Three Planet Lifestyle Can't Continue
A three-planet lifestyle is damaging the UK's natural ecosystems, according to a report from WWF. The global environmental organisation says ecosystems are degrading at a rate unprecedented in human history and the planet's resources are being used faster than they can be replaced. Between 1970 and 2003, terrestrial species declined by 31 per cent, freshwater ... more
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A Step In The Right Direction...
Defra are encouraging small steps as Every Action Counts in the fight against climate change. Community groups will be the first to take advantage of new action packs and resources as part of a Defra-backed initiative to help people take action on the environment. Environment Secretary David Miliband and his brother, Minister for the Third Sector, Ed Miliband visited Doncaster to launch the new ... more
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Sustainable Communities Awards
The Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC) has launched the Government’s national awards for sustainable communities. ‘Creating the Future – the ASC Awards for Sustainable Communities’ is the premier national awards scheme for the sustainable communities sector. It succeeds the Deputy Prime Minister’s Award for Sustainable... more    back to top

DTI Tops Up The Renewables Funding
The renewables industry and their many customers can breathe again after recent scare stories that this years grant allocation had already been used up. Enquiries from The Green Building Press met with a simple 'funds for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme will be available for the 3 years the programme will run in reply. That's up to 2008... more

LEADER -

The natural choice for eco designers and builders now in third edition

The new, two volume, third edition of the Green Building Bible, has now been published and are already receiving great plaudits.

These completely revised, updated and greatly extended books (over 700 pages in all) offer comprehensive and up-to-date information on sustainable design and construction.

With these books the reader can delve into the very latest thinking on green building, read about examples of projects and explore the vast array of design possibilities that the concept of sustainable construction now offers. The publisher, Green Building Press, has brought together expert contributors from each branch of the industry to report on their specialist subject to offer guidance and case studies to help us deliver better buildings and social infrastructure.

All building professionals will benefit from the clearly presented information and guidance in Volume 1 covering: fundamentals; trends and direction; commercial property; housing, building systems and styles and the many material choices. Volume 2 concentrates on the technical aspects and more detailed design considerations that low energy buildings require.

Subjects covered in detail in the two volumes include:
• low energy design: site orientation, trends and direction, energy conservation, insulation, airtightness in buildings etc.
• contemporary green building: architectural trends, fundamental issues, eco-minimalism, healthy design strategies, building systems, land use, landscaping etc.
• regulation: politics, planning and building regulations, grants, taxation and a review of the main green building organisations etc.
• renewable energy: micro-generation and community power such as solar, wind, and ground source heat pumps, heating/cooling systems design and control, etc.
• materials: selection, management, insulation, windows doors and structures, waste management etc.

To order your copies now or read more info, go to: www.greenbuildingbible.co.uk

Click here for bulk order rates

Wates Construction Zero Waste Challenge
With the UK’s damaging landfill sites rapidly filling up, Wates Construction has committed to stop sending non-hazardous waste to landfill, promising to do so within five years. In a hard hitting report ‘Target: Zero’, Wates says that UK construction creates three times more waste than all UK households combined and challenges the industry to tackle the issue by viewing waste as an opportunity rather than a cost.

Showcasing individual projects that are successfully reducing waste and drawing on the experience of the waste management sector, the report concludes that the first step to driving real reductions in the UK’s landfilled waste is for large construction companies to commit to a meaningful target for the reduction of non-hazardous waste.

Of the 106 million tonnes of waste it creates every year, the construction industry sends 36 million tonnes to landfill. In standard skips laid end to end this would reach around the equator almost 1.5 times in a two metre high wall or fill the new Wembley Stadium 33 times. With growing awareness that landfill sites emit gases with 23 times the warming power of CO2, are the biggest polluter of UK groundwater and with forecast suggesting that existing sites will be full in as little as six years, the report calls for the industry to properly harness its knowledge and reduce its landfill contribution.
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'Green Building' is the monthly newsletter of the Green Building Press. In this monthly newsletter we bring you interim green building news, events and special offers on publications, forthcoming events and training opportunities.