Ian Brewerton Architecture

All building and construction activities have environmental impacts ...
... as do most human activities

This page sets out my own approach to my designs

Produce designs whose impact on the environment is kept to a reasonable minimum

This includes

specifying materials with minimum impacts in use;
... this includes energy efficiency, use of natural light, using durable materials with low maintenance requirements ...

specifying materials with minimum impacts when the building is no longer needed;
... this includes the use of materials which can be recycled effectively

avoiding where possible materials which are inherently toxic or resistant to safe recyling;
... this includes avoidance of (for example) PVC, toxic and carcinogenic timber preservatives, materials containing volatile organic solvents ...

avoiding materials whose extraction leads to biological resource depletion
... such as non-managed (or indeed illegal) timber extraction...

ignoring any of these principles when the results would be daft
... for example, there is little point in specifying a small quantity of an environmentally 'perfect' material which would have to be specially shipped from the other side of the world ...

Avoid complicated solutions where simple ones will do

This applies in particular to 'engineering' installations.

Not all engineered products are inappropriate in all situations - but many of them are sometimes the wrong answer to the question.

Flat plate solar panels heat water well - but how do you get a plumber on the roof if it springs a leak ?

Small wind turbines produce free green electricity - but will they pay for the installation cost before they wear out, and in any case, do you get enough of the right kind of wind ?

Underfloor heating makes for very good comfort, keeps the walls free and suits many heat sources - are you sure you will never, ever, need to move an internal wall ?

Ground source heat pumps release about 3 kW of green heat for every 1 kW of electricity used to run them - but every 1 kW of electricity delivered to your building requires an additional 2 kW to be wasted in generation and transmission

The antidote to eco-bling

If you are interested in this aspect of the environment, try this book;

Eco-minimalism
the antidote to eco-bling

Howard Liddell
RIBA Publications ltd
ISBN 978 1 85946 300 0

revised 21 April 2009