GBE CPD GDL Eco-friendly House A04 BRM 120523 PNG

EcoHomes What does the future look like Brain Dump

GBE > Encyclopaedia > Code > Brain Dump G#40732

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Grand Designs Live 2023 Exhibition

Grand Theatre Discussions

Facilitated by HiiGuru’s Dara Chen

NB See Doc file for text colour coding (Green or Violet)

The following is my brain dump before the discussion as a refresher for the discussion

ECO DESIGNERS

Business as Usual +Greenwash v BAU > Eco v Eco
Don’t expect a regular Architect to know: find TGR, AECB & SEDA, SPAB, STBA member and/or trained Architects
College Knowledge; is 10, 20, 30, 40 years old
Learning Curve and Forgetting curve
CPD is Theory and Product specific, not eco enough
Joined up thinking is more challenging but essential

HERACEY™

HEALTHY

Healthy material choices
For everybody involved
Extractors, Manufacturers, Suppliers, Installers, maintainers, de-constructors, resellers, reassemblers
Low Pollution
No more burning of fossil fuels, generating particulates in atmosphere
No more inefficient burning of timber, pellets, waste
No more energy from waste adding to pollutants
No more burning plastics (PVC adding dioxins to atmosphere
No more fireworks adding dioxins to atmosphere
Low chemistry
No resin floor finishes
Avoiding preservative treatment
Modified timber added durability by nutrient or food source removal
Heat-treated timber (Subject to EPD)
‘Vinegar’ treated (Subject to EPD)
No oil paints or synthetic paints or 2 pack paints
Plant based oil paints
Mineral based paints and mineral based dies
Lime based paints (high energy and medium carbon)
Clay based finishes
Low chemical reaction materials
2 part paints, 2 part adhesives, 2 Part resins, 2 part anything
Blowing agents in foamed plastics
Low cement, Low Lime
Low offgassing of VOC, Formaldehyde, synthetics, oils, (plant based solvents too)
No VOC Paints, Glues, Resins,
Low Allergy
Sheep’s Wool problematic for some
Glass and rock wool irritating for most
No-itch plastic fibre wool (hydrophobic not compatible with timber)
Low Plastics: Potential off gassing, avoiding polymer migration, toxic in fire
Low Electro magnetic radiation
No radioactive stone: Granites and no radon gasses
Faraday cage, metal fibres in fabrics, meshes, metal flake paints
Electrical circuits: Radial, not ring main
Switched sockets, turned off if inactive, centralised switching, no red warning lights
Natural materials
Plant based materials
Timber based materials
Natural limestone, sand stone, igneous rock, minimised joint thickness (selective granite non-radioactive)
Not at the expense of environmental or social impact making it
No Titanium Oxide white in paints
No Carbon Black in rubber
No Animal ingredients
Mineral based pigments in paints
Vegetable dyes
Lime based paints
Clay based paints
Non-Hazardous in production, as materials or as waste
No Liquids, Flows, Gluey, Sticky substances
No active materials
No stable non-reactive hazardous waste:
No Gypsum: plaster or board or screed
No Asbestos:
Clayboard
No more sealants, adhesives, resins, lime powder, cement powder, Asbestos, ceramic fibres
No more PVC, hazardous chemistry, hazardous liquid waste, combustion leads to dioxins (extremely hazardous)
Avoid all plastics
Avoid PVC and ABS
Sparingly Polyolephene, Polyethylene, Intelligent membranes
No more vapour barriers, vapour control layers, incompatible with vapour open construction
Renewable materials
Tree based, softwood, hardwood
Timber panel products (subject to health check and LCA EPD
No more preservatives (Avoidance by design or species choice)
Modified wood (Subject to LCA EPD)
Rapidly renewable (season)
Plant based
Cork
Sheep’s Wool
Hemp
Bamboo
Regenerative materials
Hemp heals the soil it is grown in
Atmospheric pollution cleaning materials or landscape plants and trees
Not Titanium oxide in paints
No more asbestos exposure

ENVIRONMENTAL

Meeting or exceeding Global Legal Carbon Targets
Zero carbon by 2050
Net Zero is Greenwash, Business as usual and somebody else has to be negative
Plantations will burn down in near future
Everybody must join in, nobody is immune to climate change
No more energy and carbon intensive manufacturing processes
No more coal, oil and gas heating or power (High Carbon dioxide)
No more PFA Pulverised Fuel Ash (Coal burning) as a cement or aggregate replacement
Therefore no more oil derived plastics, (High chemistry High fossil carbon dioxide
Therefore no more plastic insulation: High energy and high carbon
Therefore no more thin wall construction (Developer territory)
Renewable energy heating or power
High coefficient of power heat pumps fed with renewable energy
Highly insulated buildings essential
No more cement: 9% of man made carbon dioxide: No more Concrete, Screeds, Render, Mortar
No more PFA from coal burning
No more GGBS from Steel production
Different foundation methods:
Consolidated Aggregates, demolition rubble, no cement
Different ground floors,
Soil stabilisation (no more cement and/or lime)
No More Permanent formwork Polystyrene profiles concrete raft foundations
Aerated concrete floor slab
Consolidated hardcore
Dynamic consolidation of subsoil
Insulating hardcore, cellular glass, LECA, LESA
Earth floors, clay sub soil
Suspended timber
CLT Floors and walls
Different suspended floors
No more insitu concrete floors
No more steel permanent formwork
No more plastic permanent formwork
No more plastic temporary formwork
Temporary Timber Formwork possible but avoidable
Permanent timber formwork possible but avoidable
Timber floors
Compound timber sections
Plywood Coffered deck (fire treatment)
CLT
ISPS
SIPS, (Fossil plastics)
Therefore no more: Brickwork & Blockwork, (Energy intensive, cement or lime mortar)
No more steel: 7% of man made carbon dioxide:
Therefore no more:
GGBS Ground Granulated Blast Furnace cement (OPC replacement in concrete)
Heavy Steel Framed buildings, Light Steel framed buildings, (MMC)
Light Timber frame
Heavy Timber frame
Glulam columns and beams
CLT columns and beams
No more virgin or recycled aluminium:
Historic hydro electric power, now China Coal or Gulf fuel Oil production
Therefore no more aluminium curtain walling/glazing, cladding framing
High Performance Timber windows
High performance Timber curtain walling
No more lime: half the energy and fuel carbon of cement:
No more plaster, render, mortar, brickwork & blockwork
Thin joint masonry
Clay joint masonry
Earth Joint masonry:
Turf joint masonry: Bounder and turf hedge bank walling (Landscape and outerleaf)
Air joint walling: Dry stone walling
No more energy intensive manufacture:
No more stone wool or glass wool insulation, cellular glass, plastics,
No more oil based solvent synthetic paints (Hazardous waste)
More timber: Materials, construction, use of plantation thinnings,
CLT, Glulam, LVL
More support for nature
Biodiversity Net Gain

RESOURCEFUL

More circular economy
Less demolition more reuse
Less demolition more deconstruction, reclaim and reuse
Less materials (>400m tonnes/annum UK)
Less virgin materials
Less waste (>120m tonners/annum UK)
Better Procurement: (>£150m/annum over ordered never needed)
Less large size components, less off cut waste, more mosaic
Less sacrificial temporary formwork and hoardings (timber and plywood especially)
Coordinated design, modular approach WSSBT WS Method WS Approach
Less skips (average £1600 of materials in skips last time I asked)
More from circular economy
Reclaimed Materials
Excess to requirements
Low embodied water (polluted or removed from source)
Less fabrics
Low embodied energy to make and transport
Less fired clay brick
More extruded fired clay blocks, less energy to make and less energy passes through long pathways
Low embodied carbon
Not foamed plastic insulation filled ISPS cassette or SIPS panels
Strawbale construction
Thatch roofing
Plant based thermal insulation in timber cassette panels
Hemp, cork, flax, straw, grass, dense wood fibre,
More sequestered carbon
Timber and plant based materials
More Site sourced materials
Unfired clay subsoil
Sun dried Bricks or Blocks
Puddled clay damp proofing and tanking
Rammed earth walling (Clay or Chalk)
Cob > CobBauge (21^st century cob)
Structural cob: clay and plant fibre
Insulating cob: plant fibre and clay slip

APPROPRIATE

Local Appropriate
UK made (post Brexit you cannot get the parts or the spare parts from EU. Red tape and supply chains)
Support local economy
Minimal transport emissions and congestion
X miles maximum supply distance
Seasonally appropriate
Permafrost-free stone
Sap-free hardwood trees in winter for heavy timber post and beam construction
Autumn crops for plant based insulation
Climate appropriate
No more buildings that need heating, cooling and cost money to heat or cool
Well insulated buildings (Not Building regulations legal minimum)
Passivhaus, Energie, Carbon lite,
EnerPHit, Carbon Lite Retrofit, PAS 2030, PAS 2035
Heat from sun, people, cooking, activity, bathing, animals, adding to heating
Excessive sized houses losses out on this
High occupancy houses gain on this
No more overheating:
No Lightweight conductivity thermal insulation
Therefore no Stone or Glass wool no plastic insulation in lightweight construction
High specific heat capacity, dense, low conductivity thermal insulation
Orientation & solar shading
Maximise solar gain in winter and exclude solar gains in summer
Control solar gains from east and west
Roof orientations to optimise PV and match demands without maximising batteries
Microclimate appropriate
Avoid risk of excess moisture in micro-climate pockets
Weather capturing and rainwater buffering
Green, Brown and/or Blue roofs
Green Brown and/or Blue Hard Soft and Wet landscape
Sustainable Urban Drainage System
Rain Gardens
Permeable pavement
Swales
Settlement ponds
Weather sheading dripping profiles
Not Flush Detailing
No ‘Radical’ anything, try learning competent instead
Manufacturers can prototype
Don’t prototype on your clients
Moisture permeable, allows solar and wind drying
Vapour open construction
Not Vapour closed
Enhanced vapour transfer
Intelligent moisture permeable membranes
Seasonal variations Seasonal performance
No membranes at all in walls
Flood risk prone sites appropriate
No more EA recommended Sacrificial Materials Finishes Construction
Watertight, waterproof, pollution tolerant, vapour tight, hose-able, washable
Membranes enabling adjacent or encapsulated thermal insulation to perform well
Moisture Mass: Moisture management, moisture buffering
Thermal Mass: Excess heat absorption, storage and release enabling purging of heat
Specific Heat Capacity: Thermal lag avoiding summer overheating
Acoustic mass
Passive ventilation
Ventilation with heat recovery

COMPETENT:

Not just cheap business as usual
Don’t forget it is an investment for the client
Don’t be fooled by violet cost planning
Post-Grenfell ‘Golden thread’ of competence
Not Just Fire or Carbon but all performance requirements
Value engineering not cost cutting not scraping the barrel
Anti-greenwash campaign
No more marketing lies
Code Of Construction Product Information (CCPi) signatories
Competency through whole company hierarchy
Higher moral standard
Renewed product competency certification
Or equivalent not similar
Not just CE or UKCA Marked (legal minimum for EU, not necessarily fit for purpose)
BSI Kitemarked
British Board of Agrément Certified
Euro Agrément Certified (Assuming the new Regulation landscape will permit)
European Technical Approval/Assessment
Insurable life
Component Life manuals
Insurable life
BSI Kitemarked, BBA certified, made to standard, not made to standard, CE or UKCA marked
Maintainable
UK made (post Brexit you cannot get the part or the spare parts from EU. Red tape and supply chains)
Retrofit: PAS 2030 & 2035
Risk assessment: Historic fabric, Insulation & Ventilation, Moisture, Design Skills & Artisan Skills
Performance:
Water Technology List (WTL)
Energy Technology List (ETL)
Energy Saving Trust Listed (EST)
Micro-Generation Certification Scheme (MCS) Renewable Energy Tech (Administered by BRE)
Performance labels
NHBC
LABC
BBA
BSI Kitemark
Green Labels:
Single or multiple issue screening
Natureplus (Healthy+Competency+Environmental)
Life Cycle Assessments LCA & Environmental Product Declaration EPD (Impacts and Carbon Data sets)

EFFECTIVE

Not just efficient but effective
Step changes
Not more of the same but less of something better
Multifunctional materials
Less trades, less travel, less labour, less costs
Multi-performance assemblies
Summer and Winter performance
Night and day performance
Heat driven passive ventilation, purging heat with cross ventilation
One or more components enabling another to be effective
Membranes enable thermal insulation
Controls to switch electrical stuff off if not needed on

ETHICAL

Fair Share for all (Ukraine v Putler (Putin/Hitler))
One planet life style (EU average citizen lives a 3 planet life style)
One planet life style was 1976 (Heat wave, Tubular bells)
For every planet over one, you live, somebody has to live a zero planet life style
No More Lies
Healthy for everybody involved:
Extractors, Manufacturers, Suppliers, Installers, maintainers, de-constructors

YARDSTICK