Built environment/wellness
Our cities, buildings and man-made environment plus issues around health and wellness
Nature insulating us from energy inefficiency
Insulation has been used for centuries to slow down the movement of heat in and out of buildings. One or a combination of several materials can be used as insulation. Nature provides some sustainable options.
Why does our sewage end up dumped in our rivers?
Untreated sewage being dumped in our rivers and oceans is moving up the social and political agenda across Europe - nowhere more so than the UK.
Green cement - there are solutions
The production of concrete, or more accurately cement, accounts for between 5-8% of global GHG emissions. This is a similar scale to the GHG emissions of passenger cars. There are solutions - and not all revolve around new technologies.
Everything, everywhere, all at once - holistic approach to healthcare
Shifting our mindset on how we view health and wellbeing could result in us living longer, and in better health.
Air pollution and dementia
As the World population life expectancy increases, more of us are likely to succumb to 'old age' conditions like dementia. There are a number of factors thought to play a part. Is air pollution one of them?
The good stuff in wastewater - part 1
In a world of increasingly scarce resources, wastewater can provide us with heat (for our buildings) plus raw materials for fertiliser and for energy. It now makes sense to better use the good stuff in our waste water - that we are currently just wasting.
Biological ageing - this is the way
Biological or cellular ageing is driven by a number of mechanisms. As our understanding of those mechanisms has improved so the promise of stopping or even reversing ageing comes closer to reality.
The landscape of biological ageing
Whilst we are living longer on average, our desire to 'cheat death' remains. And it has spurned a big, and growing industry.
Reducing electricity demand and still staying cool
For many in the world, staying cool in the heat of summer is as important as staying warm in the winter is to those of us who live in the the northern latitudes. And yet it often gets a lot less attention in the electricity security and supply debate.
Timber in buildings is good, but not always
The use of timber as a structural element in buildings, replacing steel or concrete, is on the rise. And, in many cases this is a good thing. Timber can be a cost effective, lower carbon and more sustainable solution. But we can sometimes carry this narrative too far
Air pollution and passenger vehicles
With motorised vehicles the focus is often on reducing their carbon footprint by changing how they are powered. But what about their impact on air pollution?
RetroFit for 55?
Retrofitting existing buildings can save both embodied carbon relative to new construction (and demolition) whilst improving the operational efficiency of the building which in turn saves carbon emissions and costs.