How little we need to do.

I recently went to the Zero Carbon Hub presentation of their findings to the industry, where they implied we can achieve zero carbon building by 2016. with modest reductions in U values and a slight increase in air tightness, whilst keeping brick and block cavity walls.

It seems amazing how little we need to do in the UK compared to other European countries? Our construction industry seems to be the wrong group (with their own agendas & vested interests), to be advising our government, it should be the policy makers and practitioners of Germany, Belgium, Demark, Norway, Finland and Sweden to name but a few where much better performances are already required with their existing Building Regulations.

The use of monolithic walling systems and timber frame without brick and block cavity will also make achieving lower U values and better detailed buildings much easier. Quality control on UK construction sites is inherently poor but is always used as an excuse when any new changes are put forward to try and improve our buildings.

Well it’s the same the world over in New Zealand they only introduced double glazing into their Building Regulations two years ago and all the main construction companies. The media said that it would make detailing too difficult and make housing too expensive.

It’s easy to see how silly that is, so hopefully it’s just as easy to see how silly it is to think we cannot achieve better quality detailing and workmanship in the UK, but the only way to make it happen on a mass scale is to Legislate the change!

So in my mind the government policy makers should look to Europe for a better standard then impose it, which is if they really want to make an impact on carbon emissions and global warming.