I don't think this is getting the coverage it needs. Scottish government to require passivhaus standard for all new build homes. This is big. Really big. Growing out of lessons from the 70's oil crisis. Passivhaus buildings use very little energy to heat, or to cool. We've known how to do this for decades. It's gross negligence from all western governments that the same is not true of all new builds in the developed world.
My first reaction to this is that it's about 30 years too late. But right now I'm just glad that at least someone has turned up to the party, even if it's later than ideal.
Building energy efficiency is something we really need to look into as we try to cut emissions here in the west. It's up there with reducing private car ownership for impact on emissions reductions. Imagine being able to live in a home that is warm, comfortable, and can be heated for next to nothing. Welldone Scotland.
@quixoticgeek yes. Proximity and spatial planning that promotes the options for low envionmental/high social modes should be an integral part of it.
@Marrekoo Aye, I hope that we see a lot fewer "single family homes" and "executive homes". Passivhaus apartments, with good public transport and bike facilities please!
@quixoticgeek agree totally with all 3 toots.
About 10 years ago we bought a plot of land with a very derelict house on it.
Tried to get planning permission for 2 passiv-haus homes with enough solar to be energy self sufficient. Right at the end of a full separated cycle route to Leicester Uni and hospital.
Never managed to get planning permission. Opposite they took no action on a big set of alterations adding extra flats to a block, dozen car parking spaces on the cycle path.
Crazy!
@quixoticgeek ...and don't forget bicycles. For short distances biking is absolutely the best way to get around if you haven't time to walk and it helps keep you fit. Look at the Netherlands..
@JMacfie I would actually day walking should be the first choice for short distances (sub 2km). Cycling is great. But as I experience first hand here in the Netherlands, there can be scale issues when cycling truly takes off. Walking 500m to a shop for a loaf of bread is better than cycling. And also avoids the collection of bikes parked outside the bakery getting too large. Etc...
@quixoticgeek also the necessity for storage space for your range of bikes...some Dutch friends reeled off a list: cargo bike for shopping, off road exploration bike, fast road bike for commuting etc. But these are good problems to have.
I have a bike with no gears for tootling around as it's Thailand and I don't like exposing my fair skin to the sun a minute longer than necessary. Am already looking enviously at the guys with racer bikes as they whizz effortlessly past, though...
@quixoticgeek when I lived in Scotland I had no car and regularly walked 1.2km down a steep hill into the village. And back again. If it hadn't been for the traffic it would have been a delight. Walking is so good for you, especially in the dark - it sharpens the senses.
@quixoticgeek @JMacfie Biking is far more energy efficient. Indeed, we cycle 500m, and that is fine. Resolving all the parking problems takes time, and can never keep up with changing demand anyway. It will go away if we stop all starting work between 8-9
@JMacfie @quixoticgeek and look at Paris, and at US smaller cities, and Berlin, creating bike routes in metropolitan areas with lane separation between cyclists and traffic.
@quixoticgeek
The biggest reason most countries haven't adopted this is corruption.
It's the last thing oil companies and energy suppliers want, because it means we won't buy their products. Throw a million pounds at a few officials every election cycle, guarantee 100 billion revenue every year. Bargain!
It's a long overdue move, but I'm delighted my kids will see the benefit of it.
Instead we subsidize the rich and the corporations for their fancy cars.
Thinking about this some more. I find myself wondering if people have considered the full implications of what this means beyond the home itself. Having a home that you can heat for a few cents per day, but then parking a 3t death cage out front with a 100kwh battery in it seems to kinda defeat the point. As we divest ourselves of car dependence our future homes need to be built with this in mind, developers should be required to include public transport provision in their new builds too...