Ar C.J. Walsh Technical Blog – Registered Architect, Fire Engineer & Independent Technical/Building Controller …… International Expert on Accessibility for All (including Fire Safety) + 'Real' Sustainability Implementation !
2009-04-13: Exactly a week ago … in the early hours of Monday morning (03:32 hrs local time), 6th April 2009, a violent earthquake hit the central Italian Region of Abruzzo.The quake had a ‘magnitude’ of 6.3 on the Richter Scale … a scale developed by Charles Richter (1900-1985) during the last century, in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg (1889-1960).
The high numbers of fatalities and people injured continue, even at this time of writing … seven days later, to rise and rise.Approaching 60,000 people have been left homeless.It will take many, many years to restore buildings … and much longer than that to restore the delicate social fabric of local communities.
It is a remarkable joy to experience the culture, and live among the people of one such small community in the centre of Italy … Amandola (≈ 4,500 inhabitants), which is a typical hilltop town located approximately 70 Km north of L’Aquila (≈ 67,000 inhabitants), capital of the Abruzzo Region.
Colour photograph showing the view, taken just a few hours after the Abruzzo Earthquake, looking towards L’Aquila over the snow-capped Sibillini Mountains. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh from within the historical centre of Amandola, 70 Km away. 2009-04-06.
Earthquakes between 6.1 and 6.9 on the Richter Scale regularly cause damage in areas up to 100 Kilometres away from the ‘epicentre’ … that point on the earth’s surface located vertically above the place deep within the Earth where the quake originated.
To put local news reports into some context … accurate measurement of dramatically increased levels of natural radon activity in soils, allied with a good understanding of local geology and seismology, can be an important, although not 100% reliable, indicator of what is happening deep underground. Unfortunately, and unlike in Ireland, radon protection of buildings is not taken seriously in Italy … so, not much attention would have been paid to what anybody said about radon activity in the soils around L’Aquila before the ‘big one’ hit !
Tremors from an earthquake, or trembling vibrations, can be felt strongly far away from an epicentre.I know, because I was in Amandola last Monday morning.
To be involved in Earthquake Resisting Design is one thing … I am very comfortable with technical issues, facts, concepts, building products, etc.To become intimate, however, with the ‘reality’ of a mother of an Earthquake is altogether different !
Jerked awake in those early hours … the building was rocking, not just swaying.Before reaching full consciousness … too much had already happened.If the building had collapsed, I would never have known what hit me.But, it didn’t … and there was no internal damage or cracking.
I don’t know why … but, I went back to sleep again.
Just after 08.00 hrs (local time), phone texts began to arrive from Ireland … “was everybody safe ?”.Something ‘big’ must have happened during the night.I rushed to put on the television news … forget about SKY NEWS, CNN, BBC and that miserable, no-good, laughable excuse for an ‘impartial, balanced and fair’ news service FOX NEWS … the best coverage … and continuous coverage … was on the Italian TV Stations.
Tragic scenes … of historical buildings destroyed … expected, because they would not be of modern (reinforced concrete or steel) construction … and, far many more than should be the case, of modern buildings seriously damaged or collapsed like a plate of pancakes … somewhat expected, because of inadequate technical controls over building design and construction in many parts of the country.
[Similar scenes of modern, ‘tofu’ construction could be witnessed after the Major Earthquakes in Central China, beginning in May 2008.]
Later that morning, I inspected an historical building which I had recently restored … and where I had incorporated earthquake resisting features.Relief, relief, relief … not a single crack.
Travelling back to Rome by car that afternoon, fleets of emergency response vehicles moved swiftly in the opposite direction towards the Earthquake Zone …
2009-04-13: On the Monday following Easter Sunday, in 1916 … the initial phase of the Irish Revolution was signalled by reading the Proclamation of Freedom in front of the General Post Office (GPO) on Dublin City’s main street, O’Connell Street … then called Sackville Street.
Some years ago, when visiting the graves of the Revolution’s Executed Leaders in Arbour Hill Cemetery, just a short walk from where I live … I was drawn to read that same Proclamation which is inscribed, above their graves, in stone.The words are rousing … as they were meant to be at the time … but also inspiring for today.
The Proclamation begins …
” IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN:In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.”
… and, further on, continues …
” The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman.The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.”
I wonder how many of our politicians, or senior civil servants … or our bankers … our business and religious leaders … have ever taken the time to read and understand those words ?
2009-04-11: Globalization is not just an economic concept … it is a social reality in the 21st Century.
The recent legal settlement in the United States of America between the Authors Guild (USA) and Google, announced 2008-10-28, relates to the protection of authors’ rights during the course of Google’s Live Project to digitize every hardcopy book … of any type.This settlement has consequences far beyond the jurisdiction of the USA. Beware !
In the middle of all this consternation, and directly linked to many things I have been discussing over the past months … on 8th April 2009, I signed the following Petition …
” When Amazon released the Kindle 2 electronic book reader on 9 February 2009, the company announced that the device would read e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology.Under pressure from the Authors Guild (USA), Amazon announced that it will give authors and publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech function on any or all of their e-books available for the Kindle 2.
The Reading Rights Coalition (USA), which represents people who cannot read print, is protesting against the threatened removal of the text-to-speech function from e-books for the Amazon Kindle 2.
The Coalition includes organizations which represent the blind, people with dyslexia, people with learning or processing issues, seniors losing vision, people with spinal cord injuries, people recovering from strokes, and many others for whom the addition of text-to-speech on the Kindle 2 promised to facilitate, for the first time, easy mainstream access to thousands and thousands of books.”
I added this Text to my Signature (#3238) …
” This action by the Authors Guild must now be clearly described and understood as a denial of basic human rights for a sizeable sector of the population in all of our societies.Since 3 May 2008, when it became an International Legal Instrument … the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities specifies, protects and guarantees these basic rights.It is the stated intention of the Obama Administration that the USA will soon ratify this UN Convention.”
2009-03-31: ‘Sustainable’ … ‘Sustainability’ … ‘Sustainable Development’ … what’s all this about ? … and where to begin ?
Words much abused … not only in English … but definitely in French !
Words much confused … for example, in the USA … where ‘Sustainable’ and ‘Green’ can be interchanged in the same conversation without apparent rhyme or reason.Is there a difference between the two ?Some people don’t want to admit that there is … those working in the Green Building Council … or those peddling the LEED Environmental Building Rating System around the more economically advanced developing countries in the world. In India … you can find a ‘LEED’ Building, minimally adapted to local conditions and having used many imported products and systems in its construction (from you-know-where !) … sitting prettily in the neighbourhood of a slum.
In Ireland … remember the good old days, 12-18 months ago … when Economists could afford (?!?) to talk about ‘Sustainable Economic Development’ … did they really mean economic development which is compatible with sustainable development ?No, they didn’t !
Is there any level of awareness amongst our Politicians ?In the National Development Plan (2007-2013), Mr. Brian Cowan T.D., then Minister for Finance, wrote in a January 2007 Foreword to the Plan …
” This National Development Plan is about the future of those young people, their parents, and their grandparents. It establishes a blueprint for the economic and social development of this island for future generations.
In this Plan, we have a unique window of opportunity to get it right: in terms of spatial planning, support infrastructure, environmental sustainability and economic growth.”
… an unusual limitation on the use and context for the word ‘sustainability’ … which should now also be exhibited in the National Gallery of Art !?!
Some Organizations openly state that they are dealing with … or they will only be dealing with … environmental aspects of sustainable development.That is a silly waste of time … and counterproductive !
Properly Defining Sustainable Development
Let us quickly re-wind back to the end of the 20th Century …
… not as far back as the Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which met in Sweden, from 5-16th June 1972 … which, for us, was a very interesting exercise …
… but to the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), which was chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway).Mansour Khalid (Sudan) was Vice-Chair of the Commission.
The definition of ‘Sustainable Development’ appears at the beginning of Chapter 2 …
” Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.It contains within it two key concepts:
–the concept of ‘needs’, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given ; and
–the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”
Many readers may only be familiar with the first sentence above but, in isolation, that leaves the definition of ‘sustainable development’ so vague that it is almost meaningless. And let us be clear in our own minds … an ambiguous definition will continue to be rejected by the Developing and Least Developed Regions of the World … the concept being viewed as an unaffordable luxury and/or a means of continued domination and control by the ‘North’.
Other readers may be surprised by the second, and more important, half of the WCED/Brundtland Definition.It is clear, however, that it was always intended that there would be more than 3 Aspects of Sustainable Development … Environmental, Social and Economic … to be identified and examined. How, on this Earth, was it possible for anybody to ever bring into existence that clumsy 3-Circle Diagram ???
The 1987 WCED/Brundtland Report continues a little further on …
” The satisfaction of human needs and aspirations is the major objective of development.The essential needs of vast numbers of people in developing countries – for food, clothing, shelter, jobs – are not being met, and beyond their basic needs these people have legitimate aspirations for an improved quality of life.A world in which poverty and inequity are endemic will always be prone to ecological and other crises.Sustainable Development requires meeting the basic needs of all and extending to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspirations for a better life.”
Sustainable Development is the greatest challenge ahead of us in this 21st Century. It remains very much an intricate, open, dynamic and evolving concept …
… and a clear choice must be made: decide to pursue the detailed elaboration of this concept … either with the aim of practical implementation … or of intellectual masturbation.
We made that choice many years ago … back in the mid-1990’s.
Practical Implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development
In order to make any ‘real’ progress … how can we establish, agree upon and achieve a wide international consensus on what the ‘basic needs of all’ are … and with some precision ?
Is there an internationally recognized document, already long in existence, where these ‘basic needs’ are not only specified for all people, but are protected and guaranteed ?
Reading through the 1948 UDHR, it might be helpful if a distinction is made between human rights and social rights …
Social Rights:
Rights to which an individual person is legally entitled, e.g. the right to free elementary education (Art.26(1), UDHR), but which are only exercised in a social context with other people, and with the active support of a competent legal authority, e.g. a Nation State.
Commentary: In contrast to Human Rights, it is not protection from the State which is desired or achieved, but freedom with the State’s help.
Social Rights, as distinguished here, include and extend beyond current understandings of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
This is why, almost a generation after the 1987 WCED/Brundtland Definition ofSustainable Development …
… Sustainable Design International, has defined Sustainable Human & Social Development as follows …
Development which meets the responsible needs, i.e. the Human & Social Rights*, of this generation – without stealing the life and living resources from future generations, especially our children … and their children.
* As defined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN OHCHR).
Furthermore … for a sizeable group of people in all of our societies, the sole route of access to the human and social rights set down in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights … is the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities … which became an International Legal Instrument on 3rd May 2008 … just short of 60 Years after the UDHR was adopted on 10th December 1948 !
A 3rd International Instrument to be placed at the top of this Framework of Basic & Responsible Needs, i.e. Rights … is the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO) … adopted in Paris, on 2nd November 2001 … and which came into being shortly after the World Trade Center (9-11) Incident in New York, on 11th September 2001.
The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity raises cultural diversity to the level of the common heritage of humanity … as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature … and makes its defence an ethical imperative which is robustly linked to, and cannot be separated from, respect for the dignity of each individual person.
Paris, at the end of 2001, presented the world with a valuable opportunity …
–to reaffirm the unshakable conviction that intercultural dialogue is the best guarantee of peace ;and
–to reject outright the theory of the inevitable clash of cultures and civilizations.
So … once it is possible to construct an initial, robust framework of International Human & Social Rights Instruments … specifying the ‘basic needs of all’ … which underpins and cuts down to the core of a far more elaborate and hard-edged, 2nd Generation Definition of Sustainable Human & Social Development …
Colour image showing an extract from CJ Walsh’s Presentation: ‘Sustainable Fire Engineering’, at a Building Seminar in Dubayy(UAE) towards the end of October 2008. The Initial Framework of International Human & Social Rights Instruments underpinning Sustainable Human & Social Development. Click to enlarge.
… we can roll out the ‘Sustainability’ Agenda … and begin the serious task of transforming our Human Environment (see a previous post) by gradually improving and monitoring ‘real’ Sustainability Performance … using …
–Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) … see a previous post ;
2009-03-06: In August 2008 … I travelled to Bengaluru (Bangalore), in the south of India, to attend a Fire Conference organized by the Fire & Safety Association of India (FSAI).A year earlier, I had been with them in Chennai (Madras), also in the south. My own father, Con, had been a teacher in the north of the country from about 1930 onwards, so I had always wanted to see the country for myself. He was caught there, by the way, during the 2nd World War and could only travel back home, to Ireland, in 1947.
Much to the amusement of local people, the means of transport I decided to use … guaranteeing a vivid experience of the varied local sights, sounds and smells … was an Auto-Rickshaw … a three-wheeled scooter, with an open yellow cab on the back.It is a common form of transport in the large cities of India. This was a serious effort … no messing around in the sealed cocoon of an air-conditioned taxi !
These 2 Photographs were taken during the rush hour traffic, early one morning, in Bengaluru. The roads were jammed solid with traffic … every type of vehicle … crawling along at a snail’s pace.The driver of my Auto-Rickshaw was bent over the handlebars … always coughing … heaving a loud, jagged-rough, deep cough …
Colour Photograph showing the View from Inside an Auto-Rickshaw during Morning Rush Hour Traffic in Bengaluru, Southern India. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2008-08-07.
The reason for his coughing … you can see an actual pollution haze to the right of the frame below … a haze so thick, that it almost had to be parted with your hands in order to see ahead …
Colour Photograph showing the Pollution Haze during Morning Rush Hour Traffic in Bengaluru, Southern India. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2008-08-07.
This is the reality of everyday life on the ground in one of the economically more advanced ‘developing’ countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa (BRICS) – where far too many people are chasing the dream of our reality in Europe … a reality created from the plunder, over hundreds of years, of those same ‘developing’ countries.
This is why the European Union must lead by ‘real’ example when it comes to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.But, is it ‘real’ ????
This is why Ireland must begin to properly face up to its responsibilities under Kyoto I, the EU 2020 Targets, and a probable Kyoto II International Agreement to be finalized in Copenhagen towards the end of 2009.
This is why the United States of America must stop prancing around our fragile planet like a spoiled, immature child … and engage seriously with the rest of us.We have lost all patience !
On 28th January 2009, the European Commission issued COM(2009) 39 final …
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee & the Committee of the Regions – Towards a Comprehensive Climate Change Agreement in Copenhagen.
On Page 2 of the Communication, the Executive Summary commences …
‘ The successful conclusion of the international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 is a key priority for the European Union (EU).Now that the Climate & Energy package has been adopted, the EU must step up its contacts with third Countries, both in the UN context and beyond.’
A paragraph later, it continues …
‘ In order to limit the global average temperature increase to not more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, developed countries as a group should reduce their emissions to 30% below 1990 levels in 2020. The EU has set the example by committing to a 20% reduction in its emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2020, irrespective of whether or not an international agreement is concluded. This is by far the most ambitious commitment by any country or group of countries in the world for the post-2012 period.
The EU is willing to go further and sign up to a 30% reduction target in the context of a sufficiently ambitious and comprehensive international agreement that provides for comparable reductions by other developed countries, and appropriate actions by developing countries. Developing countries as a group should limit the growth of their emissions to 15-30% below business as usual.’
2009-03-03: Recent international attention has been drawn, in a morbid sort of way, to the current economic condition of two contrasting cities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Abu Dhabi and Dubayy (Dubai).
In the month of October, 2008, I was very pleased to travel to both of these cities for the first time … with the purpose of introducing the subject of Sustainable Fire Engineering at a Building Seminar in the World Trade Centre, Dubayy.My host was, and is more so now, convinced that this innovative approach to fire engineering offers a key to future commercial success in the Gulf Region.
Before making my presentation, however, I had spent some essential days wandering around Abu Dhabi … soaking up the local atmosphere and culture.
Arriving later in Dubayy, I was ‘shocked and stunned’ – a vivid Dublin expression –to see that Billions of Dirhams (the local currency) had been spent on re-creating the Nightmare that is the 20th Century American City … where, if you want to just scratch your nose, you must get into your car – or one of them at least – to do so.
It was tragic to see how the local authorities were trying to ‘shoehorn’ an Urban Rail System into the existing City Fabric … ducking, and weaving in and out, between road overpasses and spaghetti junctions which had only been built in the last 10 years.
Sightings of UMO’s (Unidentified Moving Objects) … pedestrians and cyclists … are extremely rare ! The local summer, by the way, is the only season when it is definitely unhealthy to engage in either activity … temperatures can regularly reach into the low 50s oC.
People are much smarter in Abu Dhabi – so I was told.They have seen the mistakes which have been made up the road, and they are determined to take a different path with their future development.
“How long will it take to transform and re-shape Abu Dhabi into a Sustainable City ?”, I was asked.
In order to answer that question, a new language is required.Let me introduce you to some of its Technical Terms … which, even after many years of sweat and toil in SDI, are still being regularly reviewed, revised and updated:
Human Environment …
Anywhere there is, or has been, an intrusion by a human being in the natural environment.
The Human Environment comprises, and must be taken together as a unified, complex whole:
Social Environment …
The complex network of real and virtual human interaction – at a communal or larger group level – which operates for reasons of tradition, culture, business, pleasure, information exchange, institutional organization, legal procedure, governance, human betterment, social progress and spiritual enlightenment, etc.
The Social Environment shapes, binds together, and directs the future development of, the Built (including Virtual) Environment.
Built Environment …
Anywhere there is, or has been, a man-made or wrought (worked) intervention by humans in the natural environment, e.g. cities, towns, villages, rural settlements, services, transport systems, roads, bridges, tunnels, and cultivated lands, lakes, rivers, coasts, seas, etc.
Virtual Environment …
A designed environment, electronically-generated from within the Built Environment, which may have the appearance, form, functionality and impact – to the person perceiving and actually experiencing it – of a real, imagined and/or utopian world.
Long before the present seismic upheavals and sordid revelations … the intuition of many people around the world had been informed that ‘economics’ inhabited its own closed environment … and operated to entirely different ‘rules’ from the rest of us – mere peasants – which are anything but open and transparent. The ‘actors’ in this Economic Environment are not accountable. Well … not yet, anyway !
Economic Environment …
The intricate web of real and virtual human commercial activity – operating at micro and macro-economic levels – which facilitates, supports, but sometimes hampers or disrupts, human interaction in the Social Environment.
And, still under development … the Institutional Environment.
Social Wellbeing …
A general condition – in a community, society or culture – of health, happiness, creativity, responsible fulfilment, and sustainable development.
Individual Welfare …
A person’s general feeling of health, happiness and fulfilment.
And finally for now:
The City …
A geographical region, with open and flexible boundaries, consisting of:
(a) An interwoven, densely constructed core (built environment) ;
(b) A large resident population of more than 500,000 people (social environment) ;
(c) A supporting hinterland of lands, waters and other natural resources (cultivated landscape) ;
together functioning as …
(i) a complex living system (analogous to, yet different from, other living systems such as ecosystems and organisms) ;and
(ii) a synergetic community capable of providing a high level of individual welfare and social wellbeing for all of its inhabitants.
2009-02-20: The recent comment submitted by Mr. Robin Evans regarding the use of Infra-Red Thermography as an aid to BER Assessment … and the high level of confusion and misinformation in the marketplace, which I have now had an opportunity to examine more closely … have forced me to conclude that a series of posts on BER Certificates would be good for the system – ‘my’ system !
There are many pieces in this jig-saw puzzle, but the final picture is wonderful … please believe me.
Before I start to assemble anything, however, a few small details …
–Infra-Red Thermography.This is a valuable technical aid during any Energy Survey of any Building.It is remarkable how much information can be gathered by a good, high-resolution Infra-Red Camera. But, it must be used competently …Because we are working in ambient temperature conditions, i.e. between -10OC and +30 OC, it should be a Long Wave Infra-Red Camera (≈ 8-12 microns).The temperature difference between the inside of the building and the exterior should be at least 10 degrees C … it would be better with 15 degrees C.The Camera Operator should be fully familiar with the operation of the Camera and its associated computer software, etc … and he/she should know what they are looking at.In other words, some sort of architectural background is essential … not only are images taken outside the building, but they are also taken inside the building !Any Camera Work should be done after dark. It is not necessary to do a midnight to 4 o’clock in the morning shift … 8 o’clock in the evening until midnight is perfectly fine.By the way, none of this work can be done in just 30 minutes.Finally, Infra-Red Work is best carried out, in Ireland, during the Heating Season, i.e. the months of November through to March. Depending on the year, it may be possible to squeeze in the end of October and the beginning of April.
In the old days, I used to work as part of a Multi-Disciplinary Team of 4 People (not all males !), comprising a Civil Engineer, a Physicist/Expert in Measurement, an Engineering Technician with a background in Social Science, and myself as Architect/Fire Engineer/Technical Controller.They were great days !
Robin … in order to provide this service for the owner of a typical suburban, semi-detached house … €100 (Euros) is a little on the low side, even as a ‘lost leader’.
And … the Irish Public are indeed blissfully unaware of the efficacy of Infra-Red Thermography.The ‘powers that be’ in Ireland, i.e. the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government (DEHLG), Energy Ireland (SEI) and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), are not at all interested in the ‘real’ energy performance of buildings. They have a vested interest in not being interested.Suddenly … the image of an ostrich, with head deeply embedded in sand, floods my mind …
Colour Clip Art Image of an Ostrich, with head deeply embedded in sand. Meanwhile, in the background, an hourglass signals that time is running out !
–BER Certificates & EU/National Legislation.Mr. Charlie McCreevy, Ireland’s EU Commissioner, during one of his many ‘direct, pragmatic and neo-liberal’ talks in Dublin, used the following magnificent phrase in relation to the national implementation of European Union Legislation in the different EU Member States … ‘National Gold Plating and Divergent Implementation’ … some important words to remember ! However, I learned this valuable lesson myself a long, long time ago.
Irish National Legislation:Statutory Instrument No. 666 of 2006: European Communities (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2006.
These Regulations may be unconstitutional.A prime example … Section 23 (1) states that a person authorised by Energy Ireland (SEI) under the Regulations … ‘may enter, inspect and examine a building or any part of a building for the purpose of forming an opinion as to whether or not a BER Data File or BER Certificate issued for the building, or part of the building, is warranted’.In relation to a private, single-occupation dwelling house … this provision is entirely unacceptable !
The Register of BER Assessors on the SEI WebSite is not reliable.
Because of ‘national gold plating and divergent implementation’ in Ireland, it is necessary to be familiar, also, with the originating EU Secondary Legislation.
European Union Legislation:EU Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 16 December 2002, on the Energy Performance of Buildings.
Both pieces of legislation can be downloaded from the SDI WebSite … here.
–Thermal Comfort in Buildings.The starting point for any discussion about this subject should be an International Standard, which is also the European Standard and the Irish National Standard … ISO 7730Moderate Thermal Environments – Determination of the PMV and PPD Indices and Specification of the Conditions for Thermal Comfort.
This Standard establishes the following important general principle … and is also critical in relation to people with activity limitations who use/occupy/visit buildings: Man’s/Woman’s Thermal Sensation is mainly related to the thermal balance of his/her body as a whole.This balance is influenced by his/her physical activity and clothing, as well as the environmental parameters: air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air velocity (i.e. draughts) and air humidity.
Air Temperature, alone, is definitely not an Indicator of Thermal Comfort in a building.
–Technical Control of Construction.The 2005 & 2008 NIST Reports on the 9-11 WTC Incident have presented us with some stark language … ‘NIST urges state and local agencies to rigorously enforce building codes and standards since such enforcement is critical to ensure the expected level of safety … unless they are complied with, the best codes and standards cannot protect occupants, emergency responders, or buildings.’
With regard to Private Construction in Ireland … Building Control Authorities in Ireland are, purposefully, not sufficiently resourced to be ‘effective’.See my earlier Post, dated 2009-02-12.
With regard to Public Construction in Ireland … self-regulation is no regulation ! Government Departments, the Office of Public Works and Local Authorities can, far too often, be complacent, careless and/or stubborn concerning compliance with even the minimal performance levels specified in building regulations, codes and standards.
Please allow me to extend a warm welcome to you onto the International Stage … and an even warmer welcome for the United States of America back into the International Fold of Nations.
The last 8 Years have been a nightmare for concerned observers outside your country. I should immediately add that a large branch of my extended family has been living in New York City and State since the mid-1950s. And that you are now affectionately known in Ireland, because some of your roots are based here, as President O’Bama !
Being a pragmatic person, however, you will want me to come quickly to the point … and be direct.
You will shortly be signing into law a 787.2 Billion Dollar Economic Stimulus Package of spending increases and tax relief, which is intended to encourage an economic recovery in your country and to create jobs. It is surprising that you have permitted significant funds earmarked for school construction, and for colleges and universities, to be removed from the Package during the ‘Compromise’ Negotiations.Funding to provide health insurance for the unemployed has been sharply reduced, while funds for the ‘Greening’ (?) of Federal Buildings have also been scaled back.
The political imperative of successfully steering this Stimulus Package through Congress, at this time, is understood … but the final shape of the Package does not augur well for the future of your Presidency.
Taken together with the outcome from another recent event in my country, Ireland … and my surprise is turning to worry …
In Dublin, towards the end of January 2009, I attended a Round Table Discussion with a key individual who works in the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) – Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP).
Having posed 2 Questions after his presentation with regard to US Federal Policy on the ‘Green’ (i.e. environmental & energy) Performance of Federal Buildings, I discovered the following …
–The individual concerned was completely unaware that there is a considerable difference between the ‘Green’ Agenda, i.e. a limitation of considerations to environmental aspects of Sustainable Human & Social Development alone (an outdated concept belonging more properly to the 1990s) … and the ‘Sustainability’ Agenda, which is far broader in scope and absolutely essential if we are to meet the great challenges being posed since the beginning of this 21st Century … for example, the World Trade Center Incident (9-11) in New York ;
–There would appear to be no independent technical controls monitoring the ‘real’ environmental and energy performance in US Federal Buildings, no penalties for failure to meet performance targets, no horizontal integration between Federal Institutions dealing with procurement and building/system/product operation, and a systemic lack of proper accountability.
If it is your wish that the USA takes up a position of global leadership on some or all of the above issues, we – at Sustainable Design International – would like some information and assurances concerning the following matters …
–When will you, and your Administration, begin to properly appreciate the considerable difference between a ‘Green’ Agenda and a ‘Sustainability’ Agenda … and the significant Institutional Re-Engineering required to implement US Federal, State and City Policies geared towards Sustainable Human & Social Development ? How would you then intend to dramatically raise awareness … and mobilize all of the people in your country for action … at Federal, State and City Levels ?
–If your Administration enters into negotiations on an International Kyoto II (post 2012) Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) … will US National Performance be open and transparent … and be seen to be ‘reliable’ by other countries, particularly Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ?
–When, precisely, will the US Senate ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with its Optional Protocol ?When will you arrange to fund the implementation of this Convention, with its Optional Protocol … and then arrange that a coherent and comprehensive programme of implementation, which must have a short timescale, be initiated ? How long will that implementation timescale be ?
Effective International Law and Lasting Peace are 2 Prerequisite Essential Requirements for Sustainable Human & Social Development.In order to free up current ‘process’ log-jams and bring lasting peace to the regions of the Caribbean and the Middle East … it is you who must make the first substantive moves …
–When will you arrange for the immediate cessation of all aggressive and hostile activities against one of your close neighbours – the small island of Cuba – and a complete end to the economic, social & political choke-hold on its small population ?When will your Administration finally arrange for the termination of the illegal occupation of Guantánamo Bay – an international act of piracy facilitated by the 1901 Platt Amendment ? When will you finally ‘curtail’ the rabid behaviour of some of the more fanatical Cuban Exile Elements in Florida … and release the Miami 5 ?
–When will you, and your Administration, bring your considerable authority and power to bear on the Criminal State of Israel … and force it to comply with International Law and Universal Human & Social Rights ?
We patiently await your considered response.
Many thanks for your attention.
Signed:C. J. Walsh, Managing Director, Sustainable Design International Ltd. – Ireland, Italy & Turkey.
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Postscript 2012-01-16:
Dear Barack … Apologies are Meaningless … and who these Individual Soldiers are is not important. This recent image from Afghanistan betrays an in-grained national mindset !
The Guantánamo Bay Detention Centre, in illegally occupied Cuba, is still operating … the Criminal Blockade of this small Caribbean Island continues with full bullying force … and The Miami 5 are still rotting in U.S. Jails, with access for family members made particularly difficult, if not impossible.
Your Administration is still aggressively frustrating the widespread International Consensus on Climate Change … Your Offspring, the Apartheid State of Israel has now replaced South Africa as the No.1 Maverick Rogue in the International Community … etc., etc., etc.
The United States of America continues to urinate on International Law !!
2009-01-30: On Wednesday last, 28th January 2009, Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the ‘National Waste Report 2007’. As usual, a Press Release accompanied the launch … and the contents of this Release are still beginning to appear in our national media.
You may also have caught some interesting waste-related newspaper articles just after Christmas. It was those which really started my mental wheels turning. Congratulations to Ms. Sylvia Thompson in The Irish Times (2008-12-30) !
Between 2001 and 2007, the total amount of waste (in tonnes) produced by this country – all of us together – under each of the ‘selected’ four categories shown in Appendix A – Indicators on Page 33 of the recent EPA Report, i.e. municipal, household, commercial and packaging … has increased dramatically. Not only are we dirty, messy creatures on this beautiful island, but it is also clear that a much heavier, and more effective, regulatory hand is required to get to grips with this increasing problem. We suffer from too many national marketing campaigns and too many national voluntary schemes … which “don’t amount to a hill of beans”, as John Wayne grunted many years ago.
But, just how ‘useful’ are the numbers we were presented with on 28th January ?
– It took 13 Months to produce the National Waste Report for 2007. Having had a brief conversation with a key person in the EPA (who shall remain nameless), I know that there are all sorts of reasons why this continues to happen year after year. But, the time lag is ridiculous, and unacceptable. To be ‘useful’, we need Reliable Waste Data and Statistics far, far sooner. For example, if this Report had been ready for mid-September 2008 … National/Local Waste Policies and Budgets could have been adjusted in time for the start of 2009. Does that make sense ?
– In 2007, we did not recycle 36.5% of household and commercial waste. We recovered this percentage of waste. If, however, you were then to apply the following criterion … how much of this waste was actually processed for recycling within the island of Ireland and in a location no farther than 75 Km from the point of recovery … how quickly do you think the figure of 36.5% would nosedive into the ground ??? To be ‘useful’, we need a more developed Waste Indicator Set which will reveal the complete picture on national performance.
– With Tables 5 & 6, on Page 7, firmly in the back of your minds … how ‘sustainable’ is it to be exporting our waste to countries as distant as China, India and the USA ? This forces me to ask a strongly-linked question … does anybody within the EPA, or at the higher levels of any of our National Institutions, really understand the word ‘sustainable’ ? Looking at the Environmental Aspects of Sustainable Human & Social Development, alone, is a pointless exercise. In the long-term, it is actually counterproductive. To be ‘useful’, we need Waste-related Environmental Indicators which are properly integrated into a Multi-Dimensional Matrix which also contains Waste-related Social, Economic, Institutional, Political and Legal Indicators.
Put very simply … our Aim should be to use as close to ‘real time’ Performance Indicators as practicable, with Benchmarking at Year 1990 … to target ‘real’ improvements in Ireland’s Sustainability, verify Target Attainment, and to continually re-adjust those targets at appropriate intervals thereafter.
