second life building

I have been talking about building within second life recently to a number of people and groups. Without actually experiencing second life it is difficult to grasp how individuals, all working from computers in different countries can work collaboratively to design and construct a building.

The following time lapse video may go some way to help vision how second life can work for designers and builders. One of these avatars could well be the client - making design and function decisions with the design / build team. This approach can be used to show potential clients new build designs prior to real life construction as was the case with Aloft hotels and others. Once completed visitors can walk through and experience the building and feedback comments for improvement.

Wanted - eco home builders for second life project

And if you get the bug to design and build in second life:

Design Build Expo - May 17th @ the Monogram Virtua Convention Center. Enter to win L$20000, publicity and lots of advertising. Get the recognition you deserve and show off your building skills at the Design/Build Expo. Display your builds/services & products.

energy tweets

from inhabitat

The ultra quiet rooftop wind turbine

Solar energy as cheap as coal

Occupiers willing to meet costs for sustainable buildings

From Michael at Building and Think08

Construction Waste Awareness event in NW

The North West Centre for Waste Management in partnership with UCLan are presenting a Free CIWM accredited Construction Waste Awareness Certificate event for Construction Companies
Wednesday 4th June 2008  9.30am – 4.00pm  University of Central Lancashire

This one day workshop has been designed specifically to address the issues arising from construction waste, and includes topics such as: Waste Minimisation, Waste Management, Safety & Environmental Aspects and Environmental Law

cwac workshop flyer

08 thoughts from think 08

I attended Think08 yesterday afternoon, visiting some of the free seminars and chatting to a good number of exhibitors. It was also good to meet up with fellow bloggers Phil, Mel, Paul, Rob and Casey for an early evening drink.

My impressions from the afternoon was that it didn’t quite have the buzz of last year but again a very worthwhile event to attend, pushing the boundaries of sustainability … but …

Resilience is the new sustainability

The biggest impression was that sustainability as a green label has run its course - has it been highjacked to mean sustainable business as usual, sustainabily? Someone at another online event recently planted this idea - sustainability is so 1990’s. We need a new describer - resilience. (A link to a post in draft)

I captured my key thoughts during the afternoon which coincidently numbered eight:

1. its the way we use buildings, operate them and manage energy use that will have the biggest initial impact on energy performance - not necessarily new green ‘kit’
2. focus on existing building stock not new build however ‘green’
3. like wise focus on make existing communities sustainable - not new build eco towns and try to make them sustainable
4. all this reinforces my view that sustainability in the built environment is a facilities management issue not a construction one - but when the fm sector will wake up to this is another post.
5. among the exhibitors there were more planners / developers / investment organisations than noticed before, and encouragingly more colleges and universities
6. does this lead to promoting services and competing on green issues - and the danger of greenwash though? - “choose use, we are the greenest with the best green credentials” and have been doing it for years
7. why is nearly everyones sustainability concept, strategy or objectives a pastel coloured wheel?
8. not as much focus on going zero - was that last years thing?

And Highlights for me - for being different:

Footpint friends- giving young people a voice on climate change and global warming.

Verveproperties and the Paintworks

I picked up far too much information which I will plough through - of note though was the information, papers and articles from the Town and Country Planning stand - informed views on sustainable communities and eco-towns.

Think08 reviews and posts

On route to Think08 today so watch this space for live twitters and blog posts, so if you are attending and see me - please say hi !

Comments, reviews and posts from Think08 will also be carried by the group of UK bloggers who are meeting up later today at Think08, including:

carbonlimited

Elemental

extranet evolution

sustainability blog

… on what makes a building green

Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and

implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

Patagonia’s Mission Statement

I have mentioned Patagonia the outdoor clothing organisation a few times before on this blog, and recently searching for a model CSR policy or statement for a Masters course I am in part delivering, went back to their web site and Yvon Chouinard’s - Let My People Go Surfing book.

More on Patagonia’s approach to building here and Patagonia’s environmental, CSR, approach here. And if you like environmentalism mixed with the great outdoors, mountains, clothing innovation and quality, along with a sprinkling of built environment comments - then check out the blog from staff, customers and friends at The Clean Line

zero carbon ‘floating’ development for Preston

Green, innovative and zero carbon project development on our doorstep in Preston, Lancs, !

The RIBA have recently awarded a zero carbon design as the visitor center at the new Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve in Preston, to regenerate a former quarry site into a major visitor attraction.

The project called “A Floating World”, consists of zero-carbon floating buildings (the name coming from the fact that the zero-carbon buildings will be built on an island of floating pontoons)

Adam Khan Architects, won the RIBA design competition to work on the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Britain’s largest eco-regeneration scheme. The project is zero-carbon in both use and production, with materials of low embodied energy - thatch, willow, timber, with off-site prefabrication and on-site energy generation and waste treatment.

Floating world will feature cafe, shops, gallery, education areas and meeting rooms and is part of the £59 million Newlands Scheme, a project that will turn 900 hectares to community woodland and green space.

On announcement of the winner, Peter White, Head of Infrastructure & Development at the Northwest Regional Development Agency said:

“This site has the potential to become an important visitor attraction for the region, building on its rich natural assets and impressive biodiversity. The Agency is supporting its development through Newlands, a wide reaching scheme that aims to reclaim brownfield land and transform it into thriving community open spaces, and has so far invested £800,000 in Brockholes. The chosen design will not only create an inspirational open space for the local community to enjoy but will also enhance a key gateway into Lancashire and attract further investment into the area. We look forward to working with our partners to progress these plans.”

More on this as the project develops …

can data centers power all homes …

How green is your data center? Stumbled upon an amazing post and comments over at The It Sanctuary

According to figures from IT market research company Forrester Research, a data centre with 2,500 servers - relatively small compared to many out there - will devour enough electricity over the course of one month to power 420,000 homes for a year. *

That’s bad news for the environment - and it also takes its toll on a company’s bottom line. Analysts at IT market analyst firm Gartner calculate that energy expenditure typically accounts for about 10 per cent of the IT budget, and is likely to rise to as much as 50 per cent over the next few years, as energy prices continue to soar.

As the comments on the post hint at - how well is IT covered within an organisations ISO 14001 scope, impact and assessment exercises? Or even within their CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility remits? With something like 60% of a buildings / organisations energy requirement being IT related, it needs to be a central theme.

But its the ability of data center energy to power homes that needs urgent investigation. If these numbers are correct thats a staggeringly high, unbelievably high, number of homes and would resolve the domestic electricity demand at a stroke. I will check the research and invite Forrester Research to comment here,

a second life transition town

Just joined a transition town group within second life:

a group for like minded people that are adopting a Transition Model (in RL or SL) for responding to the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change.

to develop a framework for the 2021 Energy Descent Action Plan, providing information and ultimately a 2021 sim city, a model town living an oil-free sustainable manner.