The Challenge of Climate Change
There is now a solid scientific consensus that man made CO2 emissions are the major contributory factor to global warming. That the world is warming up is not in dispute. The handful of dissenters known as climate change sceptics do not questions the reality of global warming they merely question whether we can be certain that man made emissions are the primary cause of global warming.
What is incontrovertible is that we know the planet can live without human CO2 emissions, we do not know that it can live with them. This asymmetry of risk means that it would be reckless to ignore the evidence that such emissions are causing climate change. Moreover many of the strategies designed to combat climate change would be necessary even in the absence of the evidence that global warming is caused by our output of CO2.
For example declining fossil fuel supplies would in any case make energy conservation and development of renewable energy sources essential. Likewise deforestation has been shown to have numerous environmentally destructive consequences apart from its effect on CO2 emissions so would be justified regardless of concerns about carbon production. And limitations on resources would make recycling appear prudent even if it did not reduce our output of CO2.
Meanwhile from the point of view of individuals and businesses whether or not we believe the scientists is substantially irrelevant. Government policy is already predicated on the need to reduce carbon emissions. Soon all new buildings will have to be carbon neutral and further measures to promote or enforce eco-renovation look inevitable.
Oliver has been dedicated to Sustainable, energy efficient design in the built environment since embarking on his career in Architecture in the early 90s.
While at Oxford Brookes University Oliver obtained diplomas in both Architecture and Energy Efficient Building. Early design projects focused on the importance of plants in the built environment particularly in relation to ameliorating the problems of sick building syndrome and creating healthy houses.
In his working life he was a member of the Grimshaw Architects ISO 9001 implementation group and assisted in the development of the practices environmental management group.
The practices approach to environmental architecture is informed and pragmatic. We seek to inform clients on how projects can be made environmentally friendly should they so wish.
Many of our clients do not consider the environment as a priority however we suspect particularly in the current climate of rising fuel bills that there will be some aspects of eco-design which will appeal, on purely economic grounds, even to non environmentalist clients. For example energy efficiency not only reduces carbon emissions, it also reduces fuel bills and can add to the value of a building.
For the more ecologically minded OBA can offer anything from a ‘just green enough’ eco-renovation to the design and construction of a fully passive house standard eco-house.
Our Environmentalism is motivated as much by common sense as idealism. With rising fossil fuel prices and constraints on resources, energy efficiency, renewable energy and recycling increasingly make economic as well as environmental sense.
If we have a mission it is to show that green building need not cost the earth. We believe eco-design will not be generally adopted until it becomes easily affordable. For this to happen, imagination must be married with practicality. Our emphasis therefore is always upon affordable environmentalism.
Environmental Articles
What is incontrovertible is that we know the planet can live without human CO2 emissions, we do not know that it can live with them. This asymmetry of risk means that it would be reckless to ignore the evidence that such emissions are causing climate change. Moreover many of the strategies designed to combat climate change would be necessary even in the absence of the evidence that global warming is caused by our output of CO2.
For example declining fossil fuel supplies would in any case make energy conservation and development of renewable energy sources essential. Likewise deforestation has been shown to have numerous environmentally destructive consequences apart from its effect on CO2 emissions so would be justified regardless of concerns about carbon production. And limitations on resources would make recycling appear prudent even if it did not reduce our output of CO2.
Meanwhile from the point of view of individuals and businesses whether or not we believe the scientists is substantially irrelevant. Government policy is already predicated on the need to reduce carbon emissions. Soon all new buildings will have to be carbon neutral and further measures to promote or enforce eco-renovation look inevitable.
Pragmatic Environmentalism
Oliver has been dedicated to Sustainable, energy efficient design in the built environment since embarking on his career in Architecture in the early 90s.
While at Oxford Brookes University Oliver obtained diplomas in both Architecture and Energy Efficient Building. Early design projects focused on the importance of plants in the built environment particularly in relation to ameliorating the problems of sick building syndrome and creating healthy houses.
In his working life he was a member of the Grimshaw Architects ISO 9001 implementation group and assisted in the development of the practices environmental management group.
The practices approach to environmental architecture is informed and pragmatic. We seek to inform clients on how projects can be made environmentally friendly should they so wish.
Many of our clients do not consider the environment as a priority however we suspect particularly in the current climate of rising fuel bills that there will be some aspects of eco-design which will appeal, on purely economic grounds, even to non environmentalist clients. For example energy efficiency not only reduces carbon emissions, it also reduces fuel bills and can add to the value of a building.
For the more ecologically minded OBA can offer anything from a ‘just green enough’ eco-renovation to the design and construction of a fully passive house standard eco-house.
Our Environmentalism is motivated as much by common sense as idealism. With rising fossil fuel prices and constraints on resources, energy efficiency, renewable energy and recycling increasingly make economic as well as environmental sense.
If we have a mission it is to show that green building need not cost the earth. We believe eco-design will not be generally adopted until it becomes easily affordable. For this to happen, imagination must be married with practicality. Our emphasis therefore is always upon affordable environmentalism.