Sustainable Energy Ireland has announced the launch of its annual sustainable energy awards for businesses nationwide. The awards are designed to recognise the achievement of Irish businesses who make an effort to reduce energy demand and improve environmental performance. Categories include leading energy efficiency project, pioneering renewables project, sustainable energy building excellence, and

An interesting discussion on TreeHugger on the merits of various forestry certification programs, including the below photo (courtesy of Heart of Green) that apparently shows both FSC (Forestry Stewarship Council) and SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) certified forests.

A new report from the UK's Green Building Council has recommended a variety of steps that builders, planners and architects can take to enhance biodiversity in the built environment. Among the recommended design features are:

- Nesting bricks built into cavity walls for birds such as swifts and starlings
- Ledges on high buildings that mimic cliff faces for peregrine falcons and other birds of prey
- Careful lighting and roosting boxes under bridges to allow bats to inhabit areas that are usually too bright
- Green roof and walls (explored at length in Construct Ireland last year)

A quick glance through the ideas short-listed in the UK Sustainable Development Commission's 'Breakthrough Ideas' competition reveals a few concepts that have previously been discussed in depth in Construct Ireland.

Following my last post on the debate that broke out in the Guardian about using biochar (just another term for charcoal really) to mitigate climate change, Peter Read became the fourth person to write an article in response to George Monbiot's initial criticism of biochar's proponents.

Fine Gael launched its economic stimulus plan yesterday, an investment programme the party says will create 100,000 jobs within five years. Funds for the programme would be borrowed by semi-state bodies with the aim of delivering commercial returns - and thus not appear on the government's balance sheet.

Yesterday's edition of the Guardian featured a special supplement on greener housing that included features on the first straw bale local authority housing project in the UK, the aesthetics of eco-housing and a potential shortfall in the number of green building professionals in Britain. All of the articles can be accessed here.

An interesting debate has broken out on the Guardian's Comment is Free site over the pros and cons of using charcoal as a means of sequestering carbon, an idea discussed in Construct Ireland by Richard Douthwaite in 2007.

According to today's Guardian , the pioneering Pelamis wave energy project off the coast of Portugal is in trouble after the collapse of majority shareholder Babcock & Brown. The company went in to voluntary administration last week, and its 77 per cent stake in the Pelamis projectis now up for sale.

A few interesting stories on ScienceDaily today that touch on the costs of both solar thermal and solar PV technologies.

Google will soon launch free software that allows consumers to track their energy use at home and improve efficiency, according to the Independent of London.

The company is currently in talks with energy utilities worldwide. The program, which will be open-source, is expected to show energy consumption in real time on consumers' computers or mobile phones.

Here's a simple and effective idea, courtesy of TreeHugger. Toronto based green retrofit specialists Greening Homes put signs like this in the front garden of houses the company is renovating. As well as providing free advertising for the firm, the sign lets everyone passing by know what kind of work is being done, and encourages neighbours to consider green refurb too.

 

An interesting couple of blog posts have appeared over the last few days on Treehugger . First, Lloyd Alter pondered why so many green buildings are ugly. Alter referenced an interesting

Two stories in the Irish Times today touch on the effect the economic downturn will have on carbon emissions.

Looking at the national situation, the Times reports that the EPA will today announce a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with the economic downturn.

While it is one of the most ecological building materials around, rammed earth - a mixture of earth, sand, gravel and clay - is usually associated with buildings with an earthy, less-than-modern aesthetic. A new house in Vorarlberg, Austria, could change that.

 

According to Building.co.uk, the three leading international tools for assessing the environmental impact of buildings will soon be combined to create a common international standard.

The best examples of sustainable planning and building in Northern Ireland were honoured in a joint awards ceremony held last month by the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The RTPI described the winning projects as follows:

As energy refurbishment climbs higher and higher up the political agenda, this video from the Guardian takes a look one upgrade project that claims to have reduced the carbon footprint of a Victorian house in Nottingham from 19 tonnes a year to just half a tonne.

Following the annoucement that the government is commiting 100 million euro this year to domestic energy refurb, the UK's climate change secretary Ed Miliband has announced that all British households will be retrofitted by 2030.

 According to Treehugger, Professor Colin Humphries' team at Cambridge University has developed a new LED bulb that can last up to 60 years. Treehugger says: 

Humphries claims within five years, the new bulbs will be available, cheap, mercury free, dimmable and