TALKING POINT BSEE


The bale to keep our cies clean


result is that we now outstrip Earth’s natural replenishment capacity by 50%. Climate change has become an ever more urgent issue, but still we have no effective international agreement with any chance of stopping the rise in our carbon emissions, let alone reducing them. The hard reality is that we are continuing to pour vast sums of money into finding, supplying and consuming fossil fuels and emissions are predicted to increase by over 40% by 2035 (BP report 2014).


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So how do we get local communities to align with our common cause of creating sustainable urban


environments and how does the world move towards a carbon adverse economy to avoid the bigger risk of a future based on fossil fuels? Local smart solutions could concentrate on bringing Local Authorities, businesses and communities together to recognise the responsibilities of their location within society. Given that 80% of humanity will soon be living in them, the evolution of the City must play a central role. If we can achieve this, then our attention must switch towards the need to reinvent our cities into sustainable, adaptive, healthy and responsible urban communities.


Smart city economies


I believe our cities are soon to become the battleground between traditional financial market forces and the urban drive towards essential, low carbon smart city


economies. To me, it seems that the World’s financial


hroughout history, human societies have depended on natural


resources and the environment. The


By George Adams, Chair of the CIC Green Construcon Panel, CIBSE Past President and UK Engineering Director at SPIE.


uAbove: London’s populaon is projected to grow by 12% over the next 20 years, pung even greater pressure on energy infrastructure and natural resources.


markets cannot be expected to solve the fossil fuels dependency problem alone. They simply don't know how to make the big changes quickly enough to avoid the economic meltdown that will occur should we hit 4 to 6 degrees C of global warming.


Past financial crises have demonstrated what happens when big risks accumulate without adequate management; Lord Stern once said the risks are "very big indeed". Sadly it’s not much different today. The so- called "carbon bubble" is a result of an over-valuation of oil, coal and gas reserves held by fossil fuel companies. According to the report in 2014, at least two-thirds of these reserves will have to remain underground if the world is to meet the existing internationally agreed targets to avoid "dangerous" climate change. The recent UCL report concluded that broadly, we must cease burning fossil fuels within the next 25 years.


London’s population is projected to grow by 12% over the next 20 years. The resulting demands on energy infrastructure and natural resources mean infrastructure providers, and consumers,


VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.bsee.co.uk


will have to adapt intelligently to ensure efficient, affordable and sustainable solutions. So it’s great to see London and other UK cities leading the way. They are already piloting and pioneering new secure, flexible, low carbon and growth-stimulating urban based solutions that have the potential to be more cost- effective, smarter, cleaner and locally managed. We have a difficult organisational system and societal changes are needed to merge the role of consumers and producers in developing and providing, healthy energy, food, water and mobility integrated solutions. We need to respect the limits of natural resources, the need for total recycling of waste and create cities that integrate strategic urban green landscaping. The real innovation will be in finding a way to join all of this up using a holistic approach that achieves best value and results in clean urban environments and sustainable low carbon economies.


The large Rocky Park community garden scheme in Bethnal Green London, which I visited recently, is a great example of people taking positive action to green–up their local area in order to bring about better social cohesion. So what role can


governments play? I suggest theirs is to educate and sanction change, granting empowerment and responding appropriately to the biggest simultaneous conflict and opportunity the human race has ever battled.


CONDAIR EL


New electrode boiler steam humidifier with longer lasting steam cylinder


The new Condair EL steam humidifier provides hygienic steam for in-duct or direct air humidification.


Due to its advanced water management, precise mineral levels are maintained in the steam cylinder, enabling it to last up to three times longer than some other electrode boiler humidifiers.


1hr


Discover more about the Condair EL www.condair.co.uk/EL T: +44 (0)1903 850 200


in-house


CPD seminars available


Humidification and Evaporative Cooling


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