Perhaps it’s because I’ve just finished listening to McCloud’s (Sennett referencing) lecture on the importance of craftsmanship, or the exhaustively comprehensive work of Joseph Little I’ve just been reading on condensation in walls, or even just the day to day experience that gives one cause for concern over trade skills; but either way it’s hard not to find the AECB’s statement on carbon reduction attractive:
“So the AECB team looking at this is recommends that the carbon compliance level is set at 10-12 kgCO2/m2.a, for all dwelling types. The reasoning behind this is, that this level can be achieved with a highly efficient house heated with gas/lpg, without being forced to add in PVs, biomass or other bolt-ons.
The 10-12 kgCO2/m2.a level equates to an ’emissions reduction’ from 2006 building regulations of about 50%. It recognises that the additional reduction we need as a nation is much easier to afford with large-scale offsite renewable plant, than on-site. So the idea is that the remaining carbon reductions to achieve the “zero carbon” target will be via “allowable solutions”, allowing the developer to invest in nation-wide offsite renewable generation, giving us all the best value for the developer’s money.”
I’d better go and catch up with their closing their ‘Closing The Gap’ (PDF) paper.