My concerns over the ability of Wales to achieve its zero carbon dream by 2012 appear to be shared by the political community. According to a news item on the Energy Saving Trust website our Housing and Planning minister Margaret Beckett has decided that the meaning of ‘zero carbon’ is now to be re-evaluated.

“We need a revolution in the ways in which we plan, design and construct our buildings.
“They currently account for nearly half of all our carbon emissions. If we could improve construction methods, the ways in which we heat, light and power our homes, then we would make huge strides towards our overall ambitions.”

Quite how this redefinition of zero carbon can be done is not clear, I can only imagine that we’ll have a watered down version, one in which energy saved (that would traditionally have been wasted) may have a feed into the equation. I also suspect that the carbon invested in construction of the building that would need to be paid back through renewable energy generation in the traditional definition may somehow be removed from consideration. I’m certainly interested to see where this one goes…

The fact that I’m writing my December update in the middle of January tells a story of its own. The cold weather & Christmas have slowed down activity to a barely perceptible drag.

The stove eventually turned up after several phone calls and a nagging doubt over claims of what was in stock and what wasn’t – the stove was in the free enamelled stove pipe that I didn’t even need wasn’t and so dispatch was delayed (not that anyone told me that was the case). Anyway, now we have it, just a shame that it’s sitting coldly gathering dust.

Painting has been interrupted mainly by frozen paint and all other associated liquids. One weekend, we even had to resort to assembling kitchen furniture instead of completing the painting of the down-stairs ceilings.

Glad to report my dehumidifier seems to be keeping the levels damp in the barn in check.

Here’s to a juicier January (or February) update!

In the same part of the world as the MBC barn is the Lammas ecovillage. As a venture into sustainable living on a far grander scale than our own meagre and partial attempt, it is a endeavour of both ideological and political personal interest. I applaud the vision of this initiative, the scale seems right (a cluster of homes around a central hall has an iron age resonance), Pembrokeshire CC has opened the door with its Low Impact Development Making a Positive Contribution policy (albeit only by a chink and they’ve kept the safety chain on) and the passion the founders feel is apparent in all that they do. However, the inevitable but must be raised as there are a number of aspects of the project that cause me unease.

The main difficulty I have in supporting this project is in the ‘composition’ of the community and the global approach that is being taken to what I perceive as a local initiative.

In-comers & Out-siders
The impression I get and I may be very wrong is that the ecovillage will be made up of bright-eyed out-siders with good intentions. Now this is an emotive subject and terminology (trust me I know, I & my family were fresh-faced out-siders some 25 years ago & will always remain so to some degree) and not one that I wish to labour on but it is important. If you view the video linked to below I think you’ll begin to see what I mean – the two sides of Offa’s dike meet in West Wales, I think the Normans did a similar thing 1,000 years ago. A more local flavour to the project would leave a sweeter taste…

The Global Perspective
For me, aside from regulations, codes and standards, planning is a local issue, of concern to local people and authorities and frankly not the business of those who live further afield – I can waffle on all I like about my opposition or support of approaches to renovation of crofts in the highlands or second homes in Cornwall, but at the end of the day my opinion doesn’t count and so, unless I’m adding some great or useful insight I wouldn’t really expect to have any influence. So when I find pleas for and evidence of international support (News page – halfway down) this global aspect does not add to the projects validity rather it reminds me of many of the aspects of human nature that I’m sure the project team abhor – bullying, colonialism and globalisation (& I suspect many of the projects opponents would agree with me). It speaks to me as:

“There’s lots of us and not many of you, we know best so do as you’re told. Perhaps not on my doorstep, but certainly on yours.”

As I’ve said before, I don’t think the same thing would happen in the Cotswolds.

A share of democracy
One other thing I never really ‘got’ was the concept of buying shares that give me voting rights … (If anyone wants to buy shares in MBC that carry no rights or privileges then let me know.) The shares mean I’m ‘investing in the future‘ and my money will be used to ‘further the wider aims of the project‘ … not sure what any of that means.

Planner & Customers are always right
If I’ve learnt one thing from dealing with planning it’s that there no point apportioning blame. Assess the situation, consider your plans, ensure they conform to all legislation with bearing, submit and then reassess where necessary to progress… In light of this I find the finger pointing and blaming that seems to have occurred subsequent to the latest application both unnecessary and counter productive. Let’s see how the appeal to the Welsh Assembly Government goes…

Having said all this and in conclusion, (I feel a little guilty after that tirade – I obviously had a few things to get off my chest) I broadly support the project and certainly condone its objectives.

(Of course as I’ve already said, my opinion doesn’t really count…)

VIDEO: “unwilling community on an unsuitable site”

Mineral Wool is an inorganic product manufactured from glass or rock. Most commonly seen in the UK in the form of rolls used for loft insulation it is also used in granular form as a cavity wall filler and as rigid slabs in construction. Certain products use recycled glass and can so claim green credentials.

Description
A long-time favourite in the UK, sometimes also know as rock wool.

Although the production of mineral wool consumes relatively large amounts of energy, manufacturers counter this with evidence of far greater energy savings over its installed life.

Features

• High embodied energy.
• Fire resistant.
• The fibres can be an irritant.
• Versatile and relatively easy to fit.
• Formaldehyde (a hazardous chemical and known carcinogen) is used in its production. However, mineral wool as a product is ‘unclassifiable as to its carcinogenicity in humans’*.

Performance
At 220mm thickness, installed between rafters mineral wool has a thermal conductivity or K value of 0.038 W/m.K.
(Watts per meter Kelvin ~ lower value is a better result)

Cost
Cheap … shop around as for example, B&Q will currently provide upto 80 square metres installed for £198 or under £2.50 per square metre.

* classification of mineral wool fibres by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

References
greenspec