NEWS Gaia architect Howard Liddell dies


l Award-winning architect remembered


Architect Howard Liddell, principal of Gaia Architects Scotland and a passionate advocate of building on passive principles, has died aged 67. Bill Bordass, of the Usable Buildings Trust, described Liddell as a polymath and a hands-on pioneer of green building who was always way ahead of the curve. ‘When I first met him, he was deep into healthy, low-impact buildings and maximising the use of renewable non-toxic materials,’ said Bordass. ‘His particular interests included measures based on building physics – not just natural light, ventilation and solar, but dynamic insulation and vapour-permeable humidity stabilising structures. ‘Where possible, he endeavoured


to design out not just the building services but the building services engineer – seeking to make even large non-domestic buildings as domestic as possible.’


Bordass recounted how Liddell, working with his wife Sandy Halliday and colleagues in an old monastery in Edinburgh, made major contributions to the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA), which Liddell co-founded in 1991.


Liddell’s OBE, awarded in January and presented at his funeral, cited SEDA and his other charitable work – including the 1992 Children’s Eco-city project Two recently completed, award- winning Gaia projects in the Tweed Valley included Plummerswood, a house with Passivhaus certification, and the Forestry Commission Scotland’s Glentress Peel visitor centre. Both got top awards in 2012: Plummerswood for architectural excellence and Glentress for green tourism.


In his book Eco-minimalism: the


antidote to ecobling Liddell wrote: ‘… the scattergun, “Christmas tree” approach should be ditched in favour of holistic, considered and appropriate deployment of building science in support of truly ecological, affordable sustainable architecture for everyone.’


80% carbon target ‘technically possible’


It is possible for the construction industry to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, but it will be ‘very challenging’, according to the Green Construction Board. This joint government-industry group launched the latest in a long series of reports into improving the industry’s sustainability at last month’s Ecobuild show in London. The Low Carbon Routemap for the Built Environment, unveiled by former government Chief Construction Adviser Paul Morrell, sets out what will be needed to achieve the 80% reduction in


greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels.


It concludes that the target is ‘technically possible, but very challenging’, and that success


‘Success is dependent on improving the economic viability of technical solutions’


i0522-56 Condair CP3 AD AW_CIBSE Magazine 190x66 14/02/2013 12:18 Page 1


is dependent on improving the economic viability of technical solutions and addressing market failures.


It also called for the industry to take responsibility for carbon reduction and recognise that it ‘represents an economic opportunity, particularly in retrofitting domestic buildings’. ‘This Routemap… shows that even closer collaboration is required in the future if we want to get closer to achieving our objective,’ said Business Minister Michael Fallon. ‘While the Routemap shows that the 80% target is a very challenging one, we must not lose sight of the overall objective, which is to minimise carbon emissions.’


DIVERSITY PANEL LAUNCHES A new CIBSE panel to promote diversity is to be launched on 18 April at an event in central London. The CIBSE Diversity for Improved Business Performance Panel reinforces CIBSE’s commitment to diversity, aiming to provide a forum for sharing knowledge and best practice, as well as nurturing and retaining talent in the industry. The event takes place from


6-8.30pm at the Building Centre, Store Street, London WC1E 7BT, with speakers including CIBSE past president Andy Ford; Labour MP Chi Onwurha; Loraine Martins MBE, director of diversity and inclusion at Network Rail; Dorte Rich Jørgensen, former Atkins’ sustainability manager for London 2012; and CIBSE president-elect George Adams. Attendance is free, but


delegates must register in advance on the CIBSE Training & Events page at www.cibse.org For more information, contact


Neil Walsh on 020 8675 5211 or email nwalsh@cibse.org


ACE IN PICKLES LEGAL ACTION The Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE) says it has started legal proceedings against Communities Secretary Eric Pickles for ditching ‘consequential improvements’ from the new Building Regulations. ACE believes that by ignoring


the results of his own public consultation on the issue, Pickles has acted unlawfully. Without the consequential improvement law, 2.2 million fewer households will now engage with the Green Deal, according to an impact assessment carried out by Pickles’ own department.


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www.cibsejournal.com April 2013 CIBSE Journal 9


Won’t be beaten on price


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