The story of stuff…

newsatbuildgreen — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:30:13 +0000

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever..

Watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

The story of bottled water

newsatbuildgreen — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:28:28 +0000

“The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand—how you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap. Over five minutes, the film explores the bottled water industrys attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces. The film concludes with a call to take back the tap, not only by making a personal commitment to avoid bottled water, but by supporting investments in clean, available tap water for all.

Our production partners on the bottled water film include five leading sustainability groups: Corporate Accountability International, Environmental Working Group, Food & Water Watch, Pacific Institute, and Polaris Institute.”

See the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

Certification – les initiatives internationales

newsatbuildgreen — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:47:30 +0000

La certification des bâtiments “verts” est un outil de reconnaissance de leur performance environnementale. Obtenir un tel certificat prouve non seulement aux potentiels acheteurs/tenanciers qu’un bâtiment est de très haute qualité environnementale et a été conçue avec une vision de développement durable, mais cela donne aussi la possibilité de comparer le bâtiment a d’autres bâtiments similaires a travers le monde. Tout comme la qualité et le confort d’un hôtel sont indiques par des étoiles, la qualité d’un bâtiment vert est indique par une échelle similaire. Les initiatives internationales sont nombreuses, comme l’explique l’article suivant. Plusieurs pays ont adopte leur propre “green label”, prenant en compte les principaux éléments locaux comme la culture, la gestion d’énergie et d’eau, etc. En attendant que l’ile Maurice ait son propre outil de certification, il y a plusieurs options pour ceux voulant obtenir un certificat de performance environnementale. L’article suivant parle des différents outils internationaux et de leurs avantages et inconvénients.

Les initiatives internationales sont nombreuses et suivent des directions différentes selon leur genèse ou la culture de leur pays. Elles participent à une maturation des réflexions sur l’approche la plus pertinente et la plus adaptée pour arriver à concevoir et réaliser des bâtiments où qualité et environnement ont été pris en compte de manière optimale.
Les atouts de la démarche HQE® dans ce contexte consistent en une approche globale des enjeux (et non partielle limitée aux process ou produits), pragmatique et opérationnelle avec une conception simultanée d’un système de management des opérations et des exigences à atteindre (la Qualité environnementale des Bâtiments en 14 cibles).

Le système américain
US Green Building Council créé en 1994 qui génère en 1998 le World GBC, association internationale à but non lucratif (USA, Mexique, Brésil Japon, Italie, Espagne, Emirats Arabes Unis, Australie, Chine et Corée).
L’US GBC gère un label appelé LEED pour Leadership Energy Environnement Design, certification environnementales des bâtiments habitat et tertiaire.
cette méthode se caractérise par l’attribution d’une note globale qui présente l’inconvénient d’une approche subjective (les coefficients sont arbitraires) et peu adaptée au contexte local (contrairement à la cible 1 de la la démarche HQE®).

HK-BSE (Hong-Kong) 1999
The Hong Kong Building Services Engineering est une méthode expérimentale de l’Ecole Polytechnique de Hong-Kong, qui évalue la performance des bureaux neufs et existants, selon 56 critères, de la programmation à la gestion de l’ouvrage.

BREEAM (anglais) 1990
BREEAM développée par le Building Research Establishment a une approche intégrée dans le processus de conception notamment dans les toutes premières phases.
90% des choix de conception sont pris lors de l’esquisse.
BREEAM, à l’instar de la démarche HQE®, privilégie une approche système quand LEED a une approche produit avec des performances mesurables à atteindre. Basé sur un référentiel transversal qui prend en compte, management, énergie, matériaux, confort, transport, implantation, pollution atmosphérique, il est le plus diffusé dans le monde ( Canada, Hong-Kong, Norvège, Inde …).

CASBEE (Japon)
Déclinaison de LEED, CASBEE signifie Comprehensive Assessmant System for Building Environnemental Efficiency, introduit la notion de culture et de caractère régional de la construction, cette méthode reste dans la lignée de l’approche note résultante.

MINERGIE (Suisse) 1996
Exploité par l’Association AMI sous mandat de l’Agence Fédérale du Bâtiment, le label MINERGIE vise la réduction des consommations énergétiques autour de cinq priorités :

· Exigences de base requises pour l’enveloppe du bâtiment

· Valeurs limites pour l’indice de dépense d’énergie thermique

· Renouvellement d’air mécanique

· Exigences supplémentaires, en fonction du type de bâtiment, sur l’éclairage et la production de froid et de chaleur

· Surcoût d’investissment limité à 10% maximum

Le standard « E-2000 éco-construction » complète l’approche avec des cibles complémentaires, matériaux, gestion de l’eau, transports, coût de construction…

PASSIVHAUS ( Allemagne )
L’objectif du Passivhaus vise la réduction des consommations énergétiques des immeubles d’habitation en assurant l’apport en énergie solaire passive, en renforçant l’isolation des bâtiments, utilisation des énergies renouvelables, récupération de chaleur. Valeur cible, pour l’Eau Chaude Sanitaire, le chauffage et l’électricité inférieur à 50 kwh/m2/an

TOTAL QUALITY ( Autriche) 2000
La certification est développée par les Ministères du Transport, Logement et de l’innovation pour tout type d’opération. Elle prend en compte à la fois des critères environnementaux et de qualité globale. Encore peu utilisée, elle se distingue par son approche transversale.
Source: Association HQE (http://www.assohqe.org/international_autres_demarches_etrangeres.php)

Read interview of Emma Ozsen by l’Express newspaper (17/12/09)

newsatbuildgreen — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:25:15 +0000

“La construction durable et la création de bâtiments à haute qualité environnementale ont une meilleure rentabilité, estime Emma Ozsen. Elle nous explique les avantages de construire vert.”

Read more on l’Express property blog below:

http://lexpressproperty.blogspot.com/2009/12/questions-emma-ozsen-consultante-en.html#more

Get 12% cash-back on your “green” investment

newsatbuildgreen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:49:12 +0000

L’Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is proposing a Green Lending Initiative, to encourage developers to invest in the field of sustainable energy. Beneficial “green” investment projects deemed eligible by AFD will be offered an investment grant of 12% of the Green Loan. The following investment types are considered: Energy efficiency (EE), Renewable energy (RE) and Environmental Performance (EP). To find out how Build-Green Consulting can help you meet the eligibility criteria, please call 465-3889 or send an e-mail to contact@buildgreen.mu. For more details about the green lending scheme, please contact l’Agence Francaise de Developpement, in Port Louis.

Save energy by controlling the climate at your desk

newsatbuildgreen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:25:19 +0000

Thanks to its subtropical climate, the weather in Mauritius is warm all year round, attracting tourists from around the world as a fantastic holiday destination throughout the year. This means however that the amount of energy used for air-conditioning each year is enormous. Offices are another example of very high energy-consuming buildings. The amount of lighting used in typical office buildings, as well as the heat generated from internal electrical appliances and people within the building means that air-conditioning used in a typical office building is very high and so are the operational costs of the building. The New Scientist Magazine issue 2737 talks about the savings possible by using individual air-conditioning vents at desks rather than entire rooms. The research clearly showed that in countries where air-conditioning is required all year round, these systems would pay for themselves in energy savings. Results showed the building energy use was cut by 50 per cent.

Read the article from the New Scientist below:

“We’re used to taking command of our personal climate in planes and cars by using simple controls. Why not in buildings too?

A study of the effect of installing individual air-conditioning vents at office desks, and putting controls at each worker’s fingertips, suggests it can cut a building’s energy use in half. The approach costs more to install than a conventional system, and has never taken off commercially. But engineer Stefano Schiavon at the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues say their research shows the idea is worth revisiting, as companies and countries seek to cut emissions.

They simulated an office building in a hot, humid climate like that of Singapore, where air conditioning is relied on throughout the year. Results showed the building’s energy use was cut by 50 per cent.

Personalised ventilation means less air needs to be cooled and pumped through a building because air needs only to be blown at desks, and not throughout entire rooms. Individual vents can also switch off automatically when a desk is vacant.

The result is that a room’s temperature can increase while keeping people comfortable at work.

Raising a building’s temperature even a little can save large amounts of energy. The Japanese government is campaigning to convince offices to discourage suits and ties, to allow office thermostats to be turned up slightly and save power.

“In an environment like Singapore, it’s pretty clear that these systems would pay for themselves in energy savings,” Schiavon says.

In Singapore it’s pretty clear that these systems would pay for themselves in energy savings.

Air conditioning is a major driver of south-east Asia’s electricity use, and accounts for the bulk of electricity used by buildings in Singapore.

Past research has shown personal ventilation can also make people more comfortable, and hinted it can limit the spread of airborne diseases.

The personalised approach isn’t always suitable, though. Only workplaces where people tend to stay in one place would benefit, points out environmental engineer Peter Nielsen of Aalborg University in Denmark. Savings are also smaller in cooler climates, where on cold days the number of people directing warm air onto themselves causes the room to overheat. ”

Source: The New Scientist

How much does building green really cost?

newsatbuildgreen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:10:22 +0000

“Green building skeptics sometimes argue that it’s difficult or even impossible to build green without paying a big cost premium. But real-world examples show that you can complete a LEED-certified green building project for an average of 2 percent more in upfront costs, and sometimes even below standard market construction costs. Plus, any extra first costs you pay can be recovered through faster lease-up rates, rental premiums and increased market valuation. And by making experienced green building professionals a part of your team and learning to control costs, you can escape paying any green premium at all as early as your second green building project. A 2004 study by Davis Langdon Adamson, a construction cost-planning and management company, found that the first costs of constructing a sustainable building tend to match or only slightly exceed those of comparable non-green buildings. The study, Costing Green: A Comprehensive Cost Database and Budgeting Methodology, measured the square-foot construction costs of 61 buildings seeking certification under the LEED green building rating system against those of buildings of similar type that did not aim for sustainability. Taking into account a range of construction factors including climate, location, market conditions and local standards, the study found that for many of the green projects, pursuing LEED certification had little or no budgetary impact.

The study’s findings also underline that incorporating and integrating green features into a project early is critical to the success of any green building project. “It is the choices made during design which will ultimately determine whether a building can be sustainable, not the budget set,” the report concluded.”

Source: Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) Fact Sheet

World Green Building Council Reaches Out to BREEAM

newsatbuildgreen — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:08:54 +0000

“BREEAM leaders said the invitation extended by the WGBC recognizes the UK-based organization’s accomplishments and its influence in pressing for more environmentally efficient buildings around the world.”

Don’t miss the Ecobuilding conference on the 18-19 March 2010!

newsatbuildgreen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:02:15 +0000

At the Mauritius Eco Building Conference and Exhibition 2010, some of the world’s best green building projects will be presented and reviewed and leading materials, products, expertise and technology suppliers will exhibit their solutions. Read more at the following address:

http://www.ecobuilding.com/

‘Construire Vert’ on l’Express Property blog

newsatbuildgreen — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:40:49 +0000

The interview article of Emma Ozsen which appeared on the Week-End newspaper (29/11/2009) can also be viewed on l’Express Property blog below:

http://lexpressproperty.blogspot.com/2009/11/construire-vert-par-emma-ozsen.html