10
Apr
2010
UK emissions attributable to the built environment?
I’m trying to write about how much the built environment contributes to UK CO2 emissions, and i’m finding it to be very murky.
There is a figure of about 47 to 50%-ish but nobody references where they got this from, and nobody then subdivides it to show what that is made up of.
I’m on the bus at the moment, so i don’t really have access to the figures, but agriculture gets a big chunk, as does electricity generation, cement manufacturing gets a chunk, and transport gets a bit, and then the rest is left to ‘the built environment’.
As far as I can tell, if it has a roof, it is built environment. This means that that 50% that gets attributed to “something that architects really should be doing something about” includes everything from all the computers in offices around the country, to aluminium smelters (which consume so much electricity that they often have their own power station!).
What I’m after is the percentage of UK CO2 emissions that are attributable to buildings, broken down into useful chunks. How much power does the building consume? To run the lifts, the HVAC, the lights?
There are a lot of grey areas here, like how much architects should get involved with specifying the IT infrastructure, so that it produces less heat, and therefore allows a reduction in cooling loads, but for the moment I just want simple numbers.
Does anyone have anything they can push my way? There’s a pint/mars bar in it for you!!
6
Apr
2010
bpquiz just crept over one hundred
bpquiz, the data gathering website for my major study has just had its 100th response. There is another 3 weeks left of data gathering, so maybe the target of 200 isn’t so far off!
If you haven’t had a go:
3
Apr
2010
23
Mar
2010
14
Mar
2010
Carbon Buzz interview
On Monday I’m going to go and interview Judit Kimpian about her involvement in the Carbon Buzz project.
Carbon Buzz is a platform where people who design buildings can put their design stage building performance data from their simulations, and then compare it with real, in-use data. Check out the website, and there is the Carbon Buzz handbook too.
I’m interested in it for a number of reasons, mainly because it is one of the only chances in architecture where you get to see a comparison between design intent, and the delivered product. The apparent fact that the simulations are getting it so wildly wrong intrigues me too. If the designers of the simulations know that their calculations are so wrong, then why are they still used, hopefully Judit can shed some light on this!
Since the interview was organised the project has been funded for another three years by the Technology Strategy Board, so we’ll get to see a continuation of this work.
If you have any questions that you’d like me to ask Judit then put them into the comments on this post. I’ll publish the interview in a few days once it is edited.
