information for week commencing 14th March, Wk6

Last week saw a a conderable Absence Rate and students must text me if they are unable to attend class.

I have to say that I am finding it hard to keep momentum going under the circumstances. These resource, however, enable a blended learning approach where I can use class time as a resource for students to use me, either in person or remotely.

I will discuss the issues this week.

The BSc Hons Group will not be in class but resources are available relating to the Unban Regeneration Class which would have been on friday

Research this week

ST25062 Social and Economic Sustainability ~ Revisit last weeks question ~ Evaluate the impact the transition movement hopes to have on society’s symptoms and resource constraints. Does this integrate into the concept of sustainable communities.

Last week’s research ~ present the Government’s position in 2005 with respect to ‘Securing the Future’

• Chapter 6, Local to Global, Creating Sustainable Communities
• Chapter 7, Making it Happen

This week’s research “investigate the social issues that that the Transition Town Movement is attempting to address as they move to a more local economy?”

 _____________________________

ST25024 Environmental Design and performance ~

Last week’s Research  ~ Revist ~  “The Energy Performance of a building is vital to to reducing the Carbon Intensity of the built environment ~ present the issues this raises in the context of Passiv Haus standards  PLUS ~ download and install iSBEM, discuss the reasoning behind the provision and use of the Simplified Building Energy Model.

This week’s research “What are the issues with regard to the energy design of buildings in respect of Ventilation, Daylighting, Lighting and Air Conditioning?”

_____________________________

ST25032 Anvanced Technology and Sustainability

Research for last week ~ Present the issues around the design and realisation of stadia for sports and entertainment in respect of sustainabilty and resilience using examples.

This week’s research “Evalute the issues around structural integrity and Fire Safely in tall structures and illustrate with examples”

_____________________________

ST30023 Urban Regeneration

Research for last week ~ Present an analysis of the issues around the preservation and maintenance of the Heritage Built Environment and its planning, listing and control. Illustrate with examples. This was not completed

This week’s research “Investigate the systems integration of the Built Environment with respect to transportation and carbon intensity”

 

information for week commencing 7th March

Last Week threw up the exam law exam and time was spent on the Wednesday so the Social and Economic sustainability and Environmental performance questions were not dealt with in class. Research for consolidation this Wednesday.

Advanced Technology was down on attandance and I was unexpectedly required to leave the class to attend a meeting and had to abandon the presentation. the presention is below.

Urban Regeneration went well and sucessful presentation was made, attached below

Research this week

ST25062 Social and Economic Sustainability ~ Revisit last weeks question ~ Evaluate the impact the transition movement hopes to have on society’s symptoms and resource constraints. Does this integrate into the concept of sustainable communities.

This week’s question ~ present the Government’s position in 2005 with respect to ‘Securing the Future’

• Chapter 6, Local to Global, Creating Sustainable Communities
• Chapter 7, Making it Happen

ST25024 Environmental Design and performance ~  Revisit last weeks question “The Energy Performance of a building is vital to to reducing the Carbon Intensity of the built environment ~ present the issues this raises in the context of Passiv Haus standards”

This week’s task, download and install iSBEM, discuss the reasoning behind the provision and use of the Simplified Building Energy Model.

ST25032 Anvanced Technology and Sustainability ~”Susbstantiate or otherwise the following statement, Buildability and modern construction methods are key to delivering more environmentally and energy effective buildings and built environment.”

Last week’s presentation Presentation2 eco home derek

Research for the 10th ~ Present the issues around the design and realisation of stadia for sports and entertainment in respect of sustainabilty and resilience using examples

ST30023 Urban Regeneration ~ “Explain the Seven Principles of good Urban Design and illustrate with examples”

Last weeks Presentation Urban Regeneration (2)

Research for the 11th ~ Present an analysis of the issues around the preservation and maintenance of the Heritage Built Environment and its planning, listing and control. Illustrate with examples

 

information for week commencing 28th February

As discussed before half term it is proposed to adopt a new approach to learning that will enable us all to maximise the learning opportunities made possible using the electronic resources I have created and will develop using the feedback from you over the rest of the semester.

Rationale

The premise on which this change in delivery is based is

1. That in his experiments in self-teaching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk60sYrU2RU Professor Mitra has posulated that learning is the outcome resulting from small groups of students working together on a task that interests them as a group.
2. That learning will also be an emergent property where the task is important to professional development.
3. That mature students have numerous calls on their time and will benefit from a more flexible approach to learning.
4. That presenting the results of a task on a regular basis will built teamworking abilities and reinforce learning
5. That in the rapidly developing field such as construction sustainability research abilities are more important than retaining knowledge that is transitory.
6. That all professionals in future must have mastery of social media and be able to use it to their professional advantage.

Procedure

Initially it is proposed to use the following procedure

1. Decide groups the week before the task.
2. Make the task available here on the Monday of the week commencing, for students to do prior research either individually or as group using social media.
3. Hold a opening session to determine understanding of the task.
4. Break into groups to reseach the task.
5. reconvene 45 minutes before the end of the session to make presentaions.
6. Finish with a plenary session to draw out and record conclusions.

Research this week

ST25032 Social and Economic Sustainability ~ Evaluate the impact the transition movement hopes to have on society’s symptoms and resource constraints. Does this integrate into the concept of sustainable communities.

ST25024 Environmental Design and performance ~ “The Energy Performance of a building is vital to to reducing the Carbon Intensity of the built environment ~ present the issues this raises in the context of Passiv Haus standards”

ST25032 Anvanced Technology and Sustainability ~”Susbstantiate or otherwise the following statement, Buildability and modern construction methods are key to delivering more environmentally and energy effective buildings and built environment.”

ST30023 Urban Regeneration ~ “Explain the Seven Principles of good Urban Design and illustrate with examples”

 

Air Tightness 2010

Air Tight Regulations

posted 6 Sep 2010 15:12 by Sap Service UK

Yianni Spanos on what the recent revision to Part F of the Building Regulations will mean for the construction industry… 

One of the challenges for achieving low energy buildings is to significantly improve their air tightness. Ventilation provisions within the new Building Regulations Part F have been increased for commercial buildings and dwellings with a recommended design air permeability tighter or equal to 5 m3/(h.m2) @50Pa.

Focusing on construction, achieving an air tightness target of 5 m3/(h.m2) is not a difficult task. For many years specifiers have demanded significantly better standards of air tightness in quality buildings to ensure that the occupants enjoy a satisfactory state of comfort and well-being. For air-conditioned buildings, and buildings which aim to be low energy, a maximum air permeability standard of 3 m3/(h.m2) has been set by many building owners and operators.

Full article at http://sites.google.com/site/thegreenplatform/Media-Centre/airtightness/airtightness-news/airtightregulations

 

Facebook to build another massive new data center

Facebook to Build Yet Another Massive New Data Center

By Matthew Wheeland Published November 12, 2010

It’s been a busy year for Facebook’s expansion into the data center world. First was the January announcement that it was opening a green data center in Prineville, Ore. Then came the news in August that it was already planning to double the size of that facility. And now comes the news that the company is investing nearly half a billion dollars in another new data center in North Carolina.

The company’s Rutherford County data center will cost $450 million to build over the next 18 months, and will boast plenty of the green technologies that Facebook has been touting of late.

Details about the data center are scarce to nonexistent, except for the cost, and a handful of pictures posted to the data center’s Facebook page. But, based on the location, it’s possible to infer two things:

1) Outside-air cooling will not be quite as easy as in Oregon, and 
2) The power mix for North Carolina makes it likely that it will draw electricity from coal-fired plants.The seasonal weather averages for Forest City, N.C., and Prineville, Ore., at right (click image for full-sized), show warmer low temperatures and a slightly longer hot-weather curve in the summer. Although the winters in North Carolina are plenty cool, summers are much hotter than in Oregon — “brutal,” according to Cade Metz in The Register.

As to point number two: You may recall a little ongoing dustup between Facebook and Greenpeace over Facebook’s use of coal-fired power to run its Prineville data center. Well, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, where Oregon is dominated by hydroelectric power and coal-fired electricity is largely imported, North Carolina is coal country, with about 60 percent of its energy coming from coal, about 30 percent coming from nuclear power.

Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/11/12/facebook-build-yet-another-massive-new-data-center?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greenbiz%2Fenergy-climate+%28Energy+%26+Climate+%7C++Greenbiz.com%29&utm_content=Google+UK#ixzz1580viR7x

 

Can Green Flats Build Sustainable Communities?

November 10, 2010 by The Dirt ASLA

In a talk at the TED Mid Atlantic conference, architect Tim McDonald, co-owner of Onion Flats in Philadelphia, explained how he is a green building developer, architect, and builder rolled into one. Beginning in the 1990′s, McDonald took decrepit, vacant brownstones in downtown Philadelphia and turned them into LEED Platinum duplexes that he argues build sustainable communities……………..

full article at http://is.gd/gZcbq

 

Accrington’s Ecostation

Accrington’s ecostation construction

Lancashire County Council has announced that a funding package amounting to £1.2m has been secured, with £500k coming from the European Interreg IVb programme, to build a new station at Accrington. The key objectives of the Accrington Eco Station project are to promote innovative use of existing and emerging knowledge, products and services in the design and operation of the new station building and car park that are sustainable and reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

The new station is the second phase of a £1.8m programme of works that has already commenced. The second phase will commence in November 2009 with completion in Spring 2010.

The new Eco Station will have a booking and information office and will be constructed using, where possible, locally sourced materials including recycled stone and materials that can be recycled if the building is dismantled in the future (cradle to cradle). The project will look at ways to generate up to 50% of the power requirements on site (solar & wind energy) and use a green energy supplier for the shortfall. The project managers will also look at the effect of climate change and hopefully future proof the building against weather extremes.

The project will also look at ways of working with the local community to see if there is potential for shared use of the new station building. Consideration will also be given to how the building can link with other transport networks.

for more details see http://www.northernrail.org/page/4/51920

 

First wave of local enterprise partnerships as Government green lights local growth

Published	28 October 2010

Local councils and local business will take charge of the local economy as the first 24 local enterprise partnerships have been given the go-ahead, by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles and Business Secretary Vince Cable, to drive growth and create jobs.

In a landmark move the first successful partnerships will see business and councils deliver a new local dynamism that will encourage economic growth and protect business (see link to map, top right).

The Government is determined to rebalance the economy and promote sustainable economic growth fairly across the country, and away from the arbitrary regional boundaries that were used previously. Local Enterprise Partnerships will mean that the people who know their area best will be calling the shots.

New proposals were also unveiled for councils to keep the business rates they collect locally, giving councils a renewed incentive to grow their economy and attract business to the area……………

full story http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1753564

 

Pen State University Lean & Green Initiative

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY is taking the U.S. building industry by storm. And for good reason. It is generating better buildings. Sustainable—or green—buildings use less energy, require fewer resources, generate less waste, and provide better, more productive environments than regular buildings. These HIGH PERFORMANCE BUILDINGS emphasize the long term performance of the facility.

The trouble is these buildings are challenging to design and construct using conventional project delivery. Systems are more complex, and need to be integrated with other building elements. Construction is done with sometimes unusual materials, and to different standards. Despite this, many projects are completed in much the approach as regular buildings. There have been very few changes or innovations in the PROJECT PROCESSES used to deliver these facilities. This often results in extra project cost. It also squanders many opportunities for better levels of sustainability.

LEAN AND GREEN weaves the waste eliminating principles of lean production into the project processes of green
projects to create HIGH PERFORMANCE PROCESSES. With this new innovation, green projects can be designed
and constructed with greater efficiency and performance. When teams get the delivery process right, process efficiency is enhanced and levels of sustainability increase………………….

details and case studies at http://www.engr.psu.edu/leanandgreen/publications/publications.aspx?p=4

 

Lighthouse Stadium is a glowing green-roofed beacon

 

by Andrew Michler, 10/22/10

 

In the city of Belfort, France a new green-roofed stadium has arisen on top of the centuries-old fortification of a defensive wall. The glass-shrouded green-roofed sports complex stands in smart contrast with the neighboring 17th century stone walls, and at night it gives off a gentle glow signaling “game on”. Archi5 Architecture is getting quite the reputation for developing undulating green-roofed buildings, and their Lighthouse Stadium cements the viability of green roofs in public architecture.

Read more: Lighthouse Stadium is a Glowing Green-Roofed Beacon | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World