5ghnxPMy6sSN0UEwdVmjoYnoWNgHwgURHZQTnuhXzTzs5r0H3HJOO1ewR3grTMWhl6pGQ71sPnH29brazoRVgEXc3vXCvWqiHmRZ-nk0KP7Cy4fg-ANQ8wbAY9uBo/s1600/Pic4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8h0u7l73_FYVIly5ghnxPMy6sSN0UEwdVmjoYnoWNgHwgURHZQTnuhXzTzs5r0H3HJOO1ewR3grTMWhl6pGQ71sPnH29brazoRVgEXc3vXCvWqiHmRZ-nk0KP7Cy4fg-ANQ8wbAY9uBo/s1600/Pic4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Bedroom designed along BBA principles – natural construction
materials and no EMR in bedrooms<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A particularly vulnerable area in the home is the bedroom. Studies on the levels of EMR in the bedroom carried out by Gale & Snowden Architects have found cables running beneath beds, telephones and radios on bedside tables within 1 meter of an occupants head all emitting EMR way beyond any safe acceptable exposure limits. Ideally the bedroom should be a sanctuary, free of EMRs, chemicals and with optimal comfort levels to enable us to sleep soundly allowing our bodies and minds to regenerate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is summed up clearly <a href="https://buildingbiology.co.uk/" target="_blank">by the BBA</a>: </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“At the heart of Building Biology lies the notion that nature is the golden principle to which we should be designing our buildings, so that for instance, electromagnetic radiation levels and air and water quality should match nature as closely as possible.”</span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What can be done to address social isolation and make buildings healthier? One of our recent projects was a care home; at the heart of this design we designed a community building/café surrounded by a courtyard and permaculture planted garden. The care home was curved inward with every flat looking into the garden and community space. Fuel poverty was addressed through a highly insulated envelope following Passivhaus principles. Good air quality was designed in, chemicals and EMR were designed out through the careful selection of natural materials and by following the principles as laid out by the BBA which was set up to address health in building designs. The designs were also thermally modelled into 2080 weather scenarios to design in resilience and adaptability. The permaculture garden not only created a space to cool down but also a space to socialise. This case study featured in the recent <a href="http://cibse.org/knowledge/knowledge-items/detail?id=a0q20000008I76aAAC" target="_blank">CIBSE TM55 Design for Future Climate: Case Studies 2014</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The same design principles are used when designing social housing for Local Authorities as well as commercial buildings such as offices and leisure buildings.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJa-Eixwij4hwP3DYXCaOA5nFdks79jxJ_c1FLGnkZB62hMVsPxl_qX7xdAzvEGLOZ_uyek2ebb-XpTNPWlnWsa6LX6UesYYmrBib19fCKXmkrZBs08q74V6NpogMqnNPqxYJr9JCArI/s1600/Pic5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJa-Eixwij4hwP3DYXCaOA5nFdks79jxJ_c1FLGnkZB62hMVsPxl_qX7xdAzvEGLOZ_uyek2ebb-XpTNPWlnWsa6LX6UesYYmrBib19fCKXmkrZBs08q74V6NpogMqnNPqxYJr9JCArI/s400/Pic5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">50 apartment care home project with shared permaculture garden
and community centre designed to Passivhaus and Building Biology Standards<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The existing building stock is another area for concern. As designers of super insulated and healthy buildings we were saddened to read in this <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35834733" target="_blank">BBC news article</a> that more than 1 million families in the UK cannot afford to heat their poorly insulated homes, and are living in squalid, damp, cold and mouldy conditions. Given that in 2000 Parliament aimed to end fuel poverty by 2016, it is clear that there is still a long way to go. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1f2x8DAN0YhrwxFqK6MyHworduTFFRAdztXOUVsMco7Ig1eAYz1uEpH7EplcNKmy5ai2Yr6o9Ciijg-_iVA_70-6ni80y-WOPQZFXX5YJlMFs_fNbFbCMZqrSQMgzOjZ0kPGUnlPqfQ/s1600/Pic6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1f2x8DAN0YhrwxFqK6MyHworduTFFRAdztXOUVsMco7Ig1eAYz1uEpH7EplcNKmy5ai2Yr6o9Ciijg-_iVA_70-6ni80y-WOPQZFXX5YJlMFs_fNbFbCMZqrSQMgzOjZ0kPGUnlPqfQ/s320/Pic6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An example of unsatisfactory standards of living - photo
from </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35834733"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35834733</span></a><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A healthy home that is comfortable in both summer and winter should be a fundamental right of any family. This is more than simply providing shelter from the elements; the standard of housing has to be adequate for the health and well-being of the individual. It is well known by medical professions that damp and mouldy conditions affect the immune system, often resulting in respiratory infections, allergies, and asthma; these are not thriving conditions for growing families, and the mental stress associated with these conditions should not be underestimated.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb080CIM7mbRfgcUXWIr_wMcBVN0QBLHhqNB9tqt5y-kvCmA7IumSTovWf7XAaQRyCjfsO8xLCn2uscc_aoskR1MuEd-J6U6hQ_XsqouDCglGv3nKMVNyS9S-7VabknIAhfCBHFjYVKiQ/s1600/Pic7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb080CIM7mbRfgcUXWIr_wMcBVN0QBLHhqNB9tqt5y-kvCmA7IumSTovWf7XAaQRyCjfsO8xLCn2uscc_aoskR1MuEd-J6U6hQ_XsqouDCglGv3nKMVNyS9S-7VabknIAhfCBHFjYVKiQ/s320/Pic7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Barberry Close Passivhaus social
housing scheme designed in accordance with <a href="https://buildingbiology.co.uk/what-is-building-biology-2/">Building
Biology</a> principles<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Designing buildings to be resilient is not just about building physics and overheating; it can and should also provide comfortable, healthy conditions in which people can thrive and in which they will then be resilient to future climatic changes. By putting the resilience of the individual at the forefront of the design process the resilience of the building will fall into place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Jason Fitzsimmons</b> </span><span style="background-color: white;">is an Associate at <a href="http://www.ecodesign.co.uk/" target="_blank">Gale & Snowden Architects</a> and has a background in building physics, renewable energy engineering, healthy building design and is a climate change adaptation consultant. Jason has carried out extensive research work and has been published several times in areas such as natural ventilation, overheating and climate change adaptation Jason also runs a building troubleshooting and testing department within the practice using a wide range of test equipment. </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-4792773272628720342016-07-12T19:32:00.000+01:002016-07-13T10:32:06.542+01:00Briony Turner – When it’s not good for the built environment sector to feature in the top three…<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Hot off the press, the Committee on Climate
Change has just published an independent Evidence Report, titled “</span><a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/" target="_blank">UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017</a><span style="color: #222222;">” setting out the latest evidence on the risks
and opportunities to the UK from climate change and providing a localised breakdown
for </span><a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/national-summaries/" target="_blank">England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland</a><span style="color: #222222;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The top 6 priorities identified for urgent
action over the next five years are:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/introduction-to-the-ccra/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEbtkIUnsjq6zM5bemYXVAJ54TFLZ3SoPsexNP8fFrhYTcvijuHuvSqxRD6xOQ0jtDNE8GWYbOr25wJYp39pRvJLjOFYoWpIxMJy7GDhrC41TfWPx-E_rglKTGX0VS1RGX6xEtucCbxY/s400/New+Picture.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">The built environment is closely linked with
the top three of these six immediate priority areas. The risks presented are not just physical but also
cover impact on public health and well-being.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The background is that every five years the
Government must publish a UK-wide Climate Change Risk Assessment setting out
the risks from current and predicted impacts of climate change on the UK.
This latest </span><a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/synthesis-report/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">synthesis report</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> identifies 56 urgency categories of risks and opportunities for
the UK that climate change presents. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let’s
start with the weather…</span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The good news is that those beavering away at
the Met Office on the <a href="http://ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk/" target="_blank">projections </a>appear to be spot on with their predictions.
The expectation of milder winters and hotter summers for the UK have increased
in line with global observations, sea levels have risen by 15-20cm since 1900
and the recent episodes of severe and sustained rainfall are consistent with
our climate change</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">projections. The not
so great news is that if the projections are correct, then our cities,
particularly the built environment which is not currently required by law or
standard to take account of and adapt to climate change, are woefully under-prepared.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/introduction-to-the-ccra/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9OvQpp2B0pMcB-2qPNc5DLpgCWzWRt3wud1OiDJXJUWbzg5ioXd_HgPFw_CCwvT1rPG-eZ_C7ZYR3OhVUXbf4ebeLghPN2AqalWBQnqIJFf7Tk6qriEXuhO_RK7iB1Kxe8UArdq6xBQ/s400/New+Picture+%25281%2529.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Key
climate change risks requiring urgent action identified by the CCRA </span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The top three priorities for action, flooding,
overheating and water supply are risks we are already experiencing
manifestations of now. At the CCRA
launch event Lord Krebs specifically identified concerns about the number of
buildings and key infrastructure still being built in high flood risk areas and
also the risks presented to health and well-being from overheating of buildings.
These risks are brought together with current and future socioeconomic
trends in the technical chapter 5 focused on “</span><a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/UK-CCRA-2017-Chapter-5-People-and-the-built-environment.pdf" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">People and the built environment</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">” <u><b>which should be compulsory reading for every
built environment professional</b>.</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">The chapter covers the opportunities from
warmer weather, urban air quality, overheating in buildings, water supply,
flood and coastal risk, moisture risks from flooding, risks posed by high
winds, structural stability, historic and listed structures and gardens, infectious
diseases and pests, population health and health protection. The message is
clear, we cannot continue to build and plan our cities without regard for their
impact on the components that underpin basic human needs, particularly adequate
shelter, food and water.</span>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Another key risk identified is that to natural
capital. This includes soils which literally underpin cities. It is easy
to forget about the valuable infrastructure lying beneath the </span><a href="http://portfolio.cpl.co.uk/CIBSE/201506/underground-services/" target="_blank">ground</a><span style="color: #222222;">. For the built environment community, contaminated land, how it
has been treated and how it responds to a changing climate is vital
knowledge. The ARCC network hosted an </span><a href="https://www.ciria.org/CIRIA/Navigation/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=E15306" target="_blank">event</a><span style="color: #222222;">
with CIRIA last summer and discovered that whilst flood risk was a
consideration in contaminated land assessment, there are still some knowledge
gaps in terms of the complex relationship between climate change, soil
moisture, groundwater and contaminant mobilisation.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">We have plenty of knowledge about what
interventions need to be carried out to our homes and cities to make them more
resilient from the EPSRC funded ARCC network of </span><a href="http://www.arcc-network.org.uk/extremes/flooding" target="_blank">flooding</a><span style="color: #222222;">, </span><a href="http://www.arcc-network.org.uk/extremes/overheating/">overheating</a><span style="color: #222222;"> and </span><a href="http://www.arcc-network.org.uk/cities" target="_blank">smart adapting cities,</a><span style="color: #222222;"> the former </span><a href="http://www.zerocarbonhub.org/full-lib" target="_blank">Zero Carbon Hub’s overheating</a><span style="color: #222222;">
work programme, the </span><a href="http://fcerm.net/" target="_blank">Flooding& Coastal Erosion Risk M</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">anagement</span><span style="color: #222222;"> network, the Innovate UK </span><a href="http://www.arcc-network.org.uk/design-for-future-climate/#.V4TkDPkrKHs" target="_blank">Design for Future Climate</a><span style="color: #222222;"> competition, the </span><a href="http://www.bre.co.uk/page.jsp?id=3547" target="_blank">BRE Resilience Centre</a><span style="color: #222222;"> research programme,
the </span><a href="http://climatelondon.org.uk/" target="_blank">London Climate Change Partnership</a><span style="color: #222222;">
and JRF’s </span><a href="http://www.climatejust.org.uk/" target="_blank">Climate Just</a><span style="color: #222222;"> facility to name but a few of the many resources
freely available.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/introduction-to-the-ccra/https://www.theccc.org.uk/uk-climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/introduction-to-the-ccra/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAO1wjnTiF7JwqDRZBlA7t6xZe9P-kmXnIgNTlKikiYCUxDeDsdDH7N5A98xGzI66eb-xl3R0nECNqaVJQM4A6ILuSY4w85pGaGdxyEyoJddUwF0uVPOBEomAoOP9VWfVpXYyJFdlV99Y/s400/New+Picture+%25282%2529.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Should
we be planning for a 4ºC world?</span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the Q&A after the launch, it was
suggested that planning and built environment decisions should be considering a
high emissions scenario with global temperatures rising by 4ºC (great map for
world from Met Office </span><a href="http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-guide/climate-change/impacts/four-degree-rise" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">),
meanwhile still working internationally with partners under the Paris Agreement
(which resulted from COP21 back in December) to</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to
prevent global average temperature rise from breaching a 2ºC rise on
pre-industrial levels. When it is not just capital investment, but human lives
at stake, there’s something to be said for taking a lead from our emergency services colleagues: plan for the worst, hope for the best.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our built environment is fundamental in
determining the risk magnitude not just of the top three risks identified in the
CCRA, but of those for many other sectors, particularly health and social care. We, as a collective of professionals and
citizens, have the ability to affect which way the magnitude dial swings
between now and the next risk assessment exercise. Whilst we could
continue Business as Usual and intensify many of these risks, the extensive
membership of cross-sector groups like this CIBSE Resilient Cities group
indicates a professional appetite for tackling the challenges presented head on
and building to take advantage of the opportunities too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Being leaders rather
than laggards could have commercial advantage</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The
UK is in prime position to lead on deploying the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">adaptive pathways and adaptive management techniques needed for
improving the resilience of cities. We have the understanding of how our changing climate might impact not just on sectors, but also the inter-dependencies between them. There's some excellent work that could underpin this by UCL who are working on the </span><a href="http://www.arcc-network.org.uk/deal-or-no-green-deal-time-to-make-smarter-policies" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">HEW project</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> for inter-dependencies between housing, energy and well-being and
by the </span><a href="http://www.itrc.org.uk/our-work/outcomes/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> regarding infrastructure inter-dependencies. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Adaptive
pathways and adaptive management approaches allow for an agreed approach to coordinate activity, achieving adaptation through sequencing and structured
approaches. They work at policy levels but also at organisation levels, as a
way to work with existing working cycles, for instance existing refurbishment
and maintenance plans.</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> There will be also an increasing driver from
investors to at least understand, if not adapt to reduce risks from climate
change. The world's largest ratings agencies, </span><a href="https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-to-use-greenhouse-gas-emission-reduction-scenario-consistent-with--PR_351269" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Moody’s</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.watergas.it/grk_files/uploads/redazione_commedia/news/climate_risk_rising_tides_rais/downloads/climate_change_book_climate_risk__rising_tides_1_12_2015.pdf" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Standard and Poor’s</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> now assess climate and energy
transition risk factors which will have credit implications for corporate
and infrastructure debt instruments. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The
CIBSE Resilient Cities Group brings together cross-sector researchers and
practitioners with a shared interest in making our cities more resilient to a
changing climate. It provides an
opportunity for knowledge exchange and horizon scanning, but also brings
together those willing to apply these ideas in practice. Now, more than ever, we need this type of collective pooling of
knowledge to start informing mainstream policy and practice. Help us to do so, <a href="http://www.cibse.org/networks/groups/resilient-cities/join-the-resilient-cities-group" target="_blank">join us</a>!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-68354666521680076892016-05-23T15:04:00.000+01:002016-05-24T10:24:51.261+01:00Chloe Hampton - LSBU explore green infrastructure for a healthier workplace<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">London South Bank University (LSBU) has recently started a campaign to make the campus healthier and more sustainable. We were therefore very happy to host the green infrastructure as a building service design challenge. The design challenge was devised with focus on a real office space with real opportunities for improvement. The Clarence Centre for Enterprise and Innovation at LSBU was a suitable fit having recently been retrofitted, and has a typical office space layout, which can allow for replication - an important feature for engaging implementation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Clarence Centre is a beautiful listed building renovated with a complimentary modern extension. It is a pleasure to work there, great location, looks amazing and wonderful people. Although, since I have been involved in the green infrastructure design challenge I have started to notice just how poor the indoor environmental quality is. It is very stuffy, the temperatures vary wildly from space to space with the offices being generally hot. Opening windows is our sole source of ventilation of which half open on to the busy London road. We do not measure or record anything in the building, something I think all spaces should do - because if you don't know you can't fix it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Clarence Centre has very little in the way of greenery and plants; green infrastructure however, is developing from a ‘nice to have’ aesthetic to an integral part of building service design and maintenance of spaces. The potential positive impact plants can have on indoor environmental quality and staff morale are numerous e.g. boosting productivity, therefore helping to provide the business case for internal green infrastructure. It is exciting to have 'green sky' design solutions on site at LSBU that we may be able to implement and test, improving the working environment, supporting small businesses and informing research.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKOnRP2BPDYjq8bIC0Hhsmn5j5PwGg9ZcQC5y0cF1g3-sgNF8KmYHboNNR0ZQ4Wy82LeN-oOkoF7DayOZl2IkLQAeMJwMqCMdpihYVzzyvTROLOb0czjNZgPasxHDOMlr5qaFqekn7BI/s1600/IMG_20160425_124353719_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKOnRP2BPDYjq8bIC0Hhsmn5j5PwGg9ZcQC5y0cF1g3-sgNF8KmYHboNNR0ZQ4Wy82LeN-oOkoF7DayOZl2IkLQAeMJwMqCMdpihYVzzyvTROLOb0czjNZgPasxHDOMlr5qaFqekn7BI/s400/IMG_20160425_124353719_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical office space within Clarence Centre</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Universities offer a unique resource of both expertise for innovation and facilities to support it. They should be considered a playground of activity, for testing and trailing new ways of doing things and challenge the status quo. At LSBU, we have a number of interesting projects on site varying from testing 'sustainable' products to implementing innovative ways to heat and cool buildings to our Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in buildings. We work within an influence loop where enterprise informs research and research informs teaching. This ensures that we are working on the current issues in industry and that our students are learning relevant and current topics - such as green infrastructure as a building service. We have an excellent building services course at LSBU – staff and students of which were involved in the challenge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Challenge received three submissions of a very high standard – especially given the tight time constraints. Each submission coincidentally focused on different areas of the building. The winner was Biospace, and as an occupant of the space, it was my favourite design. I could really see their ideas being implemented in the office and could imagine myself working very happily in their proposed space. The design consisted of an interesting amalgamation of greenery including hinged ‘green blinds’, edible plants, energy producing plants and technology that informs occupants of the plants needs. What I liked most was that it didn't change the workspace it simply edited and added unobtrusive clever greenery that served a purpose. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The winning entry being scrutinised</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Challenging the industry and academia to collaborate to develop ideas for the integration and retrofit of green infrastructure in the office spaces at LSBU allows for the development of a healthier, more sustainable and climatically resilient workplace, both on site and for the wider working community. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thank you to ARCC and CIBSE for the opportunity and especially thanks for the first plant in the office, which I am desperately trying not to kill! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For more information about the competition and downloads of the submissions received including the winning BioSpace entry then click <a href="http://www.arcc-network.org.uk/health-wellbeing/greensky-thinking-week/design-challenge-presentation-exhibition/#.V0MNiZEguCg" target="_blank">here</a>.</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQR64CMVtBldu-nwVYToU_5cKim3Zo6nQe123Znmk5-JeoiySa7ylbmK9LfMod2lUsCsm9qrzyWZ_iN43sYqzxHE7yQuRwqL2kJskeiP4llaIyNr-pzV-d_VYIuH6HbOtydKDfXpj5KhY/s1600/chloe-hampton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQR64CMVtBldu-nwVYToU_5cKim3Zo6nQe123Znmk5-JeoiySa7ylbmK9LfMod2lUsCsm9qrzyWZ_iN43sYqzxHE7yQuRwqL2kJskeiP4llaIyNr-pzV-d_VYIuH6HbOtydKDfXpj5KhY/s1600/chloe-hampton.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Chloe Hampton, Research and Enterprise Support Officer </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Green Infrastructure challenge complements and supports The LSBU Corporate Strategy, which focuses on real world impact, and The Enterprise Institutes based at the Clarence Centre are integral to this aim. I work within The Sustainable Communities Institute (SCi) one of four Enterprise Institutes at LSBU. It is an interdisciplinary and inter-professional centre of excellence working toward creating places for individuals and groups to live and work sustainably, both now and in the future. The focus of the Institute is to enhance performance, sustainability and wellbeing and reduce cost and resource usage through impactful interventions, research and policy guidance. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>LSBU has been awarded the ‘Commitment’ level award of the London Healthy Workplace Charter and is striving towards the ‘Excellent’ award.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/75555/75555-6140804307764731905" target="_blank">Join the conversation about this post on LinkedIN.</a></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-39188591489001486672016-02-10T12:34:00.000+00:002016-02-12T08:52:22.396+00:00Jae Mather - Vancouver; a city of the present not just the future!<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Resilience, adaptability & self-sufficiency; appear to be the buzzwords of the day. These concepts are rising to the surface of people’s minds, both individually and ever more so within companies, organisations and governments. It would seem that we may be upon the cusp of some transformation in consciousness and maybe even governance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We've never been in a better position to access information and therefore to transition to a place where we start to fundamentally understand that 'what we do to others, we ultimately do to ourselves'. Things like the changing climate, global macro trends, commodity price volatility and the global agreements that came out of COP 21 in Paris are all pointing in the same direction. Things are changing and they are changing at an accelerating pace that unavoidably turns our eyes towards the absolute need for new ways of running the economy, society and the environment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">To many people cities represent the pinnacle of the evolution of our respective civilisations. They are big, loud, opportunity generating, ever growing and often deeply exciting places. They are where most people are (53% of the world populations now lives in cities) and where a large percentage of the rest want to be (<a href="http://kff.org/global-indicator/urban-population/" target="_blank">http://kff.org/global-indicator/urban-population/</a>). They are where the majority of the jobs are at, where most of the best education is and where art and culture consolidates.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cycling in Vancouver</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recently my family and I moved back to my home city of Vancouver after 18 years in Europe. One of the reasons why was because of the leadership that is being shown in Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 Action Plan which was created in response to these circumstances and they appear to be one of the best examples of transforming the consciousness through sustainable leadership.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The city consistently rates, as one of the best places in the world to live and what is interesting is that the leadership and staff of the city recognize that for Vancouver to stay in such a position, there is a need to continually innovate and adapt. The choice has been made to keep sustainability sitting at the very heart of that plan. Sustainable strategy is the cities strategy and not just a bit of green on the side. Resilience and adaptability are returning to the top of the list as highly desirable and in some cases essential elements of urban management and design.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vancouver district heating system</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Key targets of the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 1. Green Economy</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Double the number of green jobs over 2010 levels</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Double the number of companies that are actively engaged in greening their operations over 2011 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 2. Climate Leadership</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reduce community-based greenhouse gas emissions by 33% from 2007 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 3. Green Buildings</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Require all buildings constructed from 2020 onwards to be carbon neutral in operations</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in existing buildings by 20% over 2007 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 4. Green Transportation</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Make the majority (over 50%) of trips by foot, bicycle and public transport</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reduce average distance driven per resident by 20% from 2007 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 5. Zero Waste</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reduce solid waste going to the landfill or incinerator by 50% from 2008 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 6. Access to Nature</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All Vancouver residents live within a 5 min walk of a park, greenway or other green space</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Plant 150,000 new trees</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 7. Lighter Footprint</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reduce Vancouver’s ecological footprint by 33% over 2006 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 8. Clean Water</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meet or beat the strongest of British Columbian, Canadian and appropriate international drinking water quality standards and guidelines</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reduce per capita water consumption by 33% from 2006 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 9. Clean Air</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Always meet or beat the most stringent air quality guidelines from Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and the world health organisation</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goal 10. Local Food</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Increase citywide and neighbourhood food assets by a minimum of 50% over 2010 levels</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What also interests me is how cities will adapt and prosper from some of the main technological disruptions that are one the way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Driverless Cars<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How will the value of property in urban centres change as people are able to travel at very high speeds while working, sleeping & playing from much further away at much lower cost?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>3D printing<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How will the high street change when people are able to make their own high quality things at home and the financial model switches from owning products to licensing designs?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Virtual Reality<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When people do not need to commute to work in anywhere near the volumes that they do today because of home based VR systems allowing them to be anywhere, how will this change the needs of public transport?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCDsL0uUQ8IY9kUkk48458Tjj5p2JFOcRNXLUv9vGVqILnINArlDSNJoqhw4dZswFXxE6L5nEOlI8wkevYxKOl-Z8HzhfQ4IQaV9LGpxz8ocoNOUjZHNYLsOe0idDrS-OshZwBB57Y0I/s1600/Jae+Mather+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCDsL0uUQ8IY9kUkk48458Tjj5p2JFOcRNXLUv9vGVqILnINArlDSNJoqhw4dZswFXxE6L5nEOlI8wkevYxKOl-Z8HzhfQ4IQaV9LGpxz8ocoNOUjZHNYLsOe0idDrS-OshZwBB57Y0I/s320/Jae+Mather+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jae Mather BA, PGradDip, CEnv., FRSA, FIEMA is the Director of Sustainability at the Carbon Free Group and North American Ambassador for the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) </span><a href="https://twitter.com/JaeMather" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">@jaemather</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">City images courtesy of Vancouver City Council</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/75555/75555-6103528135582642179" target="_blank">Join the conversation about this post on LinkedIn by following this link.</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-47974129644357802112016-01-13T13:38:00.003+00:002016-01-13T13:42:43.953+00:00Peter Henshaw - “Tox-ford Street”<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This post was </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">written by Peter Henshaw last summer to inform BuroHappold Engineering staff about the impact of poor air quality local to their offices. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">We have reproduced it here with their permission partly to respond to the </span><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7dbaa86-b617-11e5-b147-e5e5bba42e51.html#axzz3x8CgVdwD" style="color: #222222;" target="_blank">news that </a><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>London has broken European air-quality rules for the whole of 2016 — just 175 hours into the new year</u></span><span style="color: #222222;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many of you will have read articles in the press over the past few days about poor air quality in London, and specifically in Oxford Street – so called “Tox-ford Street”. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The bold statement of leading air quality expert Dr David Carslaw that Oxford Street is one of the most polluted streets in the world is likely to be of concern for those of us here in the office each day, sitting just 150m from Oxford Street.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The claim is based on air quality monitoring data recorded opposite Selfridge’s (see figure below), as part of the London Air Quality Network (<a href="http://www.londonair.org.uk/">http://www.londonair.org.uk</a>). Yearly average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), were recorded at more than three times the legally binding EU limit value, whilst hourly NO2 readings (to reflect the short term health impacts) have exceeded limit values on more than 1500 occasions in the last year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The main causes of these high concentrations are the large volume of diesel buses and taxis passing through the area, the stop-start nature of urban driving, and also the street being canyonised (narrow with tall buildings either side) where pollution recirculates and accumulates. The health impacts are exacerbated by the popularity of the street, with very many people spending significant periods of time exposed to high pollution concentrations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For ‘at risk people’ (children, elderly, those with asthma/respiratory problems) measures can be taken to avoid this exposure – even such simple steps as walking away from the kerbside can reduce exposure. However the best advice would be to use quieter streets with less traffic, and avoiding strenuous exercise along busy roads (cyclists/joggers in particular - the cityair app is useful for this <a href="http://cityairapp.com/">http://cityairapp.com</a>). On days when pollution is particularly high (due to weather conditions, for example) airtext alerts can be received via text or email and used to inform both those at risk and healthy individuals, giving advice on any precautions that should be taken (<a href="http://www.airtext.info/">http://www.airtext.info</a>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For us on Newman Street, although there is no monitoring undertaken here, the London Air Quality Network has modelled average annual NO2 concentrations (see figure) for the whole of London. Predicted concentrations on Newman Street indicate that even though pollutant levels are not as high as on Oxford Street, as with the majority of central London, concentrations are still above EU limits for NO2. The abundance of nearby construction sites and high HGV numbers along Newman Street do little to help the situation either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For new buildings in areas of poor air quality mechanical ventilation and unopenable roadside windows are often prerequisites from planning authorities in order to protect those inside. However instead of such energy intensive measures, perhaps the best method is for better education- understanding that there are certain days or even times of the day when windows next to a busy road may be best left closed. Better informing the public on air quality is something that will no doubt increase as the topic receives a higher profile from further research into effects of pollutants on human health.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So for us in Newman Street the advice is: </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Facilities management to sign up to airtext alerts and advise via email/on London Magellan page high pollution days;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On poor air quality days best to only open the windows on the less exposed building facades, so east facing in 17 and west facing in 71;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For cyclists/those taking exercise- although the benefits of exercise may outweigh potential health impacts, using the cityair app (<a href="http://cityairapp.com/">http://cityairapp.com</a>) to plan a low pollution route on your cycle to work can only make things better;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Petition Boris to do something about it / get in touch with your MP if it is an issue that concerns you; and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Support campaign groups such as healthy air <a href="http://healthyair.org.uk/support-us/">http://healthyair.org.uk/support-us/</a> </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More detailed info here for those who are really interested!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>As well as being recently declared carcinogenic by the WHO (<a href="http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/pr221_E.pdf">http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/pr221_E.pdf</a>), studies of particulate matter have shown a link between the number of particles in the air and ambulance calls and A&E admissions for heart attacks (<a href="http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Abstract/2010/07000/Urban_Ambient_Particle_Metrics_and_Health__A.13.aspx">http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Abstract/2010/07000/Urban_Ambient_Particle_Metrics_and_Health__A.13.aspx</a>.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>High short term NO2 concentrations can lead to inflammation of the respiratory system, and subsequent increased susceptibility to respiratory illness. Long term exposure is linked to bronchitis in asthmatic children and reduced lung function growth. To make things worse, on sunny days NO2 reacts photochemically to produce ground level ozone, which can cause breathing problems, trigger asthma and lead to lung disease. As the reaction can take some time, ground level ozone tends to build up away from roadside locations, for example in parks.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Although there has been great progress since the Great Smog of 1952, which killed 4,000 Londoners, there is a common misconception that air quality is no longer a problem. However in reality we are dealing with different pollutants; instead of smoky sulphur dioxide from coal burning (which is still an issue in places such as China), we now have NO2 and fine particulates from petrol, diesel and gas combustion, which are much more difficult to see with the naked eye and are potentially just as dangerous.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>The main problem in London (as with most urban areas) is transport, and although long term measures have been introduced to try and combat traffic emissions (more stringent emission standards and the (ultra)low emission zone) certain emission technology has proved problematic and actually lead to increases in pollutant emissions in some cases. Likewise the incentivisation of diesel vehicles to comply with carbon reduction targets has had a detrimental impact on local air quality.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A recent presentation highlights the benefits of actively improving air quality, whereby a US EPA representative highlighted the return of more than $30 in benefits for every dollar invested in pollution reduction. With increasing urbanisation, air pollution is a growing world health problem which needs to be dealt with by transforming existing cities through good design; reducing dependency on road transport and providing clean energy.</i></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZAo-mYPSETPkJ-LdDsyMnqOrlVXdPJaqJHd8gHszhVIM_DArMqtxKDvpXl8xOJHmOBLXiGXFJPg-4d6LJyZIxDZn9V-7zAWMAcA15KZ3UyG45eS4GrkyYWnzmhGLIOv7GdQa_ID7vkI/s1600/Peter+Henshaw+-+BW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZAo-mYPSETPkJ-LdDsyMnqOrlVXdPJaqJHd8gHszhVIM_DArMqtxKDvpXl8xOJHmOBLXiGXFJPg-4d6LJyZIxDZn9V-7zAWMAcA15KZ3UyG45eS4GrkyYWnzmhGLIOv7GdQa_ID7vkI/s200/Peter+Henshaw+-+BW.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter Henshaw is an environmental consultant at BuroHappold, specialising in air quality research and consultancy. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-44664606346907804952015-12-09T10:00:00.002+00:002015-12-09T10:09:24.457+00:00Kirsten Henson - What Makes a Sustainable City?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In January this year I went back to Cambridge University to attend the Cambridge Forum for Sustainability and the Environment review of their 2014 Sustainable Cities programme. I contributed to the forum last year as an expert witness and was invited to return to hear the panel discuss the outcome of their year-long programme. As one might expect, the sustainable cities discussions threw up more questions than answers and was considered invaluable for directing future PhD and Masters Research within the University.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Diverse topics were discussed from design to governance. Of particular interest was the suggestion that we had a lot to learn from developing countries; a degree of elasticity and disorder was deemed critical for resilience. The developed world tends to have more fixed and structured cities and therefore when the barriers are breached, the consequences tend to be catastrophic. It was surmised that the resilient city lies somewhere between the regimented system of the developed world and the organised chaos of cities in developing countries.<br /><br />The panel warned against a sole focus on climate change. Working in silos and optimising a single element of a city’s challenges is likely to lead to detrimental and often unintended consequences elsewhere. This is an area that I have written about before, following on from an EU Knowledge share programme between East London and Gothenburg in Sweden. A sole focus on the provision of exceptional new services in a deprived area in Gothenburg had no impact on the health and well-being of the local population, largely due to a lack of engagement, employment and social networks throughout the process.<br /><br />The need for adaptable, flexible design that gives due consideration to the many trade-offs and balances, acceptance of soft-failure and consideration of ‘good enough’ is fundamental to creating sustainable cities. <br /><br />Fundamentally we should not be over-engineering our cities, whether from a hard engineering or social governance perspective. We should take pleasure in the murky corners and nurture the informal networks, celebrate the diverse space from formal squares to a forgotten leafy corner with a tired looking bench. We must give due consideration to, but not try to engineer out the social deprivation that lives alongside the shiny new development and ‘regeneration’ projects. These juxtapositions, found across our cities make them vibrant and exciting places to live and provide an element of resilience.<br /><br />I have been involved in the Olympic Programme since 2006 and during this time my belief of what success would look like for the Olympic regeneration programme has changed somewhat. When I first started I believed that we could only claim success if we created a vast improvement in the social deprivation indices in the host boroughs and changed the very fabric of the surrounding area. <br /><br />But, as one Newham councillor told me, the people of Stratford want to shop in the Stratford Mall. They like it. It offers a place of strong social identity and cohesion unlike the polished floors and bright lights of Westfield. It isn’t so much ‘them’ and ‘us’ it is perhaps as simple as people not easily engaging with change, particularly when they feel they have a community on their doorstep. <br /><br />So provided the opportunities are there for those that want to take them and the services and facilities are affordable to all let us celebrate the different cultures, lifestyles and environments we find in our city. How foolish of me to think that everyone would aspire to live in a new zero carbon home on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Park. Inevitably new people will be drawn to this area and the challenge is to ensure that this new London quarter develops its own identity, its own community, and is one that sits well between the already strong identities of Hackney Wick and Stratford.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kirsten Henson is a director at KLH sustainability.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.klhsustainability.com/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.klhsustainability.com</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/75555/75555-6080295177514217476" target="_blank">Join the discussion about this post on Linked in.</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-10335076365039013992015-11-10T09:20:00.000+00:002015-11-10T09:53:05.108+00:00Derek Clements-Croome - Lessons from History and Nature<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Buildings and Cities Planned and Designed with Lessons from History and Nature</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Intelligent Buildings are buildings which respond to human needs whilst being economic in the use of resources. Today they often include digital technology which make them smart but this alone does not make an intelligent building as the history of vernacular history shows. Buildings and infrastructure make cities and they have to be adaptable and resilient over the long term.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is only in the last 300 years that cities have evolved on the scale we are used to today. Before that time for millions of years people have been hunter gatherers living in the countryside. By 2050 we expect 70% of the world’s population to be living in urban landscapes. The danger is that mankind is becoming disconnected from Nature. The garden cities movement in England at the start of the 20th century was an attempt to rectify this. Now we have the medical evidence to show that Nature affects our mood, stress levels and well-being. We need greenery around us for a host of reasons and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biophilia_hypothesis&redirect=no" target="_blank">biophilic design</a> reflecting our innate love of Nature is emerging as a significant discipline.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dyuEka4n7PkvbI57Q-KN44fIKmiqO9SXOPeUnQ6BToWMkJFZY-m3p4R7XPUl3Yi_yBWfU53k_Peh8gMicJjctII7LmzicCk-Af_3DFQZCKizLxnUZ18CFzM2QDM-kSTLpENiERcexoM/s1600/New+Picture+%25282%2529.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dyuEka4n7PkvbI57Q-KN44fIKmiqO9SXOPeUnQ6BToWMkJFZY-m3p4R7XPUl3Yi_yBWfU53k_Peh8gMicJjctII7LmzicCk-Af_3DFQZCKizLxnUZ18CFzM2QDM-kSTLpENiERcexoM/s400/New+Picture+%25282%2529.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Mega City: Lilypads by Vincent Callebaut</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But now we have another concern and that is climate change. It is expected that the Summer of 2003 which caused the death of some 35,000 people in western Europe will be prevalent here in the UK by 2080. So buildings within cities have to be designed or refurbished with resilient measures so their occupants will remain healthy. Vernacular architecture is the history of buildings over thousands of years of change and show many ingenious examples of resilient design using few mechanical devices and which we know as passive environmental design using orientation, materials, building form to handle the climate inside the building. This is demonstrated by the wind towers prevalent in Islamic architecture which inspired the ventilation for the Queens building at De Montfort University. Passive solutions also have the advantages of durability and low maintenance. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie7fjgv0xyVQGeUSbpQemyJVaC-JOHzxVZMpZjKoAFQ06_MILhs9dxCyr9fHp83R73QIhTHjetyR9rDYx-ItxJYkqZQbyFWjPuulHGLNmCaFmoYNHLep_ZDoKTkTmsLlie40VOQ3e5218/s1600/Towers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie7fjgv0xyVQGeUSbpQemyJVaC-JOHzxVZMpZjKoAFQ06_MILhs9dxCyr9fHp83R73QIhTHjetyR9rDYx-ItxJYkqZQbyFWjPuulHGLNmCaFmoYNHLep_ZDoKTkTmsLlie40VOQ3e5218/s400/Towers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wind towers in Yadz, Iran and also De Montfort University</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Building services consume energy and require careful maintenance if they are to be continuously reliable. Compared to the building fabric their lifetime is comparatively short. However they help to make buildings habitable for people to work and live in them by providing air and water at suitable temperatures besides light , power and a host of other utilities for the occupants. Heating , ventilation and air-conditioning are a major consideration because they provide fresh air, heating and cooling for human needs. Cities can be noisy places so many buildings are sealed forcing the use of air-conditioning rather than natural ventilation. With the pressures to design new and refurbish old buildings which are sustainable and also healthy we need to consider alternatives to the traditional approaches to systems provision. The solution being proposed here is use the lessons from Nature and vernacular architecture blended with the judicious use of smart technologies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Technology is advancing more and more rapidly but cannot provide all the answers. Throughout history people from all cultures throughout the world have discovered ingenious ways of dealing with the rigours of climate whether hot, humid or very cold. The marvels of the plant and animal worlds give ceaseless wonder and can stimulate us to think more laterally and learn from the beautiful optimal ways in which Nature is economic in the use of energy and water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The camel’s nose is a humidifier and dehumidifier and conserves some 70% of the water present in the breathing cycle or the termitaries which inspired the Eastgate shopping centre in Harare are examples. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeF-sL0zu2CxQ2jL9fkPtMlMRMLRZEXtN8XBUXoAh9w0Po4O70snJteQz2DlCVf6BJGiu1vM1xNQooMEpmgFVeo5zOofHQWAC1qWlwbxWRzfx_DPZtAtHxauEvLh3YsfJxDlf7uUkWBk/s1600/CamelTermites.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeF-sL0zu2CxQ2jL9fkPtMlMRMLRZEXtN8XBUXoAh9w0Po4O70snJteQz2DlCVf6BJGiu1vM1xNQooMEpmgFVeo5zOofHQWAC1qWlwbxWRzfx_DPZtAtHxauEvLh3YsfJxDlf7uUkWBk/s400/CamelTermites.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The camels nose and termite mounds can both teach us much</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By reviewing the thinking behind vernacular styles and being prepared to learn from Nature we can design more naturally responsive buildings. Let us adopt a more organic and holistic approach together with appropriate technology to the design of buildings, infrastructure and systems as a whole to achieve sustainable intelligent and resilient cities for people and society.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28N6Y3qB9bOe1HSH4Xa8YNMqh3gvO8lxzb5tBUoQ5nej_aLviEt5S11dR_sWsw37txhzZ_IrKNOW-8AqgX0WClIGbOky1audXxsOAU1uwz5sCIr0zCV6IVk4oLtJFw9XlqHv_KMh0p8Y/s1600/djc-portrait1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28N6Y3qB9bOe1HSH4Xa8YNMqh3gvO8lxzb5tBUoQ5nej_aLviEt5S11dR_sWsw37txhzZ_IrKNOW-8AqgX0WClIGbOky1audXxsOAU1uwz5sCIr0zCV6IVk4oLtJFw9XlqHv_KMh0p8Y/s200/djc-portrait1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Derek Clements-Croome</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Professor Emeritus in Architectural Engineering</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">University of Reading</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">September 2015</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/75555-6069776379052904451?trk=groups-post-b-title" target="_blank">Join the discussion about this post on LinkedIn</a>.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-79308528948328330872015-10-19T10:46:00.000+01:002015-10-19T12:14:33.859+01:00Polly Turton - Let’s not just talk about the weather<div style="-webkit-appearance: none; background-color: white; border-radius: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: source-sans-pro, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The British love to talk about the weather. Comedians have even suggested that without the nations’ favourite topic of conversation to fill the silence, romances might fail and families fall out. And it is only going to get worse... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The weather is forecast to be the subject on everyone’s lips even more often in future, but, unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. We have already arguably seen the impacts of climate change manifest in such extreme UK weather events as flooding of the Somerset Levels and the Dawlish railway-line collapse. The sad fact is that we now associate the weather with making big headlines, as much as small talk. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore, it is not just rural and coastal areas affected. Built in 1982, the Thames Barrier was designed to be deployed on perhaps two or three occasions a year to protect the Capital from flooding. Last winter, it was closed a record 50 times. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just like homeowners, businesses are facing up to this new reality. They are already experiencing the effects on their shared environment and community – stocking up on sandbags, whilst insurance premiums rise. Retailers in particular are coming to terms with what it means to be prepared and resilient. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Arup, we have been working with Marks & Spencer to assess the weather- and climate-related risks to their UK stores. We are developing appropriate climate change adaptation and resilience strategies in response to their Plan A commitments, for both existing properties and new development. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M&S are not dealing merely with some ‘what if’ scenario. Climate change impacts are real and happening to them, their staff, customers and properties. Despite M&S being alive to the issues, passionate about good store design and committed to high standards of operation, there is still no escape. In the last decade, weather-related incidents have affected M&S buildings thereby justifying a business case for climate change adaptation. What is also plain, however, is that this is not a topic any one organisation should or can tackle on its own. Let’s face it, when has a storm or a heatwave ever hit only your house and not that of your next-door neighbour? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shared problems call for shared solutions. Accordingly, M&S is leading a collaborative drive to pool knowledge and resources, boost understanding of risks and speed response.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To do this, as well as reaching out to customers and local community networks, M&S has also brought together a broad mix of government bodies, businesses and NGOs in a series of round-table discussions with external stakeholders. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From technology trends to climate maps and from landlords to health professionals - sometimes with issues this complex and perspectives that varied, the best place for people to start is, literally, in the same room. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taking this approach also means that the financial, social and environmental benefits of climate risk management can be shared across companies, catchments, cities and communities. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The collective wisdom of this expert cohort is then being disseminated even more widely via the Environment Agency (EA), so other companies and organisations can benefit. For M&S, working in tandem with the EA in this way also builds on their successful collaboration around ‘Flood Hubs’ last year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meantime, the weather continues to make news, with the hottest July day ever in the UK recorded last month. The burning question M&S is asking, through its collaborative approach to climate change adaptation, is what are we going to do about it, together? The time for just talk is over.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrh3x9qv4qYNkGVPYHX8eVTGw6dS_APgjEdIYSbQ_3jBBloFHgwsvPeYLQtbs5j_IJygIxLMqqj60zOjphelY5QaxwB760_vEXyH7p7fkwF7T_qrBQaGPc3bheP68OPf-0xOukhDEMVkg/s1600/PollyTurton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrh3x9qv4qYNkGVPYHX8eVTGw6dS_APgjEdIYSbQ_3jBBloFHgwsvPeYLQtbs5j_IJygIxLMqqj60zOjphelY5QaxwB760_vEXyH7p7fkwF7T_qrBQaGPc3bheP68OPf-0xOukhDEMVkg/s200/PollyTurton.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Polly Turton is a Climate Change Adaptation Consultant at Arup.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">his blog was reproduced from <a href="http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/blog/stories/lets-not-just-talk-about-the-weather" target="_blank">one originally published by M&S</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Polly has also written on this topic for the </span><a href="http://thoughts.arup.com/post/MobileDetails/471" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Arup Thoughts</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> blog, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">she will be presenting on the subject in the Resilient Cities session (9.45-11am on 4th Nov) at the <a href="http://www.cibse.org/cibse-conference-2015/conference/conference-programme" target="_blank">CIBSE Conference</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/75555-6061828698636640260?trk=groups-post-b-title" target="_blank">Join the discussion about this post on LinkedIn.</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-20715565249803223372015-10-07T12:15:00.000+01:002015-10-08T12:13:50.263+01:00Julie Futcher - What makes a tall building good?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Does London need Tall Buildings?’ is the title of an <a href="http://www.ctbuh.org/Events/Calendar/2015EventArchive/DoesLondonNeedTallBuildings/tabid/7033/language/en-US/Default.aspx" target="_blank">upcoming Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats (CTBUH) event</a>; it poses disarmingly simple questions such as </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘what is the practical contribution of tall buildings to the urban realm? </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and;</span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Are tall buildings good or bad for us?</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Not surprisingly the answer to these questions is not straightforward and depends on the perspective (whether indoor or outdoor), the purpose (for commercial or residential use), the context (as an isolated tall building or as part of a cluster) and the metric (energy, density, profit, etc.). However, to some extent the questions posed are moot; London already has an eclectic mix of tall buildings and many more are planned. Here, I look at the effects of some tall buildings on the distribution of natural energy (sun and wind) in the surrounding urban landscape. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5HTKxRhLZKqpsjqAk_FTSC2gEh8gnkvgKcQRvcy5EA-gNkb18_4seq5T80C0u4LJobTP_lD6LoRSC-67htFgRn__ZaN7qvTZCqQoij6s-F2UW1OIOWu00IF2PQ6-h14T6bLHIStlcfI/s1600/Selfishgiants_cropped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5HTKxRhLZKqpsjqAk_FTSC2gEh8gnkvgKcQRvcy5EA-gNkb18_4seq5T80C0u4LJobTP_lD6LoRSC-67htFgRn__ZaN7qvTZCqQoij6s-F2UW1OIOWu00IF2PQ6-h14T6bLHIStlcfI/s400/Selfishgiants_cropped.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Section through the Eastern Cluster City of London</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">In an urban setting, buildings interact with each other and the intervening streets, parks and plazas and it becomes impossible to examine buildings in isolation from their urban context. Tall buildings will cast shadows, reflect light, divert wind and modify all aspects of climate at the ground. Where air quality is poor an isolated tall building may aid in the ventilation of near-surface however, it may also result in gustiness that makes walking difficult. While taller buildings may be a more efficient use of space and offer the potential to reduce carbon emission, they can also make outdoor spaces less pleasant and increase the energy demands of buildings cast in shadow. In fact, a marked feature of the new tall buildings in London is that they trumpet their green credentials as making best use of natural resources to achieve energy efficiency while ignoring their impact on the surrounding area. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://goo.gl/y3MqP8" target="_blank"><img height="178" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Y-yaqzMs7jiPgjv4b01jko6so_Zcsk6VeXVAm3ZTKgATcqs53Y45m4ntetVE3mPE1Oir0yxVBiB9aDpwTrPGG2FUS9eAZAUI2FqkGKphfG0W11a3ZoBUcBEj9elQd4pcIpfbqkDVcipm43cB" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://goo.gl/y3MqP8" target="_blank">20 Fenchurch Street- 2015 carbuncle cup winner</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The potential impact of tall buildings on the urban realm is best demonstrated by 20 Fenchurch Street which has a BREEAM rating of excellent and an unusual ‘form’ that earned it the 2015 Carbuncle Cup. This ‘form’ caused the surface to behave like a parabolic mirror focusing the Sun’s energy onto a nearby street; since 2013 the envelope has been modified to prevent this from happening again. However, what is not so well known is that the buildings height interfered with the ‘rights to light’ of neighbouring buildings. Nonetheless, the buildings sustainable credentials (including the Sky Garden) were considered so significant that the Corporation of London made a compulsory purchase on these rights, effectively reassigning ownership of shared resource.</span></div>
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Another example is 100 Bishopsgate, yet to come out the ground, but once built the bulk and height will shade the south facing façade of the neighbouring Heron Tower for much of the day. In normal circumstances, this might be beneficial. Most commercial office functions occur during the daytime when the combination of internal and external loads generates a significant cooling demand; in these circumstances shading of a glazed surface reduces this demand. However, in the case of the Heron Tower, the soon-to-be shaded façade is where photovoltaic array have been embedded in the fabric to generate electricity. 100 Bishopsgate will simply block access to its energy source.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://goo.gl/JT7gqR" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img height="177" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/h4MLfJ7Ggu4P3wEtWy8oid3lVZhb0rygENxxTI1jxSaT1v6UeCmPds3zPXFozAxGWS449IeKeJJED7GbOm01-85Uu_XLktLktxC8khH3UE7RwaoP3tqFlC1gmMzC02HkQL-vFdWbCkTHyyHs" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/JT7gqR" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 1.38;">100 Bishopsgate (Red) over shading the solar array on the south facing façade of the Heron Tower (Blue)</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 22 Bishopsgate, a planned 278m-high tower sits among other tall buildings. While the mutual shadowing effects may benefit the buildings and their energy use, they also create an outdoor space that is almost always in shade; while this might be a desirable outcome in a hot climate, it does not make for a pleasant space in mid-latitude London. There is little to be gained if tall building achieve efficiencies for indoor private spaces at the expense of the outdoor public spaces.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22 Bishopsgate (Red)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">In general The Eastern Cluster the City of London is a good example of how tall buildings can be mutually beneficial by providing shade. However, what is best for office buildings may not be best for residential buildings, which are occupied in the morning and evening hours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These examples demonstrate that energy management strategies require a spatial approach that accounts for the wider impacts of buildings on their surroundings. But currently we have no way of evaluating the influence of the ‘form’ a building takes outside </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the envelope of the building itself – rather buildings are seen as isolated entities that neglect their dynamic effect on the neighbouring buildings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many examples of good tall buildings throughout the city and the world that demonstrate that tall buildings have a role to play in resilient cities futures. However addressing their strategic role in their urban setting is only part of the picture, we need a resilient city wide plan that considers current and future needs of urban occupation that ensures all new buildings, streets, parks and plazas are ‘designed in an integrated way’ that addresses many of the issues that organisations like CIBSE Resilient Cities and CTBUH are starting to address. But what is for sure London is about to embark on a massive change to its infrastructure, to be successful we need to be vigilant and take our time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join the discussion about this post on the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/75555-6057657727704920065" target="_blank">CIBSE LinkedIn page</a></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-70506924810261545682015-09-09T10:00:00.000+01:002015-09-09T11:06:49.263+01:00Robert Diamond - A Buddhist Concept for a Resilient City<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Our situation is not comparable to anything in the past. It is impossible, therefore, to apply methods and measures which at an earlier age might have been sufficient. We must revolutionise our thinking, revolutionise our actions, and must have the courage to revolutionise relations among the nations of the world." Albert Einstein, 1948</span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the next three and a half decades, the world’s cities are predicted to increase by 2.5 billion people with almost everyone living within in a day’s trip of a city. This boom will place a massive load on current infrastructures, air quality, pollution and waste. Can our current methods and measures solve these issues as we come to this critical juncture in our time (as when Einstein addressed the World Congress of Intellectuals regarding atomic weapons) or can alternative paradigms offered by ancient wisdom offer any guidance?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cities are complex in their scale, speed, diversity and connectivity and are full of contradictions - no two cities are alike. The history, culture and the people within them have unique identities and all make up the story of a city. The global city of the future shows great promise: well-designed cities are not just good for prosperity, they can meet our basic needs: e.g. sanitation, education and healthcare. But they can be prone to fundamental problems: crime and violence, radicalisation and disasters of all kind from natural (e.g. flooding, one of the most frequent natural disasters), technical (e.g. failure of infra- structures) to the human-made (e.g. international terrorism).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although at the time of the Buddha there were none of the environmental issues now facing us, including pollution, global warming and climate change; his teaching is typified by respect, humility, care and compassion that show affinity with the deeper ecological movements of today and could provide radical answers to the issues facing us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of its key teachings is of the interconnection and inseparability of action and effects, as well as an appreciation of the interdependence and inseparability of all things; this could equally be applied to the environmental crises. One cannot look in isolation at any one aspect: social, political and economic strategies and policies all have an impact. Our systems based on growth and global capitalism are built on the premise that this will lead to human happiness and well-being, assumptions that have led us to where we are now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indra's net, a multi-dimensioned jewelled web, is a metaphor to describe interconnectedness found within the Buddhist tradition in ‘The Flower Ornament Sutra’, a third century text. Indra’s net consists of hundreds of thousands of jewels reflecting against one other in a myriad of mirrored jewels, each jewel unique but each jewel a reflection of all the other jewels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The net strikingly foreshadows contemporary ecological thought, which is equally focused on relationships of interdependence rather than isolated entities. But the net prefigures more than ecological discourse for although found in modern systems theory, the net signifies a purified level of consciousness – an ‘Enlightened’ perspective.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holistic planning often suffers from a sector by-sector approach across competing jurisdictions, and policymakers fail to see the city as a single entity. This sector by sector approach is very much indigenous to our entire world view. However if we can see the city as we do within Indra’s net, we can see very fabric of the city itself: one that is interconnected, related, evolving and alive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Viewing a city in this way we see that everything effects everything else: although contemporary design and build contacts encourage the developer to maximise profits and the cost of the tenant, ultimately a green building, although costing more, provides more benefit ultimately. For example, green roofs and walls cost more than traditional roofs and walls, but they improve air quality, provide space for ecological enhancement, improve aesthetics, reduce heat loss and improve drainage run-off. Although not costed in these ‘externalities’ effect the city and therefore society as a whole. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Underpinning the philosophy of Indra’s net is the freedom to overcome self-interest, whether individual or for the benefit of the shareholders – so to encourage a dialogue beyond our own circles –engineers (really) talking to architects (really) talking to contractors (really) talking to planners and so on, beyond self-interest, with a wish to understand and share ideas and information – and see each other’s view.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indra’s net seeks to overcome social isolation. Our cities have been designed around an aged infrastructure built on the car, at the expense of the green spaces where people would naturally congregate. Indra’s net sees the benefit of increasing green spaces, although on the surface the selling of land to build means more profit for the landowner, ultimately everyone loses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indra’s net would look to community based projects, an energy infrastructure where all benefit, shared local energy centres, promoting renewable technologies to move away from our addiction to oil, electric vehicles to reduce pollution and to reduce noise, improved cycling facilities to reduce our car use. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In short, none of these ideas are new, but a joined up approach is needed, going beyond a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Indra’s net lets us see beyond our limited views and perceptions, beyond immediate profit, for in the end everyone loses. A genuinely resilient city would be one which fulfils human needs, it would be diverse, and it would be a city of equality and one where the individual, community and wider society would benefit</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 24px;">Author</b><span style="line-height: 24px;">: Eur Ing Robert Diamond BEng (Hons) MSc CEnv FEI CEng FCIBSE</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Contact</b>: <a href="mailto:robert.diamond@ingletonwood.co.uk">robert.diamond@ingletonwood.co.uk</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtVcNFeA-eC2QSdPsB-_uKFgAnfXRguWYdoB0eHS5_TkEuVogsCdOYgflOqOfaSI83xWHXBzIh0U7btC2TBnGsfxHQIq7KfLO9W4Z68BZTJY2Npwg4U8MFDI6JGsLpG9NeeOx2RG715ra/s1600/Rob+Diamond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtVcNFeA-eC2QSdPsB-_uKFgAnfXRguWYdoB0eHS5_TkEuVogsCdOYgflOqOfaSI83xWHXBzIh0U7btC2TBnGsfxHQIq7KfLO9W4Z68BZTJY2Npwg4U8MFDI6JGsLpG9NeeOx2RG715ra/s320/Rob+Diamond.jpg" width="240" /></span></a><i><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Robert
Diamond is an chartered energy engineer and chartered environmentalist
and a Fellow of CIBSE and the Energy Institute. He is Vice Chairman of
the CIBSE HCNE Region Committee, and has presented at low and zero
carbon buildings events to the RIBA, RICS, Energy Institute and CIBSE,
at EcoBuild, and on behalf of the British Embassy
in Latvia to promote international sustainability.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">He works as a sustainability associate for Ingleton Wood, a multi-disciplinary
practice based in Colchester. Last year he decided to pursue a part-time MA at the University of East Anglia in the field of </span><span style="font-size: small;">Environmental Humanities, a</span><span style="font-size: small;">
new forward-thinking environmental studies programs integrating the environmental humanities with the sciences.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">His
on-going dissertation looks at alternatives to the current paradigm
within the sustainability/resilient
dialogue, and looks to the Eastern religion of Buddhism to see if it can
offer any alternatives to these discussions, in particular to the
concept of interconnectedness, suggested by the Indra’s Net metaphor.
This blog forms part of his thinking, although the
final work will not be complete until September 2015.</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join the discussion about this post on the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/75555-6047317882004606980?trk=groups-post-b-title" target="_blank">CIBSE LinkedIn group</a>.</span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-90077537499212096112015-08-13T12:57:00.000+01:002015-08-13T14:02:03.028+01:00David Coley - Climate change means we can’t keep living (and working) in glass houses<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">London’s famous Shard is one big window, but bricks and wood are more efficient. </span><span class="attribution" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #cccccc; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/byzantiumbooks/15106516791/" style="color: #cccccc; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bill Smith</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" style="color: #cccccc; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CC BY</a></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do we go about designing buildings today for tomorrow’s weather? As the world warms and extreme weather becomes more common, sustainable architecture is likely to mean one major casualty: glass.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For decades glass has been everywhere, even in so-called “modern” or “sustainable” architecture such as London’s Gherkin. However in energy terms glass is extremely inefficient – it does little but leak heat on cold winter nights and turn buildings into greenhouses on summer days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, the <a href="http://www.thegreenage.co.uk/getting-to-grips-with-u-values/" target="_blank">U-value</a> (a measure of how much heat is lost through a given thickness) of triple glazing is around 1.0. However a simple cavity brick wall with a little bit of insulation in it is 0.35 – that is, three times lower – whereas well-insulated wall will have a U-value of just 0.1. So each metre square of glass, even if it is triple glazed, loses ten times as much heat as a wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the climate is changing, so too is the weather. Climate is expressed in terms of long-term averages, whereas the weather is an expression of short-term events – and the weather is predicted to change by <a href="http://ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk/" target="_blank">much more than our climate</a>. This creates challenges. A 0.5℃ increase in monthly temperature can made a difference to farmers, or the energy used by an air-conditioning system, but a peak temperature of 38℃ or a vicious cold snap can be far more serious. Buildings are designed to handle extremes, not just averages.<br /><br />Architects and building engineers around the world are now having to struggle with this issue, especially since buildings last so long. At Bath we have recently been awarded a grant to look at long-term weather forecasting and <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/news/2015/07/30/funding-awarded-to-develop-85-year-weather-forecast" target="_blank">how building design will have to change</a>. After all, you can’t move buildings to a better climate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One obvious possibility, for UK designers at least, is that they pick a place where the weather currently is similar to what the Met Office suggests the UK <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-will-climate-be-like-in-2100-expect-surprises-says-new-met-office-study-44333" target="_blank">will have in 2100</a>, and simply put up buildings like the ones they have there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem is this ignores the low-carbon agenda. Many hot countries have spent the past 30 years designing buildings similar to those found in more temperate countries, while leaving enough space for monster air-conditioning systems. The air-conditioned skyscrapers in Las Vegas and Dubai, for instance, look just like buildings you might see in London or Boston, despite being built in the middle of a desert.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="caption" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold; text-align: start;">Las Vegas’s glass boxes couldn’t exist without air conditioning.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold; text-align: start;"> </span><span class="attribution" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold; text-align: start;"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/22746515@N02/4184083409/" target="_blank">Bert Kauffman</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY</a></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As an experiment, type “Dubai Buildings” into Google images and take a look at what has been built and, more worryingly, artist’s impressions of what is <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3167922/The-end-urban-sprawl-Ambitious-plan-fit-entire-CITY-inside-single-bee-hive-skyscraper-house-25-000.html" target="_blank">on the drawing board</a>. You can even see this inefficiency in cultures that one might expect more of, for example the famous energy-guzzling <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/cracks-in-the-city-of-glass/article580903/" target="_blank">glass towers of Vancouver</a>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buildings will have to be simplified. Heating, lighting, energy supply, air con, escalators, IT networks and so on – all these “<a href="http://www.cibse.org/building-services/what-is-building-services" target="_blank">building services</a>” will have to be stripped right back. Those services which do remain must use almost no energy – and possibly generate the energy they require on site.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cutting back on glass would be an easy win. Windows need to be sized, not glorified, and sized for a purpose: the view, or to provide natural light or air. Windows also need to be shaded. Many would argue that we need to re-invent the window, or the building. We need to build buildings <em>with</em> windows, rather than buildings that are one big window.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe we should look to the Mediterranean. People have mainly lived in countries such as Greece, for example, without air-conditioning – and it is true that such heavyweight, thick-walled buildings with small openings are capable of moderating external conditions very well.</span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="262" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/89942/width668/image-20150728-7641-1p7kod.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="caption" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold; text-align: start;">Small windows and thick, white walls keep the inside of this traditional Greek house nice and cool.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold; text-align: start;"> </span><span class="attribution" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold; text-align: start;"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ncfc/2096279302/in/" target="_blank">ncfc0721</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY</a></span></b></span></h3>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">However they don’t offer the climate control we are used to, especially if you pack them with people and computers. The people of the Mediterranean also had generations to adapt themselves and their working arrangements to fit with the climate. We don’t have this luxury: the weather is changing too fast.</span></span></div>
</h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have yet to invent architecture ready for whatever happens to the climate, but it is clear that we need to take lessons from the past – and from other cultures. We can’t simply air-condition our way through global warming.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/45006/count.gif" width="1" />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/david-coley-181716" target="_blank">David Coley</a> is Professor of Low Carbon Design at <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-bath" target="_blank">University of Bath</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com/" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/climate-change-means-we-cant-keep-living-and-working-in-glass-houses-45006" target="_blank">original article</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">University of Bath has recently been awarded EPSRC funding for their project: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The creation of localised current and future weather for the engineering community. The project will aim to develop a methodology for creating weather files for building simulation that capture the local environmental conditions. The weather files will be available for the period </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">2015-2080, at 5km resolution, for the whole of the UK, with an emphasis on extremes, particularly heat waves and cold snaps. CIBSE will be working closely with the project team representing its members and ensuring applicability of outputs to industry practices.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/75555-6037567403901095937?trk=groups-post-b-title" target="_blank">Join the discussion about this blog on LinkedIn.</a></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-58455475317343011982015-07-21T15:40:00.002+01:002015-07-21T15:59:50.856+01:00George Adams - Cities: the battle ground between the global financial market forces and the drive for a low carbon future<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rzLSUwvbHWS9b9mnuIOwEsEFpdEW2gf1M8oL2h7IBHg8qTG-ZYMxhcyk5KI919mlhupk6Z84TPgAmpKadIgwFuhm-KRpPgyMPuqERpkFeMcCtNUxpWJF8KsINSV65oK5gKiC1GYGgYI/s1600/George+Adams.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rzLSUwvbHWS9b9mnuIOwEsEFpdEW2gf1M8oL2h7IBHg8qTG-ZYMxhcyk5KI919mlhupk6Z84TPgAmpKadIgwFuhm-KRpPgyMPuqERpkFeMcCtNUxpWJF8KsINSV65oK5gKiC1GYGgYI/s1600/George+Adams.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All
human societies fundamentally depend on natural resources and the environment;
we now outstrip Earth's natural replenishment capacity by 50%. Climate change
has become an ever more irrefutable and urgent issue but still we have no
effective international agreement that has any chance of stopping the rise in
carbon emissions let alone reduce the levels. What we do have is more
conferences and more publications giving the impression to the general public
that somewhere the powers that be are solving the big issue. The reality is a
continuance of pouring vast sums of money into finding, supplying and consuming
more fossil fuels; emissions are predicted to increase by 29% and energy
consumption up by 41% by 2035 (<a href="http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/Energy-economics/Energy-Outlook/Energy_Outlook_2035_booklet.pdf" target="_blank">BP report 2014</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My questions are
these: how do we get local communities to align with the common cause of
creating sustainable urban environments, and how do move globally to a new
carbon adverse economy to avoid the bigger risk of a future based on fossil
fuels. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
longer-term agenda could be about people, their place and surroundings. Local
smart solutions could be about Local Authorities, business and communities
working together to recognise the responsibilities of location and society with
Cities at the heart of this; as we move towards 80% of humanity living in them.
The urgency would then be to move forward with the re invention of cities into
sustainable, adaptive, healthy and responsible urban communities; able to cope
with the inevitable complexities of our future existence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So
I put it to you that our cities will be the battle ground between traditional
financial market forces and the urban drive towards essential low carbon smart
city economies. It seems to me, the World’s financial markets can't be expected
to solve the fossil fuels dependency problem because they simply don't know how
to make the big changes quickly enough to avoid the potential for the biggest
ever economic meltdown if we continue the current path towards 4 to 6°C of
global warming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
all know there’s been a vast amount of climate change information produced over
the past 20 years. But we are in danger of assuming it is producing meaningful
action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
past financial crisis demonstrated what happens when big risks accumulate
without adequate management; as indicated by Lord Stern saying the risks are
"very big indeed". Sadly it’s not much different today. The so-called
"carbon bubble" is a result of an over-valuation of oil, coal and gas
reserves held by fossil fuel companies. According to a <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0115/070115-fossil-fuels" target="_blank">UCL report in 2014</a>, at least two-thirds of these reserves will have to remain
underground if the world is to meet the existing internationally agreed targets
to avoid "dangerous" climate change. The recent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/22/earth-day-scientists-warning-fossil-fuels-" target="_blank">Earth Day 2015</a> report concluded that broadly we must keep 75% of all known fossil
fuels in the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">London,
as with many cities, faces future challenges relating to: growth; urbanisation;
pollution; resource efficiency; and a changing climate. London’s population is projected to grow by
12% over the next 20 years. The resulting demands and pressure on energy
infrastructure and natural resources obliges city infrastructure providers and
consumers to adapt intelligently to ensure efficient, affordable and
sustainable solutions. London and other UK cities are with others at the forefront
of this change, piloting and pioneering new secure, flexible, low carbon and
growth-stimulating urban based solutions that could be cost-effective, smarter,
cleaner and locally managed. The difficult organisational system and societal
changes need to merge the role of consumers and producers in developing and
providing, healthy energy, food, water and mobility integrated solutions that
respect the limits of natural resources, the need for total recycling of waste
and create cities that integrate strategic urban green landscaping. The real
innovation is to join it all up in a holistic systems approach to achieve best
value, clean urban environments and sustainable low carbon economies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For
example the <a href="http://www.assaf.co.za/newsletter/?p=162" target="_blank">path finding works by the city of Durban</a>. Where transitioning to a low carbon city was
the focus of a consensus study from which its report provides 12 key strategic
recommendations, as well as sector-specific recommendations, which Durban needs
to address in order to transition to a low carbon city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
believe the issues are beyond international leadership and global conferences
now and that a world of local empowered urban communities working in parallel
with each other, backed up by enforceable law is likely to provide the fastest
and most effective strategy. People are the cause and yet they are also the
solution. The Rocky Park community garden scheme in Bethnal Green London which
I visited recently is a great example that people can take positive action to
green – up their local urban area and bring about better social behaviour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTzSGsh_jp4EPzW8SNSKXqsBySCY4cENzxqLBBeLkLxRa_IZdtz4RdTtpHsBag-1NBNqbB4bB8o7X9sgBs5r-Pbyke4cXHHD1vO69IZtJdAH11oE0fR2CpIkVhDy_3fmdEFUrKtkkDtQ/s1600/image006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTzSGsh_jp4EPzW8SNSKXqsBySCY4cENzxqLBBeLkLxRa_IZdtz4RdTtpHsBag-1NBNqbB4bB8o7X9sgBs5r-Pbyke4cXHHD1vO69IZtJdAH11oE0fR2CpIkVhDy_3fmdEFUrKtkkDtQ/s400/image006.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
role of governments I suggest is to educate and empower cities and urban
communities to change and to respond to the biggest conflict and opportunity
the human race has ever needed to grasp.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">George
Adams</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042254028103949959.post-56595720033473950152015-07-01T11:25:00.000+01:002015-07-14T13:48:37.228+01:00Susie Diamond on the new CIBSE Resilient Cities group<b style="clear: right; float: right; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ipilT-1BG0SsRwnTsg9RFjs-V_ddjfv1tVvbfmdkmUDXxqs1ZpY5dZGKJHvWAUmY4atTuvjDib8AekI0US60TOJd5YOlJaZlEEa0IsSyUbZRWDxZwxkk9E9OZLIC_ArVG2fryrY" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="212" /></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was drawn to join the new CIBSE Resilient cities group through a funky mixture of curiosity and pessimism regarding the future of our urban environments. Cities have been evolving around the world for centuries at an ever-increasing pace. What they’ll look and feel like to inhabit even in just 50 years is hard to imagine. A large proportion of our curre</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">nt buildings are likely to remain, but interspersed with many new ones, and the way we’ll be using them could be very different. Some of this change could be really exciting, but I am troubled by the uncertainties of climate change and what the implications might be for future generations of city dwellers; how will we manage to maintain the standards of comfort we are used to, and keep using the technology we value without exacerbating climate change?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When this group coalesced we quickly realised that writing a definitive guide for CIBSE members regarding adapting and designing resilient cities was not a realistic proposition. A great deal of work is being done across many sectors to plan and future gaze on this subject, organisations such as </span><a href="http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/Brochures/Future_Cities.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The BRE Trust Future Cities Programme</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the </span><a href="http://www.c40.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">C40 Cities</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> group and the </span><a href="https://futurecities.catapult.org.uk/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Future Cities Catapult </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are just the tip of the iceberg. We therefore felt a more useful remit was to start collating and disseminating the information already out there that is most relevant to CIBSE members, and begin to create some thought leadership regarding what our contribution to the resilience of our cities should be.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Resilience is the ability of assets, networks and systems to anticipate, absorb, adapt to and / or rapidly recover from a disruptive event. In its broader sense, it is more than an ability to bounce back and recover from adversity and extends to the broader adaptive capacity gained from an understanding of the risks and uncertainties in our environment.” (Cabinet Office) </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One dissemination avenue that this group will be pursuing was inspired by a book edited by Angela Brady, past president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and director of Brady Mallalieu Architects Ltd, called </span><a href="http://www.ribabookshops.com/item/the-british-papers/85057/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The British Papers - Current Thinking on Sustainable City Design (RIBA Publishing)</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The book is a collection of 31 invited essays that cover a wide variety of topics and themes; and give diverse personal perspectives on the issues and challenges of future city design. Contributors are largely from an architecture background, and their pieces are illustrated, short and relevant. Specifically it’s also a really good read. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So why not develop the theme and build a similar collection of essays with a more CIBSE focus? We know lots of interesting people within the industry, people with vision and passion, people with a story to share or a new technology to develop.Climate modelling has given us a good idea of where our climate is heading, but there is a wealth of opinion on how this will affect us and how our cities will adapt and evolve to suit these conditions in the late 21st and 22nd centuries. Hearing these voices would be inspiring, thought-provoking (or even enraging) and the ideas presented may be ignored and forgotten or might take hold and ultimately make their way into our thought-processes and the way we practice our work. </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without the resources (yet) to publish a physical book, we are going to invite essayists to write blog posts to publish here as a series that will build up over the coming months. If you’d be interested in contributing to this series then please get in touch with us through: </span><a href="mailto:resilientcities@cibse.org" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">resilientcities@cibse.org</span></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="mailto:resilientcities@cibse.org" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196232340474323516noreply@blogger.com