Sustainable resources
12th February 2008, PAST EVENT, The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall
Read review of event
The North East has been for centuries at the forefront of energy production. Now that the world faces global warning and increasing pressure on resources, can the North East become a leader in this field once more? What local solutions can be found to use energy and other resources more efficiently? Which technologies are available to designers and what are the costs involved?
Review by Victoria Eynon, February 08.
Tonight we were treated to a veritable fountain, nay waterfall, of knowledge and charisma from our distinguished (and notably all male) panel.
Dr Graham Hillier, Director for New Energy & Fuel Cell Applications at the Centre for Process Innovation opened the evening’s presentations with a note of optimistic realism: "sustainable development isn’t about saving the planet – it’s about surviving into the future and economic opportunity." We’ve taken steps to do this he notes, with our energy policy. Now there’s just that small matter of implementing it.
The major contextual factors that brought about our steeply rising levels of CO2 emissions in the 1880’s where identified from when we a) started using fossil fuels and b) started to live longer. Perhaps a crude analysis but one which brings home the difficulties of our escalating problem as we demand more materialistic goods and are living ever longer.
Increasing efficiency and demand reduction are the order of the day, with microrenewables playing second fiddle. This is a sentiment that has been echoed throughout the series. The North East, Graham confidently states, can lead the way here, through closed loop distributed energy systems. Graham estimates that there are 500 companies in a 50 mile radius of Middlesbrough centre that could feasibly benefit from this; reducing their demand on the grid therefore saving money, increasing profits and reducing carbon emissions.
Hydrogen fuel cells were also noted as an area of regional strength. As a present day option however, they are deemed expensive to work on a large scale. They also require a certain amount of fossil fuels and are tricky to store. We turn to other ways of more efficiently using our assets.
This, we are told, is possible. It is not the preserve of mad scientists or unreachable ‘best practice’ models. With natural substances such as algae, we can reuse our waste and maximise our natural energy production. And the golden bullet to achieve this? "We just need to get our bits and pieces together in our development – think!" And think big. "Demonstration projects have had their day," asserts Graham. The North East should "take this on and sort it out," building on the expertise we already have. The knowledge is there; let’s show them what we can really do with it (and get some valuable profile and investment in the meantime).
David Francis, Sustainability Integrator for Riverside One, BioRegional Quintain Ltd, focused our attentions more on the fabric of developments. He confidently asserted that sustainable communities and economically viable developments are not mutually exclusive. However, don’t put all the responsibility at the door of the developer, we are told. Food miles, transport and many other factors contribute to the goal of One Planet Living. While we must give in to the temptation of passing the buck and pointing the finger, it is important everyone recognise their own fields of expertise and spheres of influence. We can then focus our attentions and subsequently seek out the other skills needed to achieve our goal.
The development in Middlehaven was presented as good practice. It seems to tick many of the boxes we have heard throughout the series: integrating sustainability from the outset (here, through a dedicated Sustainability Project Manager and Sustainability Integrator); use sound construction materials; think about waste; striking design; car club; cycle storage; sense of community through an extranet; woodchip boiler, to name but a few. Importantly, there will be a ‘green caretaker’ on site to help residents make the most of their facilities. This also ticks the all important ‘managing the site’ box – I feel it really has been well thought through. It is, of course, at a price. Residents will contribute a maintenance fee. All the housing will be sold on the open market. Social housing is not in the mix.
Mark Siddall, Architect and sustainability champion at dewjo’c architects expertly takes us from development to specific design. He outlined why reusing materials is good: 70 million tonnes of waste per annum originates in the construction sector, that’s 48% of total UK waste. Only 25% of suitable material is recycled or reused.
Mark presented us with a strikingly simple analysis of our situation: in the first industrial revolution, people were scarce and nature was abundant. We needed to increase labour productivity. We must make this our second revolution; people are abundant but resources are increasingly scarce. We need to increase resource productivity - people need to be smarter in the way they work with our limited natural resources.
Mark then picked up on a point which often gets me on my hobby horse. There is little or nothing in place in terms of monitoring for adherence to building regulations and feeding back data on successful and unsuccessful designs or systems. Little or no honest feedback leads to little or no improvement. Closer working between architect, developer and dare I say it, end user, would be helpful here.
All three speakers talked about the importance of training and skills. Graham talked of the importance of this to the regional economy. David gave a practical example of how he hopes to use the Middlehaven development to upskill workers. The financial viability of this is the main barrier. And Mark is an example himself of how investing in research can add value to a project and a business.
It is interesting to note that the gap between policy and delivery is often mentioned. We often talk of joined-up policy. This presentation also highlighted the need for joined-up workmanship. Good intentions and designs are in the hands of the workmen who implement them. A myriad of sub-contractors and different labourers can lead to a lack of pride in the work and lack of accountability. ‘Compact service units’ can help this – one manufacturer, one contractor, one point of responsibility.
The concept of biomimicry was another striking introduction in this presentation. Let’s look to nature to help us. Thinking about the strength of spiders webs and the resilience of a chick’s egg shell, nature can teach us about design and the necessary shelf life of materials. We should be thinking of ‘cradle to cradle’ journeys rather than ‘cradle to grave.’ We need long-term thinking; there may be a limited marginal cost in implementing these ideas, but the astute interpretation is of a negative whole life cost.
A closing remark from Mark restated what many have said throughout this series; ‘the North East can, and should be, a leader in energy reduction and innovation.’
The discussion included the following points:
• There seems to be ‘depressing conservatism’ in the building industry, which may be due to regional disparities in house prices in the North East.
• In considering the ‘value’ of a house, we are challenged to take into account the value of it throughout its life, rather than just its financial value at point of sale.
• The value of carbon off-setting was likened to ‘going on a diet for someone else.’ It is no long-term solution but can address some short-term difficulties. Of more use would be to do a thorough refurbishment of a building.
• Sustainable construction is more expensive, by 1%-3% according to David Francis. As has been mentioned however, running these homes is cheaper and the material and construction costs should decrease as they become more common.
• Running cheaper homes is not only an attractive proposition to most people, but a necessity for some. Over 4 million people in the UK live in fuel poverty, spending more than 10% of their income on trying to heat often sub-standard homes. Insulation and energy efficiency is the key to eradicating this blight on our ‘developed society’ and meeting Government fuel poverty targets.
• Some practical things are holding us back. For example, knowledge of district heating schemes has shown to be lacking, and standard contracts for Energy Saving Companies (ESCO’s), which would greatly facilitate decentralised generation, are not available.
• We neither educate nor sufficiently value our planners. They should be regarded as custodians of the public good!
• European countries seem to value these cradle-to-cradle impacts more. They manufacture many of the renewables systems we install, have more design-focused housing, generate and use more renewable energy. ‘Why are they so much more successful than we are?’ asked a member of the audience. A combination of factors was offered; Government priorities, a more progressive construction industry, social pressure. But we do not work in isolation.
There was an obvious optimism in the air at this event, with practical solutions, aspirations and enthusiasm all present. In addition, to make sure we keep on our toes and the faithful who turned out tonight do not get too complacent, we are reminded of a waste many of us are guilty of – bottled water at events. Take heed!
After gaining an MSc in sustainable regeneration, Victoria Eynon worked delivering environmentally sound housing led regeneration and in regional economic development policy. She currently works for National Energy Action, the leading fuel poverty charity campaigning for warm homes. Underlying her work and play is a desire for us to live in the functional, equitable and inspirational world we deserve and can achieve. She is collaborating with Northern Architecture on this project in a personal capacity.
Details of the Chair and panellists:
Chair: Les Southerton, Board member, Northern Architecture and Director, Stockton Middlesbrough Initiative
Les is an Economist and Chartered Town Planner and has worked on Teesside since 1970. He was Chief Executive of a City Challenge Partnership between 1992 and 1996, a Director in the local authority between 1996 and 2000 when he became the first Chief Executive of Middlesbrough Town Centre Company. In June 2007 he retired from this role, but immediately took up the position of a part-time role as Director of the Stockton Middlesbrough Initiative. Les has also been a Board member for Northern Architecture since 2004.
Panel members:
Dr Graham Hillier, Director New Energy & Fuel Cell Applications, Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)
As New Energy Director at CPI, Graham works to get fuel cells and bioenergy systems applied to everyday applications. He has a Degree in Metallurgy, PhD from the University of Cambridge and an MBA. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. He is also a visiting Professor in the Department of the Built Environment at the University of Salford.
Graham has a wide-ranging business background including recycling operations, new product development, business development and strategic planning and forecasting. Prior to joining CPI he was Director of Strategy and Planning for ICI’s Petrochemicals, Plastics and Fertilizers Business before working for Corus where he was Construction Director. He was responsible for a global programme in sustainable urban design and construction.
David Francis, Sustainability Integrator for Riverside One, BioRegional Quintain Ltd
David Francis trained as an Environmental Health Officer and worked for some years in South London. After a spell in the West Indies he returned to London, amongst other things playing a part in the assessment of planning issues and controls associated with London City Airport.
He then moved to the North East where he subsequently became the Director of a local authority’s environmental services department. Since leaving the public sector he has worked as a consultant, been the director of an environmental charity and worked for a registered social landlord. He currently works for BioRegional Quintain Ltd. as the Sustainability Integrator for RiversideOne. He has an MSc in Environmental Science and a MBA.
Mark Siddall, Architect, dewjo'c ARCHITECTS Ltd
As sustainability champion at dewjo'c, Mark has a keen interest in sustainable design and has worked on a number of environmentally aware projects. A number of these projects have been assessed using BREEAM. He has worked on a range of architectural typologies including office buildings, hotels, leisure facilities, retail centres, hospitals, residential units and the refurbishment of historic buildings.
Over the past two years, this has included the development of the latest version of the practice's Environmental Management System (EMS). In order to facilitate his work on the EMS, Mark has conducted detailed research into low and net-zero carbon technologies. He has also developed an integrated design management system that reflects best practice and seeks to ensure that design and technological solutions are considered and incorporated using a least cost methodology. More recently Mark has been engaged as a sustainability champion on the Middlehaven Zero Carbon development in Middlesbrough for BioRegional Quintain.
In his spare time Mark tutors in architecture at Newcastle University, placing a strong emphasis upon integrated sustainable development.
