While it is one of the most ecological building materials around, rammed earth - a mixture of earth, sand, gravel and clay - is usually associated with buildings with an earthy, less-than-modern aesthetic. A new house in Vorarlberg, Austria, could change that.
According to Building.co.uk, the three leading international tools for assessing the environmental impact of buildings will soon be combined to create a common international standard.
The best examples of sustainable planning and building in Northern Ireland were honoured in a joint awards ceremony held last month by the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The RTPI described the winning projects as follows:
Following the annoucement that the government is commiting 100 million euro this year to domestic energy refurb, the UK's climate change secretary Ed Miliband has announced that all British households will be retrofitted by 2030.
According to Treehugger, Professor Colin Humphries' team at Cambridge University has developed a new LED bulb that can last up to 60 years. Treehugger says:
Humphries claims within five years, the new bulbs will be available, cheap, mercury free, dimmable and
A small US company has developed a shipping container-sized device that turns waste into electricity and heat. Rather than burning it, IST Energy 's Green Energy Machine (GEM) gasifies waste products such as food, plastics and agricultural waste.
Kjellgren Kaminsky, an architecture firm based in Gothenburg, has published a fascinating mixed-use proposal for Heden, a greenfield site in the Swedish city. The development would feature parks, apartments, offices and sports facilities.
Clayton Homes, the US's largest producer of manufactured housing, has announced plans for a $100,000 green home. The i-House will be 992 square feet in size, and its roof is specifically designed for the rainwater harvesting system that's included with the house. The i-House can also support an optional $8,000 solar PV system, and will include bamboo flooring, recycled decking
A free plant “volume” that looks to the East, North and
The Irish Times reports energy minister Eamon Ryan saying that a carbon tax is likely to be introduced this year. During last October's carbon budget, environment minister John Gormley also hinted that such a tax was likely to be introduced in 2009. Ryan said a floor price on fossil fuels was an alternative possibility.
Whilst the recent falls in oil prices may appear to be a welcome relief in difficult economic times, they may ultimately prove to do more damage than good. As falling oil prices today cause oil companies to invest less in new production to meet future demand, prices will increase once more.
A plan to create more than 10,000 jobs in the UK construction industry by insulating homes in the private and public sectors will be announced by Alistair Darling in today's pre-budget report, The Guardian reports.
The UK government will apparently bring forward future capital spending
Over-priced oil could have negative impact on environment
The Guardian's environment editor, John Vidal, poses an interesting question: are rising oil costs really good for the environment?
Vidal's piece comes as some environmentalists have trumpeted the idea that