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A green
blueprint
for the
future?
You did well to tag a question mark on the end of the title of the excuse for windows.
news item in the May/June 2009 issue of the journal. This house still requires an 11kW boiler, as does my old-
My fi rst observation is that a family that is large enough to tech house. Biomass fuel begs the question of whether we have
require a four bedroom house does not qualify as a family with a enough space to grow fuel for home heating, ethanol, feed, stock
keen interest in sustainability and reduced CO2 emissions, unless for transport and the stuff that we eat.
the fourth bedroom is required for grandparents in an extended Other doubtful heating possibilities include:
family environment. Ground source heat pumps which are fi ne if you have an half
A single house design that begins with a 20 metre span arch acre garden, but who does?
in a country of a thousand people per square mile denies reality. Air source heat pumps which would require too large a
The vast majority of houses will be in urban environments and collector for high-density housing applications.
will not have to blend in with nature. The plants on the roof in Bore hole heat pumps in high-density applications that will
relatively shallow soil on a well-drained slope will die during the result in a deep strata of permafrost at the end of each winter.
fi rst hose pipe ban. The design shown has lots of unnecessary
features on the front that increase the external surface area and Would suffi cient heat fl ow into such a feature during the
heat loss, however good the insulation is. I doubt that glamour summer months without the direct effect of the sun?
will not be a feature of sustainable housing. I question the We cannot build enough houses to the current woeful
‘lightweight’ structure yet ‘high thermal mass’. standards to meet requirements. The chances of building only
The suggestion that we can meet the Government’s CO2 zero carbon homes, in suffi cient numbers, at an affordable
reduction targets and maintain our current standard of living and market price, in just seven year’s time, is wishful thinking.
comfort is just spin to keep voters on side. I doubt we can afford the scale of the nuclear power
In the real world, affordable houses will have to be built with programme required to meet the medium term CO2 free
a minimum of external wall area to conserve energy. Homes energy requirements.
in blocks of four, each with two outside walls would suffi ce. The longer-term need, which is longer than will affect me, will,
Bedrooms don’t need windows. Most of the time that they are fi ngers crossed, be based on fusion reactors but that will be a
being used the occupiers have their eyes closed. A heat recovery, whole new affordability story.
forced ventilation system would take care of the only other Rex Burr IEng MIED
14
www.ied.org.uk
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