Hattie Hartman’s sustainability blog: best practice, projects and products
Ikea is not usually synonymous with city centre development. But Southampton’s new Ikea is a 5 minute walk from the city centre.
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Filed under: Eco-projects, Energy
Velux has appointed HTA to design two semi detached homes in Kettering as part of its Model Home 2020 project which has already completed two homes in Denmark and has one on site in Austria. Both the Danish and Austrian projects were a result of architectural competitions, but according to Kevin Brennan, head of sustainability [...]
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Filed under: Eco-projects
I attended the launch of the NHBC Foundation’s Zero Carbon Compendium - written by PRP - earlier this month. The 50 page booklet is a good clear read
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Filed under: Eco-projects, Green event, Policy watch
The internet is truly amazing. The following just dropped into my intray:
‘We are looking for the world leading zero energy designers and firms for cooperation in China market.’
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Filed under: Eco-projects, Sustainable products
The results were released yesterday for a RIBA/WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) competition whose brief was to design a project (an office building, a school, or a warehouse) which demonstrates principles for reducing waste. The competition finalists included one architect, Pohkit Goh, and two engineers: Buro Happold and Battle McCarthy.
I participated in the jury which judged the surprisingly small field of entries - just thirteen, and only six from architects.
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Filed under: Eco-projects, Green practice
Tonight the University of Westminster is launching Build Up, an interdisciplinary programme for unemployed and under-employed construction professionals, including architects. Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in partnership with RIBA and several other organisations, over 1500 places are available for the programme which will begin in August.
The idea behind Build Up is to [...]
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Filed under: Green practice
You should check out the new section on the GreenSpec website which deals with housing refurb.
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Filed under: Green practice
Four ‘eco-towns’ that have now been given the go-ahead will be in line for a share of £60 million of Government infrastructure funding
All are supported or proposed by local authorities and meet the standards for housing needs and climate-change technologies laid down by Whitehall.
They are Rackheath in Norfolk, Whitehill Bordon in East Hampshire, north west [...]
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It was exciting to see teams of four men vigorously harvesting cork last week in the Alentejo region of Portugal, just south of Lisbon. In temperatures of 32C (apparently temperate for the time of year) they swarmed over a tree, stripping the cork from the entire trunk in about quarter of an hour – typically they will do 25 trees in a day.
Although it looks brutal, the trees recover, being fit for reharvesting every nine years, and typically living 200 years.
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Filed under: Sustainable products
Today is a busy day: this morning the launch of the Zero Carbon Hub’s compendium of low carbon housing around the world put together by PRP, lots going on in the office, and two events this evening: a seminar (you can still register here) and launch of a lovely book about the Stadthaus, Waugh Thistleton’s nine-storey timber tower in Hackney, East London, and tours of a recently completed academy by FeildenCleggBradley in Islington.
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Filed under: Eco-projects, Green event
