Green light for green show homes
Posted: 07/02/2010
One hundred "eco-show homes" are to be built to allow people to "test drive" green living as ministers try to convince the public that their controversial eco-towns can work, according to the Independent on Sunday. This week the Housing minister, John Healey, will announce the start of building work on the properties in towns near to the four sites earmarked... more
Source: Jane Merrick / Independent on Sunday   

Photovoltaics could earn householders £900 a year
Posted: 01/02/2010
According to today's announcement from Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, householders who install photovoltaic solar panels could get as much as £900 a year from the feed-in tariff, as well as saving around £140 on their electricity bill. Miliband said the tariff was ready to be introduced from 1st April 2010, and a blueprint has been prepared for a renewable heat incentive... more
Source: Green Building Press   

Eleventh and final eco town worksheet published
Posted: 01/02/2010
Housing and planning charity, the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), have published their eleventh and final Worksheet in the Eco-town Worksheet series on the effective delivery of eco-towns. TCPA Chief Executive, Gideon Amos OBE, said: “It is a tribute to the enduring importance of eco-developments given our changing climate, that the TCPA has now brought its leading edge series of ‘Eco-towns Worksheets’ guidance to a successful conclusion with this publication... more
Source: Green Building Press   

Thirty six zero carbon schools planned for England
Posted: 31/01/2010
Pilot green schools are planned for all English regions as part of the implementation of a newly published Zero Carbon Task Force report. Four zero-carbon schools will be built in each of the nine regions of England by 2016, under plans unveiled last week. The plan is one of a series of measures to be taken forward by the government following the final report of the Zero Carbon Task Force... more
Source: Sarah Richardson / Building.co.uk   

It's just a rumour - VOCs not banned
Posted: 31/01/2010
At the end of last year, rumours were circulating that VOCs (volatile organic compounds) would be 'banned' from UK paint and varnishes after 1 January 2010. Although serious green builders are already using environmentally friendly paint products, containing no toxic compounds at all, of which there are a number on the market... more
Source: Green Building press   

Is timber frame construction safe ?
Posted: 28/01/2010
Timber based construction is usually seen as a green building option, but following a serious blaze in a timber framed building in Peckham, south London, there have been calls for the UK to abandon timber frame construction as unsafe. As a person with a considerable knowledge of the industry, plus an interest in promoting it, Geoff Arnold.... more
Source: Green Building Press