Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building. Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills

Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible" that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

TIA

Fred wrote

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house.
I wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A
chap called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building.
Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills


Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes"
but I never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was
published in 2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

I doubt it, not a lot has changed in that area in that time.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible"
that he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011
book a reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has anyone
read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

On 26/02/2013 08:56, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building. Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills

Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible" that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

If you go into Waterstones, you can look at the book for yourself. It
would be polite to buy it from them, rather than going home and ordering
it from Amazon - Waterstones do online sales if you prefer that to
carrying the book home yourself.

You might also like to look at The Green Building Bible Volumes 1 and 2
(Fourth Edition) ISBN 978-1-898130-05-5 & 978-1-898130-06-2. The third
edition was a runner up for a RIBA award in 2007. Reviews suggest that
volume 2 is more useful than volume 1.

Colin Bignell

On Feb 26, 8:56*am, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building. Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills

Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible" that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

TIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...uilding_design
http://www.greenbooks.co.uk/Subject/2/ECOBUILDING.html
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/

Quite a few such houses have been built/converted.
I have such a house.

On 26/02/2013 10:15, harry wrote:
On Feb 26, 8:56 am, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building. Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills

Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible" that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

TIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...uilding_design
http://www.greenbooks.co.uk/Subject/2/ECOBUILDING.html
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/

Quite a few such houses have been built/converted.
I have such a house.


Do you know of a book that looks systematically at costs/benefits, both
in terms of building/retrofitting costs and pounds saving, and the wider
costs and benefits? Things like solar panel manufacture and pollution,
labour exploitation, local economy effects, global warming/cooling (I
lose track!).

Thanks, Rob

On Feb 26, 10:35*am, RJH wrote:
On 26/02/2013 10:15, harry wrote:









On Feb 26, 8:56 am, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building. Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills

Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible" that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

TIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...uilding_design
http://www.greenbooks.co.uk/Subject/2/ECOBUILDING.html
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/

Quite a few such *houses have been built/converted.
I have such a house.

Do you know of a book that looks systematically at costs/benefits, both
in terms of building/retrofitting costs and pounds saving, and the wider
costs and benefits? Things like solar panel manufacture and pollution,
labour exploitation, local economy effects, global warming/cooling (I
lose track!).

Thanks, Rob

Including 4Kwp PV panels, I spent £19,000 on my place (converting
standard house to solar passive house)
Doing nearly all work myself.
The annual financial benefit is about £3500.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chl...7627608971673/

However the FIT prices have changed as has the price of solar panels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_in...United_Kingdom

I think a new passive house need cost no more than a standard house
because there would be no gas supply or central heating to pay for.

I don't believe you will find any book that can give you the total
picture. The situation is politicised, evolving and there are lots of
nutcases out there. Some writing books.

My assumption is that energy costs will go up. Lots.
I anticipate getting my money back in five years. I am half way there
and see no reason to think I'm wrong.

On 26/02/2013 17:36, harry wrote:
On Feb 26, 10:35 am, RJH wrote:
On 26/02/2013 10:15, harry wrote:









On Feb 26, 8:56 am, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building. Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills

Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible" that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

TIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...uilding_design
http://www.greenbooks.co.uk/Subject/2/ECOBUILDING.html
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/

Quite a few such houses have been built/converted.
I have such a house.

Do you know of a book that looks systematically at costs/benefits, both
in terms of building/retrofitting costs and pounds saving, and the wider
costs and benefits? Things like solar panel manufacture and pollution,
labour exploitation, local economy effects, global warming/cooling (I
lose track!).

Thanks, Rob

Including 4Kwp PV panels, I spent £19,000 on my place (converting
standard house to solar passive house)
Doing nearly all work myself.
The annual financial benefit is about £3500.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chl...7627608971673/

However the FIT prices have changed as has the price of solar panels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_in...United_Kingdom

I think a new passive house need cost no more than a standard house
because there would be no gas supply or central heating to pay for.

I don't believe you will find any book that can give you the total
picture. The situation is politicised, evolving and there are lots of
nutcases out there. Some writing books.


Couldn't agree more. The picture seems to be especially confused in my
field - social housing. The nature and scale of housing development
usually follows the money, with very little thinking about whether it's
actually wanted.

My assumption is that energy costs will go up. Lots.
I anticipate getting my money back in five years. I am half way there
and see no reason to think I'm wrong.


Which is of course fine - for you. I'd like a more systematic way of
evaluating the consequences of this understandable way of thinking. I'd
loosely hypothesise that it's actually making things worse overall. I
wrote to Green Books and they don't know of such a work.

Rob

On Feb 26, 7:14*pm, RJH wrote:
On 26/02/2013 17:36, harry wrote:









On Feb 26, 10:35 am, RJH wrote:
On 26/02/2013 10:15, harry wrote:

On Feb 26, 8:56 am, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building. Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills

Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible" that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

TIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...uilding_design
http://www.greenbooks.co.uk/Subject/2/ECOBUILDING.html
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/

Quite a few such *houses have been built/converted.
I have such a house.

Do you know of a book that looks systematically at costs/benefits, both
in terms of building/retrofitting costs and pounds saving, and the wider
costs and benefits? Things like solar panel manufacture and pollution,
labour exploitation, local economy effects, global warming/cooling (I
lose track!).

Thanks, Rob

Including 4Kwp PV panels, I spent 19,000 on my place (converting
standard house to solar passive house)
Doing nearly all work myself.
The annual financial benefit is about 3500.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chl...7627608971673/

However the FIT prices have changed as has the price of solar panels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_in...United_Kingdom

I think a new passive house need cost no more than a standard house
because there would be no gas supply or central heating to pay for.

I don't believe you will find any book that can give you the total
picture. The situation is politicised, evolving and there are lots of
nutcases out there. Some writing books.

Couldn't agree more. The picture seems to be especially confused in my
field - social housing. The nature and scale of housing development
usually follows the money, with very little thinking about whether it's
actually wanted.

My assumption is that energy costs will go up. Lots.
I anticipate getting my money back in five years. *I am half way there
and see no reason to think I'm wrong.

Which is of course fine - for you. I'd like a more systematic way of
evaluating the consequences of this understandable way of thinking. I'd
loosely hypothesise that it's actually making things worse overall. I
wrote to Green Books and they don't know of such a work.

Rob

The problem is too complex/too many varibles to come up with numbers.
But the time to act is now while you can still afford to.
If you have any money, the government will steal it by QE and now
they're thinking about negative interest rates.

On 27/02/2013 06:43, harry wrote:
.....
If you have any money, the government will steal it by QE and now
they're thinking about negative interest rates.

Negative interest rates only for banks, in order to encourage them to
lend money.

Colin Bignell

"harry" wrote in message
...
On Feb 26, 7:14 pm, RJH wrote:
On 26/02/2013 17:36, harry wrote:









On Feb 26, 10:35 am, RJH wrote:
On 26/02/2013 10:15, harry wrote:

On Feb 26, 8:56 am, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Some years ago I went to a show about building your own house. I
wasn't in a position to build my own but went out of curiosity. A
chap
called Tim Pullen was there talking about sustainable building.
Don't
worry, it's not as bad as it sounds - it's not all about windmills


Some of the things he was talking about were insulating with celotex
ground source heat pumps and under floor heating, etc. which don't
seem that daft.

At the time he was pushing his book, "Simply Sustainable Homes" but
I
never got round to buying it. Looking at Amazon it was published in
2008, so I think that a lot of it could be out of date now.

Amazon shows another book called "The Sustainable Building Bible"
that
he wrote in 2011. Has anyone read either of these? Is the 2011 book
a
reworking of the first, is it the second edition under a different
name, or is it very different? I suppose what I am asking is has
anyone read both and is it work reading both or just the latest one?
There are no reviews for the second title on Amazon.

TIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...uilding_design
http://www.greenbooks.co.uk/Subject/2/ECOBUILDING.html
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/

Quite a few such houses have been built/converted.
I have such a house.

Do you know of a book that looks systematically at costs/benefits,
both
in terms of building/retrofitting costs and pounds saving, and the
wider
costs and benefits? Things like solar panel manufacture and pollution,
labour exploitation, local economy effects, global warming/cooling (I
lose track!).

Thanks, Rob

Including 4Kwp PV panels, I spent 19,000 on my place (converting
standard house to solar passive house)
Doing nearly all work myself.
The annual financial benefit is about 3500.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chl...7627608971673/

However the FIT prices have changed as has the price of solar panels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_in...United_Kingdom

I think a new passive house need cost no more than a standard house
because there would be no gas supply or central heating to pay for.

I don't believe you will find any book that can give you the total
picture. The situation is politicised, evolving and there are lots of
nutcases out there. Some writing books.

Couldn't agree more. The picture seems to be especially confused in my
field - social housing. The nature and scale of housing development
usually follows the money, with very little thinking about whether it's
actually wanted.

My assumption is that energy costs will go up. Lots.
I anticipate getting my money back in five years. I am half way there
and see no reason to think I'm wrong.

Which is of course fine - for you. I'd like a more systematic way of
evaluating the consequences of this understandable way of thinking.
I'd loosely hypothesise that it's actually making things worse overall.
I wrote to Green Books and they don't know of such a work.

The problem is too complex/too many varibles to come up with numbers.

Bull**** with the basics.

But the time to act is now while you can still afford to.

Bet that will always be true for all except those who **** their
money against the wall on stuff like houses in europe etc.

If you have any money, the government will steal it by QE

Bull****.

and now they're thinking about negative interest rates.

Which is only good if you want to borrow the money.

On Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:21:58 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On 27/02/2013 06:43, harry wrote:
....
If you have any money, the government will steal it by QE and now
they're thinking about negative interest rates.

Negative interest rates only for banks, in order to encourage them to
lend money.

Everything the government/BoE has done so far[1] has, in the long run,
had a negative effect on consumer savings and I have no reason to
think this will be any different.

Nick
[1]With the exception of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme - and even
there, it was Europe that demanded the amount guaranteed was raised to
its current level.

On Feb 27, 7:51*am, "Rod Speed" wrote:


and now they're thinking about negative interest rates.

Which is only good if you want to borrow the money.

Your ignorance is clearly as deep as Harry's on the subject.

MBQ

On 27/02/2013 11:55, Nick Odell wrote:
On Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:21:58 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On 27/02/2013 06:43, harry wrote:
....
If you have any money, the government will steal it by QE and now
they're thinking about negative interest rates.

Negative interest rates only for banks, in order to encourage them to
lend money.

Everything the government/BoE has done so far[1] has, in the long run,
had a negative effect on consumer savings and I have no reason to
think this will be any different.

It probably isn't very good news for savers in the short term. It may
well result in higher bank charges and lower interest rates for savers.
However, if it manages to stimulate the economy by increasing lending to
business, it could be a good thing in the long term. Unfortunately, it
is virtually unknown territory and there is no certainty that it will
have the desired effect.

Colin Bignell

On Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:38:37 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

If you go into Waterstones, you can look at the book for yourself. It
would be polite to buy it from them, rather than going home and ordering
it from Amazon - Waterstones do online sales if you prefer that to
carrying the book home yourself.

You might also like to look at The Green Building Bible Volumes 1 and 2
(Fourth Edition) ISBN 978-1-898130-05-5 & 978-1-898130-06-2. The third
edition was a runner up for a RIBA award in 2007. Reviews suggest that
volume 2 is more useful than volume 1.

Thanks, I'll look into the title you suggested.

Some people are generating their own green energy and even taking themselves off the grid. There are some great guides out there on how to do this, some of which are listed on this site DIY Energy Review if you’re interested?

On 28/02/13 05:15, David557 wrote:
Some people are generating their own green energy and even taking
themselves off the grid. There are some great guides out there on how to
do this, some of which are listed on this site 'DIY Energy Review'
(http://www.diyenergyreview.com) if youre interested?




Using components built in China in factories powered by belching coal
fired power stations?

Using toxic lead and sulphuric acid for storage batteries which pollute
the environment for billions of years?
The prime requirement for for being a Green seem to be

Hypocrisy
Illiteracy
Innumeracy
Infinite capacity for self deception and delusion.
Abnormal amounts of piety.



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 28/02/2013 05:15, David557 wrote:
Some people are generating their own green energy and even taking
themselves off the grid. There are some great guides out there on how to
do this, some of which are listed on this site 'DIY Energy Review'
(http://www.diyenergyreview.com) if you’re interested?


All good for the individuals. And it's DIY and all the rest. But I do
wish they'd stop calling it things like 'green' and 'earth saving' until
there's a decent method of thinking about what that means.

Rob