Sustainable building without the greenwash
Posted by
11 July 2012
From The Sustainability blog
So with my head already full at the end of two days, Wolfgang Feist arrived from the Passivhaus Institut to lead a joint AECB/Passivhaus Trust masterclass as the first leg of a UK tour stopping in Glasgow and Cardiff before returning to London for the first UK Passivhaus Awards.
The Passivhaus Trust was set up by the AECB and there is a lot of overlap in the membership of both organisations. I don’t think this is surprising given the similarities in approach with a commitment to openness and sharing for mutual benefit. That said, not all AECB members are advocates of Passivhaus as evidenced by Professor Sue Roaf’s presentation on adaptive thermal comfort at this year’s conference or Professor Brian Ford’s presentation on natural rather than mechanical ventilation at last year’s conference.
I know I alienate some readers by even mentioning Passivhaus and I will endeavour to write a Passivhaus free blog post soon. But for those I risk alienating, I would be delighted to hear about alternatives that offer such proven building energy performance. Your comments are welcome and we can all benefit from open debate.
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Readers' comments (1)
Great practice, which we also endorse and employ when possible, though it is a real challenge in China.
However, there's a new law of physics that will reinforce the imperatives for ESD, but only if we rapidly assimilate these optimising self-regulating principles into society through new, binding laws and regulations to further promote sustainable design and development.
New classical-scale theory of complexity, Asynsis principle-Constructal law: Law of Nature 2B Law of Man solution 4 Rio+20 SustDev goals
http://www.facebook.com/AsynsisSustopiaInitiative
http://www.facebook.com/ADbooks
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/02/29/theres-a-new-law-in-physics-and-it-changes-everything/
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/constructal-theory-sustainability.html
My own work in the field has now been peer-reviewed by Emeritus Professor Vera de Spinadel of Buenos Aries University and revised to make some original 1995 transcription amendments, plus extended to cover recent developments in science and architecture:
http://asynsis.wordpress.com
Nigel Reading RIBA
Design Director
ASYNSIS Architecture + Design