on the zero carbon house

Barratt Developments has unveiled what it calls the first zero-carbon house developed by a volume housebuilder, built at the Buildings Research Establishment in Watford, packed with the latest technology, including solar panels, rainwater harvesting and an air source heat pump.
Its new kind of concrete walls and floors, combined with super insulation and triple-glazed windows, means [...]

a guide to zero carbon homes

Zero carbon homes in 100 words.
The UK Green Building Council released a report this week defining what a zero-carbon house should be in practice. Download from here
Still to read in detail but on first read appears to be a welcomed, considered and helpful guide, with a time-line to help organisations on a route to zero.
There [...]

revolutionary wind turbines

Selsam is flying wind-turbines for maximum power. It’s like a kite, only with giant spinning blades. Looks so scifi …. resembling a field of wind-swept reeds swaying on the horizon
Source: twitter from inhabitat

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 [...]

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 [...]

interseasonal heat transfer

Pams second post on snow and ice clearance over at Public Works blog, reminded me of two items I had collected into my google notebook for future isite posts.
Reported in the Guardian Friday last Under Road heaters may beat snow and ice , the Highways Agency plans to install pipes underneath a section of [...]

Waste wood – the untapped resource for Biomass Fuel?

The huge potential of reusing waste wood as fuel is being wasted, Environment Minister Joan Ruddock has warned. The significant carbon and energy benefits of recovering energy from waste wood are detailed in a new information report on the sector that surveys the activities of producers, aggregators and users of waste wood.

all homes to be code level 6

All UK homes could meet a Code Level 6 by 2050  in line with the planned Code for Sustainable Refurbishment to reduce carbon emissions from existing homes.  Source
Now this will surely start another, necessary, debate on how this is possible, and how it will impact on the huge sector of our industry that refurbs and [...]

isite radar for april 08

On my radar today:
Low carbon uk
- a New Scientist / Arup online discussion forum
Your computer chip could warm your home
- a medium size data center could heat 70 homes
Eco-towns are not the answer to climate change or housing needs
Reducing the carbon footprint of the existing built environment must take priority. The government must [...]

sustainable connectivity

A new look for isite with a new image on the top banner(*). I like this design as it includes a RSS button - to get isite delivered to your desktop, and a search facility to search back through isite items.
But a little more too. After reflection on this blogs contents and [...]