The Government has released a discussion document on a proposal that would require assessment of the overall carbon cost of producing, maintaining and using new buildings.
The NZ Herald also produced an interesting piece on the issue of embodied energy in various building products.
What’s envisaged is a time when houses will be rated according to their lifetime energy consumption, or carbon output. Architects will design to a carbon maximum, choosing long-lasting materials with low-embodied energy. Potential for end-use recycling will be factored in.
This is a key issue and I hope the proposal doesn’t get shredded. Get yourself involved in the submission process.
alt building, ideas & innovation
I for one will be watching what Meridian actually do with their trial of electric cars. CEO Keith Turner says the company has been closely watching overseas
developments in electric vehicles, and is convinced that the technology
is about to reach a tipping point. According to Turner,
Meridian will be able to demonstrate renewable, zero-emission, certified carbon neutral mobility.
I’ll let Mr Turner know my address 
ideas & innovation, peak oil, tech, transport
This has caught my attention for several reasons, particularly if some of the organisations the students work with are focussing on sustainability, but also for my interest in how new technologies can be applied creatively.
The yMedia Challenge is connecting media students with not-for profit organisations. Over the weekend of 27-28 October 2007, students and organisations will come together to hear inspiring leaders, brainstorm possible digital solutions and share knowledge and ideas.
During the following week the students will produce an effective and intelligent digital media solution for those organisations selected. This could involve anything from making a website to filming a short promotional video.
Any not-for-profit organisation can register to participate up until 15 August 2007. Students are eligible for prizes for work completed judged by a panel of top industry professionals.
Read more about the yMedia Challenge.
creativity, ideas & innovation, tech
Interesting interview as always with Rod Oram on Sunday (18 min 68.6MB mp3) where he mentioned Wolfgang Sach’s idea that the world is now divided between those who believe accept there are ecological limits and those who don’t. Guess I think there is probably a three way split (at least).
- those who believe in limits and accept the need to make some changes
- those who believe in them but expect to go on with business as usual
- those who don’t believe in them.
greenbiz, ideas & innovation, politics
Always worth a read, Green Futures - the magazine for sustainable futures, produced by Forum for the Future in the UK, has some good quality articles about the reality, risks and rewards of greener business. The cover article this issue is on green entrepreneurs with plenty of examples, plus some staggering figures for Government grants available via the UK’s Carbon Trust.
Also interesting articles on micro-turbines - are they as good as the claims. After much enthuisiasm last year, things have cooled. Payback time of 29 years means people would be much better to invest in insulation - not as glamorous though.
And I must remember to show my permacultural partner the article on Designer Farming about a barge in New York that is
powered by solar, wind, and biofuels, irrigated by rainwater and purified riverwater – and packed with tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and cucumbers.
Jenny-Kaye has long had her eye on the large flat roof of the downtown New World as a a brilliant spot for a large greenhouse producing fresh vege for sale in the store below, and probably reducing their power bills in the process.
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greenbiz, ideas & innovation
As a family man who tries to get the family outdoors a fair bit our manual Nimbus is about the smallest car we can pack in to. We had a Chariot but our kids kept getting bigger. So I have long wanted the option of having a seriously small electric car that the five of us could just squeeze into for the short trips around Wellington.
I keep my eyes open for occasional stories about such electric cars, mostly out of curiosity rather than any sense of actually getting one over here. Recent coverage of the G-Wiz in London caught my eye. Made by Reva in India, this battery-powered car is based on a Californian design.
Now Reva has caught my eye before because of a story about the Australian importer having a battle with the Department of Transport and Regional Services over its roadworthiness and safety.
I wonder how we would get on trying to get this imported in to NZ.
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greenbiz, ideas & innovation, tech
One of the most interesting items on RadioNZ recently was the Nine-to-Noon interview with Dr Jim Watson, head of the BioJoule project. Their intention is to turn a particular type of coppicing willow, one of the varieties bred for basket making, into biofuel, plastics and sweeteners. The plastic is an expanded polyurethane foam has been produced from natural lignin. A major trial is being undertaken in the Taupo area.
The radio interview is here (19′14″). The project has been developed by a subsidiary of Genesis Research and Development Corporation Limited.
The opportunity to grow shrubby willow on low value land to produce ethanol as a transport fuel and other high value by-products such as lignin and xylose has the potential to solve a number of environmental and economic issues for New Zealand.
I have not ascertained if there is any genetrickery involved, but if not, it sounds like a project that has real potential. Wonder if it could even help deal with some of the nutrient overload that has become such a problem in Lake Taupo if, as I assume, it involves plantings in wetter areas, and thus may reduce the excess nutrients from the pastoral land use in the area.
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environment, greenbiz, ideas & innovation, tech
Good to see someone tried it before I got round to it. DomPost ran a story about an attempt to sell some carbon credits on TradeMe.
South Island forest industry executive Peter Weir listed a maximum sale of 2700 tonnes of carbon credits, with bids getting to $34 a tonne, before the auction was cancelled by Trade Me.
It is an idea I think will come to fruition. And by putting out via such an accessible mechanism has the potential for some interesting developments for kiwis to offset. Imagine you want to opt-in to offsetting some travel. A quick visit to TradeMe would enable one to pick and choose between purchasing for restoration projects, forest plantations or adoption of carbon-avoiding technologies. This could be a viable mechanism for kiwis to support developing countries by purchasing carbon credits from sources that will directly help either protect habitats that would otherwise ’suffer’ development, or adopt technologies that will help them off carbon-based fuels.
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greenbiz, ideas & innovation, sust dev
Good to see the DomPost creating more greenspace in its weekend edition. This week had a list of how to ‘insulate your windows’. One option was fitting better curtains. Fair enough, most of us could manage that. But the other four required significant architectural rearrangements or at least major renovations:
- if you have aluminium windows that aren’t ‘thermally separated’ then pull them out and put in timber or ‘thermally separated’ metal ones
- use double glazing
- turn your house around so that fewer windows don’t face the sun
- replace any windows that are shaded by the eaves.
Sorry, but I think that is just asking a bit much of most of us. Especially when it is cold right now! What I had hoped for was some hints on
- cheap but effective temporary DIY double-glazing
- making sure that poorly-fitting windows are sealed with some type of insulating tape or foam.
A quick scan doesn’t show many options in NZ for low-cost temporary double-glazing. My own idea has been to get some thin - say 2mm - perspex or PVC sheets. Glue some magnet strips to it, and to the windows that most need a second layer in our 1920s house. That way I should be able to easily click them in, with a very good seal, and pop them off when we need to give the room a real airing, or when its sunny and we want the heat to come through.
Will let you know how I get on with that idea or if I come up with something better.
environment, greenbiz, ideas & innovation