Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Building a greener future in the UK

I enjoyed a brief visit  to London last week, especially finding out how the British are going to  achieve the government’s new objective of having all new residential buildings  “zero carbon” by the year 2016. (It is set out in Building  a greener future: towards zero carbon development).

That’s an ambitious  target. I wanted to know how they will make it? What will make the UK building  industry get going? And could the industry develop the supply chain quickly  enough? 

I began by knocking on  the door of The Home Builders Federation (HBF).  Its members build about 80% of Britain’s  houses. Could they deliver?

Action with PassivHaus in Austria

Austrian  Airlines played real Vienna music by classical masters like Haydn, Mozart and  Beethoven. It put me in the right mood for Vienna – a wonderful city quite  different to the rest of Europe, with its great palaces and charming cafés. You  can feel that this was the cultural center of the world in the 19th Century. But  Austria is also leading the way in the 21st century on low-energy  houses, which is why I was there.

I was in  Vienna to deliver a key-note speech at a conference on “Energy Efficiency in  Buildings” organized by the Austrian Business Council for Sustainable  Development with two other business  organizations (www.oegut. at and www.respact.at). I presented the EEB vision of  a world where buildings consume zero net energy, and highlighted the barriers  we think need to be overcome (especially financial and behavioral aspects) I’m pleased  to say it got a good response.

Buy now, while stocks last

A week after the IPCC launch in Paris, I am beginning to believe it wasn’t just a dream, even if it was quite remarkable. Scientists from 130 countries really did conclude - after six years of study – that they can say with 90 percent certainty that man-made emissions are causing climate change.

The consensus report was cautious, of course. Some of the experts believe the situation could be much more dramatic.

I hope we can now stop debating what climate change is or is not, and concentrate on what we need to do about it. Urgently! However cautious the IPCC report is, there is no doubt that the message is: Act now!