Healthy school dinners get ethical twist
by David MastersSchoolchildren in East Ayrshire, Scotland, are piloting a new scheme that encourages healthy eating whilst helping children from the developing world. For the next six months, children at schools in the local authority will be given one point each time they choose a healthy school dinner. Reward points can then be spent on overseas development initiatives, including buying much needed farm animals, food supplies, medicine and classroom equipment for people in developing ...
Brownfield database needs updating
by David Masters
A new report by English Partnerships (EP) has said that local government systems for recording brownfield sites need revamping if government targets for brownfield development are to be met. The report by the regeneration agency is likely to cause a major shake up in the way that the government monitors the location of brownfield sites that are suitable for development. Government targets state that 60% of new homes must be built on ...
Hong Kong pioneers sustainable construction
by David MastersHong Kong city government plans to lead the way in green construction, by ensuring that new flagship infrastructure projects are built according to strict environmental standards. Ten 'mega projects' are planned for the city state, to upgrade the city's infrastructure. Projects include new railway lines, cross-boundary infrastructure, new development areas, and a cultural district. The projects will be used to showcase techniques for sustainable construction. Secretary for Development, Carrie Lam, announced the projects in ...
Government ‘truthfulness’ on eco-towns questioned
by David Masters
The Government has been caught out exaggerating the environmental credentials of one of its proposed new eco-towns. An advert asking for opinions on a proposed eco-town near Lichfield in Staffordshire said the 5,000 home development, named Curborough, would be built on a brownfield site. The advert read: “An eco-town near you? Curborough, Staffordshire where a bid has been made for 5,000 homes on the brownfield site of the former Fradley airfield.” A complaint ...
Green building takes off worldwide
by David Masters
A worldwide study of the construction industry has found that businesses in the sector expect more than 60% of their projects to be focused on green building within the next five years. Almost a third of respondents in the McGraw Hill Construction Analytics survey said over 10% of their domestic projects are already environmentally friendly. According to McGraw Hill, the survey is the first study of its kind to investigate green building ...
Eco-building projects awarded research grants
by David Masters
Thirteen green building research projects in North America are to receive grants totaling $2 million from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The aim of the research grants, which are handed out on an annual basis, is to further sustainable and environmentally friendly building practices. Over 200 research proposals were originally submitted to the Council, each vying for a share of the funding. Out of 38 finalists, 13 projects were award ...
Marine construction to trial new timbers
by David Masters
Researchers from the Environment Agency (EA) are working with the Timber Industry in an attempt to broaden the types of hardwood used in marine and freshwater construction projects. Until now, the marine and freshwater construction industry has typically relied upon a small number of hardwoods that have been tried and tested in the past, including Greenheart, Ekki and Opepe. However, the EA wants the construction industry to consider using alternative hardwoods in ...
Farmers risk irrigating crops with sewage
by David Masters
With food shortages threatening billions of people around the world with starvation, millions of acres of agricultural land in developing countries is being watered using wastewater and sewage. A 53 city study by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) found that 85% of water is discharged from cities without appropriate treatment, often to be reused on agricultural land. In more than 70% of the cities surveyed, over half of the agricultural land ...
New Eco-towns may fall at the first hurdle
by Alan HartenThe governments must hyped plans for the construction of ten new eco-towns spread across the country consisting of many tens of thousands of new residencies may be in trouble before a single brick is laid. Legal council that has been engaged by several local councils through the Local Government Association (LGA) in England have offered their opinion that the proposals are not legally valid. The reason for this is the ...
One third of the world lacks sanitation
by David MastersA UNICEF report has revealed that 2.5 billion people, more than one third of the world's population, live without basic sanitation, resulting in the deaths of 5,000 children every day. 1.2 billion people practice open defecation, presenting a major health threat to themselves and their communities. Around 1 billion people - 13% of the world's population - lack access to safe drinking water. This is expected to fall to 10% by 2015, the ...
Booming Vietnamese economy desecrates environment
by David MastersOver the last decade Vietnam's economy has achieved an annual growth rate of seven percent. The price of the economic boom, however, is a deteriorating environment with many waterways transformed into open sewers and landscapes strewn with toxic waste. State-owned Vietnam News has reported that eight in ten factories and industrial parks in Vietnam exceed legal pollution levels. A survey of over 400 businesses in the country found that most lacked even 'basic ...
Will transport costs bring back local shops and new mega-cities?
by Alan HartenLiving in cities may be the only option for most of the population as costs of transporting goods will move ever upwards making living in ‘the country’ impractical in terms of transport and the cost of purchasing many goods locally. The well defined trend of people retiring from the crowded, polluted cities into the quiet, peaceful clean air of the rural areas may become a thing of the past and in ...
Construction industry to develop environmental guidelines
by David MastersThe UK's Green Building Council (GBC) has begun a consultation to develop a new Code for Sustainable Building. Government targets stipulate that all new homes must be zero-carbon by 2016, and all new non-domestic buildings must be zero-carbon by 2019. The GBC believes current legislation on green building standards is confusing and disparate, and if government targets are to be met then sustainable building practices need to be unified into a single ...
UN wants G8 to stand by African pledge
by Alan HartenBan Ki-Moon, who is the general secretary of the United Nations (UN), has urged the leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) to take concrete actions to fulfil its promises made three years ago to double aid to Africa over the next two years. Moon stated that the planet now has three serious threats, an impending food crisis, a global climate change crisis and a development crisis. He went on ...
Expert panel derides eco-town proposals
by David MastersA panel of experts appointed by the government to assess the viability of its eco-town proposals has ruled that just two or three of the towns have the potential to be eco-friendly, whilst the majority are ordinary housing estates in the countryside with a green label attached. The twelve experts on the panel said that although there was 'much to admire' in many of the fifteen proposals, there is also 'a ...
Refugees flee conflict fuelled by climate change
by David MastersBoth the United Nations and the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management have issued warnings that climate change is forcing many people around the world to leave their homes, pushing up the global total of refugees to record levels. In the run up to World Refugee Day on 20th June, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has reported figures showing that international refugee numbers hit 11.4 million last ...
Bangladesh sets up climate change fund
by David MastersBangladesh is to start allocating a proportion of the country's spending into a climate change fund. 0.3% of next year's $14.6 million government budget will go into the Fund for Climate Change. 4,500 people in Bangladesh were killed and over 50,000 injured last year in natural disasters, including floods and Cyclone Sidr. The Bangladeshi government blamed the disasters upon climate change. Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change as the ...
Nanotechnology detects epidemics before outbreak
by David MastersNew technology developed by space scientists from NASA can detect deadly contamination in food and water. The biosensor can detect traces of viruses, bacteria and parasites in food, water, and other potentially contaminated sources. When biohazards are detected by the sensor it creates an electric signal which is fed back to a computer. This signal is then used to work out the level of contamination. NASA has licensed the technology to New-York-based ...
Government prepares for battle on eco-towns
by David MastersPressure is mounting on the government to step down on its eco-town proposals, with protests in locations across the country this weekend. On Saturday around 2,000 locals from Ford in West Sussex attended a protest against an eco-town in the area. Television presenter Ben Fogle joined the protesters, who marched three miles through countryside around the proposed eco-town site. Meanwhile, another demonstration in Lichfield, Staffordshire, attracted hundreds of local protesters. Campaigners argue that the ...
Prince’s eco-town gets the all clear
by David MastersSherford, an eco-town partly designed by Prince Charles's architectural foundation, has been granted final approval by the local planning authority. The development, to be built near Plymouth, Devon, will include 5,500 homes powered by nearby wind turbines and on-site solar heating. Cars will be banned in some areas, and where they are allowed, pedestrians and cyclists will be given priority. Dubbed 'Britain's greenest settlement', Sherford will feature 5,500 homes for 12,000 ...