Prrof that innovation and green thinking businesses aren't restricted to London, Edinburgh has published its own green building code:
* All major new developments in Edinburgh will be forced to cut carbon dioxide emissions and provide renewable energy sources on-site to comply with a new "green" building code
* Developers will also be forced to reduce CO2 emissions from the construction work, and they will have to fill out a new assessment form pledging to build environmentally-friendly developments that minimise pollution and strive to use recycled building materials.
There's more in the article itself, but the fact that these new plans, due in May 2007, include guidelines for recycling and composting facilities on-site really gives an indication of how construction in the UK is going to look over the next few years.
With the Olympic regeneration in and around London, major cities like Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle expanding to match London, this could be a great time for Green Brittania!
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The measures outlined in Edinburgh's Green Building Code (due to come into force from May 2007) are impressive. There are plenty of local developments happening throughout the UK, and guidelines such as these really give a sense of sustainable community building becoming mainstream.
Now that the ethos of green building has gained such momentum, it's time to think about the inhabitants of these buildings. Reading through the Edinburgh guidelines I was pleased and surprised to see a section at the end that seemed clearly designed to help the people stay green. These bullet points for part of a 'sustainability test' where some, but not all, points must be met:
• re-using existing buildings and brownfield land wherever possible
• providing good pedestrian, cycle and public transport access
• consulting with the local community to draw up "public realm" benefits
• the possibility of providing excess energy generation for the national grid
• using recycled building materials in at least 10% of the development
• providing water saving devices and adequate rainwater drainage on roofs and car parking spaces
• providing recycling bins compost facilities on-site
On site composting! What a great way to keep people on the sustainable path. At times it's easy to be cynical about guidelines like these, but the long term approach Edinburgh has taken means it's more likely to be geniune, and successful.
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