Tag Archives: Sustainability

Feb 28 2011

I need your help!

I have blogged a few times about values with specific reference to green buildings. Professionally this is an important subject for me – as you might imagine!

Currently, the hard evidence on the relationship between values on ‘green’ and ‘not-green’ buildings is sketchy at best, but perplexing at worse. It seems that (generally) a premium is being paid for ‘green’ residential property, whereas a discount is being applied to commercial property. The real problem is that it is very difficult to pin this down – and valuers love that saying that ‘we practice an art not a science’. Sometimes it looks like a black art.

I need some help…

I am working a paper with Nottingham University which firstly, tries to identify if the supposition about premiums and discounts is true and identifiable (no mean task). But if this is the case – why?

So, if you can help please get in touch.

If you just have a view as to why a green commercial building would be less appealing than a non-green building I would be interested to know. Even if you are not a surveyor or valuer…

I look forward to the comments – if you don’t want your comments to be ‘public’ feel free to email me at tgarratt@innes-england.co.uk

Dec 19 2010

A green Christmas?

I have managed pretty much to avoid blogging about Christmas so far, but I now feel moved to do so. I am working up to doing some shopping too; I might just wait a couple more days though…

I just wonder how green Christmas is? Not very I suspect.

Firstly there is all of that packaging. This is both of the gifts themselves but also the bag from the shops or the cardboard from Amazon! Then we wrap the pressies in lovely paper – around 83 square kilometres of the stuff – in context that would just about cover the whole of Guernsey…

Then there’s the billion or so Christmas cards we send each year (The average is 17 each so you can judge your own popularity).

What about the 7.1 million Christmas trees we chop down and then discard?

And then there’s all that electricity for those lights – especially the ones in my photograph.

Bah Humbug!

Dec 12 2010

Amusing Green Stickers

One of the arguments about ‘sustainable’ issues is that what we really need to do is change behaviour – rather than necessarily loading our lives with green bling.

I came across some great stickers here.

They are very cool and very green (no PVC here!). The intention is to remind you that we can easily save the Planet by switching lights off – or turning taps off. We can save vital resources – and this has a very significant impact on the overall sustainability picture.

I often think that by reminding people constantly about energy use they might just do something about it – rather than walk past it? These stickers are different, fun, green (made from PVC-free bio material) but fundamentally carry an important message…

I have ordered some for the office.

There are some good fun one’s too – here.

Dec 1 2010

The future of the City?

Some recent research suggest that the human species is on the move – towards the City. More so than ever before in our history.

New York skyline

It is estimated that by 2040 some 65% of the population of the World will live in an urban area. In itself this is quite a shift – but add to the mix an estimated increase in population in the same period from the current 6.9bn to 8.8bn. As a direct result of this the population living in slums in our Cities around the World by 2040 is expected to increase from the present 1bn to 2bn.

And if you thought we had spotted a tend already think again. Many people have never heard of Chongqing in China. It sits on Yangtze River. The population is estimated to be 32m – in reality no one really knows because the edges of the urbanisation have begun to blur. But in context Greater London is supposed to be around 21m, New York Tri-State 22m.

Clearly this poses some important questions for our Cities. What will they look like? How will they function? How will they be sustainable (in the widest sense of the word).

When I was in Shanghai back in the warm August sun I was amazed at the size of Shanghai – it took us around 45 minutes on a reasonably fast carriageway to reach the outer limits of the City.

Clearly transportation is going to be key in these mega-Cities. Paradoxically New York is one of the most efficient urbanisation’s for transport – LA is one of the worst – the urban sprawl hinders it.

Energy is also going to be a big deal – a huge amount is going to be needed to keep the Cities alight – imagine all those light bulbs needed.

What is clear is that we are going to have to think very carefully about the infrastructure that makes our home places tick.

The tricky balance of social, economic and environmental pressures are going to be the real challenge for us as we stride forward…

Oct 18 2010

The Office of the future?

I had an interesting lunch last week, hosted by Insider and with a theme about what working practices are currently and what they might look like in the future. I was part of a panel of people from various sectors in the Midlands.

A Google meeting room!

The early part of the discussion was centred around what the market is doing and the general consensus was that this was a tenants market, except perhaps in Grade A space – where the lack of supply has kept prices and deals up. This wasn’t the interesting part – as we all knew this!

The ‘panel’ did consider some interesting questions – notably what we actually do in the workplace. Much of our offices a now open plan and have become places to collaborate, but sometimes we need some protocols or strategies to allow people to work – mine is to employ an iPod! But there was a serious point, workplaces need to provide acoustic spaces and private areas – staff also need ownership. The latter can be a desk or a helping choose colours on the walls.

We touched upon The Equality Act and how that might stifle the office environment. I have strong view about this particularly legislation.

There was some amusement when a discussion ensued about the ageing nature of the workforce. The reality is that it is going to be difficult for some people to retire due to the pensions deficit. Some enlightened employers have recognised this and have installed quiet spaces. – perhaps even spaces for people to power nap (wasn’t that an 80′s thing?). Rest and recuperation may well become part of our working day, some days I feel I need it now!

Inevitably there was a section of the discussion that focused on ‘sustainability’ which generated some interesting comments. There was a very pragmatic approach which suggested that it is not always possible to build the greenest building because it can’t be afforded. Or that the users socially won’t use it. Sustainability is something that encompasses green technology, but can also be sustained in both economic and social terms.

Aug 3 2010

Avatar – brilliant!

I missed Avatar at the cinema, it was a choice between Alice in Wonderland or it. I loved Alice in 3D, but my wallet is still bruised from the experience.

Lot’s of friends had told me that Avatar was brilliant and so I was really pleased when I got a Blu-Ray copy for Fathers Day. Last week I finally got round to watching it; having found 155 minutes spare!

It is utterly brilliant. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is better than Alice.

The special effects are breathtaking – in Blu-Ray the imagery is as real as it gets. I have no idea how this is all done – I need to watch the additional features part on the disc. The ten foot tall blue skinned Na’vi are very realistic. You can learn some of the language here.

The story is great too – a bit sloppy at the end, but cleverly done. Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington are great characters – as is Stephen Lang as the wayward Colonel.

It has a green message too – the Na’vi living on the land and being part of the land. Watching the film ticked my sustainability box for the week.

It wasn’t what I expected. My wife thought it was going to be a cartoon (she hates cartoons) but it turned out to be quite a clever war film! And Sci-fi at its very best. She still only managed 30 minutes of it though!

James Cameron has done a first class job – the cost was estimated at $300m to make it! He has also said there is a sequel on its way – and I can’t wait.

Another thought occurred to me; we have a census next year? In 2001 some 390,127 people stated their religion to be Jedi … I wonder if Na’vi will be the newest religion next year? I think it might!

Jul 13 2010

Bottled water – the sustainable way?

As many will know I’m not exactly ‘green’. I do take an an interest in green buildings, but am concerned about the mis-information we get. I also have concerns about green bling – which has the capacity to undo some of the good technology.

We have an obsession it seems with bottled water – and this is probably one of the least sustainable modern phenomena. In 2007 we drank 2.1 billion litres of the stuff. That’s quite a lot – in context you could fill around 5,826,000 olympic swimming pools with it.

A story caught my eye over the weekend – in America a new product has been launched – the Bobble. It costs $9.95 (about £6.60). It basically takes the re-usable bottle a stage further – it incorporates a carbon filter to make ‘filtered’ water. The web site claims that the filter is good for 150 litres.

I think this is a great product in several ways. Firstly it does what is says on the tin – it is re-usable and thus sustainable. It is very cost effective. But better than this – it looks fantastic – and much better than the current crop of plastic bottles on the supermarket shelf (perhaps with the exception of the Paul Smith Evian bottle).

Once again, it’s a simple idea, done well – I look forward to getting hold of one in the UK.

Failing that I will have to pick one up in the USA on my next trip. I am worried though that flying to New York to pick one up at Bloomindales might not be altogether green?

May 31 2010

Farming – a dying trade

The average age of a farmer is 58 in the UK – and the number of younger farmers is dwindling. In 2009 it was also estimated that two farms per week were selling up.

I must admit, it’s not a life for me. A 4am wake up call to milk a herd of hundreds of cows wouldn’t be my idea of fun. Especially in the short days of winter! Not that the farmer has short days – it is said that they can work 100 hours per week! The weather plays a big part in a farmers life. Wet and dark can’t be a lot of fun?

When you see on Countryfile (an essential watch!) Adam Henson struggling with the lottery of TB – you wonder what they do get from the job. I guess that the outdoor life is the main attraction and a love of animals (although they have to remain dispassionate) must be part too.

I really admire Adam and small farmers – they work incredibly hard – and some times the rewards seem rather small? I have heard it said that it is the factory farms that are crippling the business. I blogged here previously about one such super-farm being proposed in Nocton.

I am the first to admit that the free market usually sorts things out, but I do have my reservations about bigger always being better. The likes of the major supermarkets like Tesco are not always the best for us. Just have a look at my mate John Lyle’s blog here (not about farming but about the cheap drink argument). It is the same principle.

We really do need to think hard about the future – and whether we want all of our food (crop or livestock) to come from factories – or whether we want to make sure that local farms still exist. There are lot’s of green arguments about farming locally – including urban farms.

But to have any sort of future at all we need young people to get into farming. And it needs to happen soon. Or it will be too late – the present farming generation won’t be able to pass on their expertise – and that will be lost forever.

May 22 2010

Green values – not much further forward?

At the end of March I went to a breakfast meeting at Nottingham Trent University – the subject matter was whether green buildings had a higher value than buildings that are not green. I blogged about it here.

The sort of green I do understand as a valuer

I also blogged a couple of weeks ago about the role of a valuer, simply reporting on the market. As I have said before we don’t make the market – we do have to interpret it.

This week I was at Gleeds in Nottingham – another breakfast seminar examining the impact of green leases on value but also a take on the legal aspects. Valuers came in for a bit of a beating! The suggestion was that valuers need to understand green issues more to be able to educate occupiers. I couldn’t let this go as this is slightly unfair. I suggest again that as a valuer we are only interpreting the market – we don’t make it!

The real education needs to be at the occupier level. There are some green evangelists out there – and we have some as tenants. But the vast majority of occupiers in my view place ‘green issues’ or ‘sustainability’ fairly low on their shopping list. My experience is that it is still location and price first – by some distance!

But some fair points were made. We still don’t really have a clear understanding on what a green building is. There are different measurement tools including BREEAM and EPC certificates. But ‘green’ means different things to different people. There is too much EcoBling and much of the technology is still quite immature.

We need much better and clearer information – in the meantime there is no real evidence that a green building is worth more than a non-green building! In fact there is some hearsay evidence that the opposite might be true – at the moment…

Apr 2 2010

Milking it in Lincolnshire!

As a regular viewer of Countryfile, it was interesting at the weekend to see the proposals for a new super-farm in Nocton, Licolnshire.


An estimated 8100 Holstein Friesian cows will roam on 21,000 acres of land and be tended by 85 employees & 1 full-time vet. The farm is likely to produce 250,000 litres of milk daily. That’s a lot!

There are two schools of thought. Supporters point to milk being produced locally and not being imported. Locals are worried about traffic increases & pollution from the manure. It does also look like a battery farm – even though the cattle will be allowed some time outside to graze…

On the one hand the supporters and promoters have a point, it is much better for us to produce our own milk (with it’s associated quality controls) than to import. It also must be more sustainable than transporting from abroad – but therein lies a problem. Is it actually more sustainable? With such large amounts of milk Nocton residents are going to be awash. At the last count there were 650 of them – so a whopping 384 litres each – every day. Even if they give some to their neighbouring villages they are going to be quite calcium rich.

The serious point is that this is not terribly sustainable – as the milk will need to be transported long distances. It is acknowledged that many local farms are struggling. Supermarkets might have a part to play here – the local shop can’t compete any more – and as a society we like convenience. But if we really want to protest we know how to do so – vote with our feet.

I am not entirely convinced that bigger is always better. I happen to think that the animals will be fine – and looked after in accordance with good practice. The slurry can be captured to create methane for burning – so being potentially sustainable. But the traffic movement in this small village could be a major problem – and the distance the milk travels seems to have been overlooked?

The public meeting planned for a few weeks ago was cancelled due to the threat of animal rights campaigners – so the public airing hasn’t taken place.

It will be interesting to follow this particular project. I don’t envy the Planning Authority – (under ref 09/1040/FUL if you want to look it up!) will need to make a decision based on Planning grounds – not emotive feelings of the protestors or supporters!