I’ll keep this short to ensure that it does get posted, but I suspect that I could rant on this till closing time on Friday night. For a recent renewable energy assessment for a client I finally took the time to review the potential for air source heat pumps to deliver carbon reductions and I don’t like what I found. (more…)
Archive for the ‘london’ Category
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
Posted in climate change, Code for Sustainable Homes, energy, house, london, renewable energy, sustainability, uncategorized on January 21, 2008| 2 Comments »
new coal? you’re joking
Posted in climate change, energy, engineering, london, renewable energy, sustainability, utilities, tagged clean coal, E.On UK, Kingsnorth, Medway Council on January 4, 2008| 2 Comments »
If the government backs up Medway Council’s inane decision to allow a new coal fired power station in Kent, I’m going to pack it in. The superfluous runway at Heathrow is bad enough, but new coal? The squabbling we all do over saving a tonne of CO2 here and a tonne of CO2 there – and Gordon Brown is going to give us the first new coal plant in 30 years?
Seriously, I’m going to put my feet up, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe, and join the national guard. Who knows, I might even become the next prime minister.
confused about policy changes? Phil’s crib sheet is the answer
Posted in architecture, biofuel, biomass, chp, climate change, Code for Sustainable Homes, energy, engineering, london, micro chp, other stuff, renewable energy, stamp duty exemption, sustainability on November 22, 2007| 2 Comments »
Phil Clark and Fulcrum have put together a fantastic list of upcoming proposed policy changes relevant to construction. Though I couldn’t find the attached doc he talks about: Fulcrum’s housing chart – where is it? Phil’s promised to keep the list updated as more information is released.
That’s just saved me a pile of research this morning, Phil. Thanks.
SAP and CHP – a dangerous muddle?
Posted in biomass, chp, climate change, Code for Sustainable Homes, energy, engineering, london, micro chp, renewable energy, sustainability, utilities, tagged BRE, Brian Anderson, Housing Corporation, SAP on November 19, 2007| 6 Comments »
[Update March 20 – while it’s true that SAP gives misleadingly high emissions savings for CHP, I got the methodology wrong. See an updated post here. Points 3 and 4 below are still valid.]
The SAP results for dwellings using CHP are badly skewed. This may cause large developers to formulate strategies for meeting the Code for Sustainable Homes which fall well short of the targets.
Doing some research this week, I read the Housing Corporation’s report on the estimated costs of meeting various levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes. It’s an interesting document, but at a certain point I was confused by their claim that you can meet the carbon reductions required by code level 4 (i.e. a 44% reduction in DER relative to TER) just by using gas CHP. In fact, when I looked closer I found that in some cases, they were claiming an emissions reduction of over 50% – an extremely high figure. Something closer to 10 and 15% is much more reasonable, unless you want to get Orchardesque.
The source of these wild claims is the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for dwellings – SAP 2005. As hinted at in the CHP debate running in the BSJ over the summer, SAP does some funny things when it comes to CHP. Have a closer look at the SAP worksheets and you find that SAP:
CHCP saves carbon? the question is moot.
Posted in chp, climate change, Code for Sustainable Homes, energy, engineering, london, micro chp, sustainability, utilities, tagged absorption chillers, cchp, chcp, community energy, district heating on October 30, 2007| 5 Comments »
Over the summer there was a debate between some big names in engineering over whether combined heat, cooling, and power (CHCP) using absorption chillers actually saves carbon. The theory goes that because engine size is usually dictated by the base summer heat load, the additional heat load from the chillers allows you to upsize your engine and generate more low-carbon electricity throughout the year.
However on a current project, we’re looking at the feasibility of installing a district heating and cooling network, including installation costs. And one thing is clear: regardless of whether CHCP saves carbon, the capital cost of cooling is unaffordable.
Stamp Duty Exemption scuppers zero carbon homes
Posted in architecture, biofuel, biomass, chp, climate change, Code for Sustainable Homes, energy, london, stamp duty exemption, sustainability on October 3, 2007| 4 Comments »
The Draft Statutory Instrument (DSI) for Stamp Duty Exemption for Zero Carbon Homes, announced at the last budget, will undermine the majority of attempts to deliver the greenest of housing. The DSI doesn’t appear to be available online, but the link is to a copy we acquired from the Treasury after badgering them.
The DSI is to be laid before Parliament at the end of next week for Committee approval by the end of the month. It is at best a misguided piece of well-meaning legislation that will do more harm than good, or at worst a genuine attempt by central Government to limit the loss of stamp duty receipts from too many zero carbon homes.
housebuilders, be careful what you wish for
Posted in climate change, energy, engineering, london, renewable energy, sustainability on September 29, 2007| Leave a Comment »
David Orr’s comments at the NHF annual conference last Friday have sparked off a row with the Homes Builders’ Federation. In response to Orr’s suggestion that developers won’t hit the governments target of all new homes being carbon neutral by 2016, head of the HBF Stewart Baseley said oh yes we will.
But given that it appears the Treasury is trying to make it much harder (and more expensive) to officially go carbon neutral, it’s likely that developers will have to pay up or change their tune before long. Maybe to one of the old protest songs – We shall overcome perhaps?
GLA says London schemes are exceeding 10% but that’s not entirely true
Posted in biofuel, biomass, chp, climate change, energy, engineering, london, micro chp, renewable energy, sustainability on September 27, 2007| Leave a Comment »
In Building yesterday, a study by London South Bank University says a quarter of schemes in London are exceeding the 10% target. The article states:
In total the study, undertaken by London South Bank University, looked at 113 detailed energy statements for schemes that had been given planning approval.
Erm, but none of those scheme has been built yet. And currently there’s no mechanism for enforcing adherence to the commitment by developers – unless it’s written into a Section 106. This enforcement mechanism is a tricky issue that hasn’t been resolved as far as I know. The study also finds that:
…the most effective technologies at cutting carbon are CHP and CCHP, particularly where biomass fuel is used.
Fantastic, and I’m looking forward to seeing more biomass in London. We’ve specced it on a number of jobs, the first of which is up and running. But I can say that using biomass heating (never mind biomass CCHP) brings its own logistical tangles. It’s one thing to tot it up on a spreadsheet and another entirely to bring to fruition.
Without succumbing to the pessimism that seems de rigeur when blogging about the government’s or the GLA’s green policies, I’d just like to add a note of caution. The schemes have been granted planning permission but are by no means home and dry. A follow up survey is needed to see what’s actually built.
existing buildings must be greened
Posted in architecture, climate change, energy, engineering, london, renewable energy, sustainability on September 8, 2007| 7 Comments »
(Spotted by Mel at Elemental) Cyril Sweett have published their research into the potential for improving energy performance of existing building stock. The importance of greening existing buildings is brought home by two facts:
- 44% of all CO2 emissions in the UK comes from energy use in buildings
- According to one of the report’s authors, in 2050 60% of Britain’s buildings will still pre-date the 2006 revisions to Part L
So we can look forward to the carbon reductions required by Part L being ratcheted up in future, but the overall effect will be modest, even in the long term. If we want to save carbon NOW then energy consumption in existing buildings is too important to ignore.
Predictably, the report’s top recommendation is for “brave decisions” by the government. But in a political climate where politicians would rather engage in creative accounting than be decisive on climate change, it’s hard to be hopeful.
anarchy roundup: CHP and grid emissions
Posted in chp, climate change, energy, engineering, london, micro chp, renewable energy, sustainability, utilities on September 4, 2007| 8 Comments »
What’s going on?
There’s been a fierce debate among energy bods this summer over the environmental effectiveness of combined heat and power (CHP) and CHP with cooling (CCHP) – a debate closely tied to assumptions about the carbon emissions associated with grid electricity in the UK.
What happened?
As noted in this blog in May, Arup associate director James Thonger opened up with a broadside aimed at the GLA policy of requiring CHP and CCHP on new developments. In particular he refuted LCCA claims that gas CHP saves 54% of carbon relative to grid electricity. The LCCA is headed up by Allan Jones, former green god of Woking and now darling of the London Mayor, who didn’t take the criticism lightly.
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