Ian Stirling wrote:

wrote:
snip

Plastic windows are also an environmental disaster - not only spoiling
the built environment but also using oil reserves and creating a waste
disposal problem due to being unrecycleable and short life.
The more conservation areas the better for all of us!


To drag this off on a tangent (or allow it to fly free).

If your carpenter and installers are living in a modern society, then
they are also using oil to get to work every day, to grow their food,
...

You can't simply say "wood and lime good, cement and UPVC bad".

Yes, wood and lime may use less energy to produce than UPVC and cement.
But if they take more people to install, and those people use more
resources when installing them, it's a net loss.

Per capita UK emissions of CO2 are about 2500Kg.

I'd really like to see some numbers broken down accurately by building
type.

However.
Use cement, and build rigidly, and you've pretty much got to build on a
rigid structure, meaning hugely extensive foundations.

Use lime, and allow the building to flex, and you can reduce these.

The 'right' way to solve this I suspect is prizes.

Set goals, which might be CO2 emission, operating cost, price,
... for a house.

Scrap _all_ building/fire/planning regulations for these, and instead rely
on a detailed engineering survey to ensure they meet the spirit of the regs.
Rewrite the regs if required.

Award a prize for the 'best' house of several million.

Not an acceptable proposal, too close to common sense. Doesn't employ
enough civil servants.

Regards
Capitol