Sustainable Architecture Forum March 2008
On the 12th March 2008, The Jersey Environment Forum, in conjunction with Vibert's Law Firm and The Department for Planning and the Environment and the ECO-ACTIVE campaign, held a Sustainable Architecture Forum entitled 'Your Building, Your Environment, Your Future'. The following Links will take you to PDFs of the Presentations
Presentation on the Proposed Building Bye Laws by Mo Roscouet
Presentation on the role of the Energy Savings Trust by Philip Sellwood Presentation
Presentation on Sustainable Architecture by David Gale
A synthesis of the audience feedback from the workshop session
The following News Release outlines calls for a progression of the agenda -
Next steps following Sustainable Architecture Forum 
The organisers of a conference on sustainable building, Viberts law firm and the Jersey Environment Forum, have called for an organisation in the Island to provide free and independent energy-saving advice.
Their conference, held at Highlands College on 12 March, was opened by the Planning and Environment Minister, Senator Freddie Cohen. It focused on examples of sustainable architecture with guest speakers from the UK: Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust and David Gale of Gale & Snowden Architects. The event was also designed to stimulate discussion among architects and construction professionals about Jersey’s proposed new Building Bye-laws, which will reduce carbon emissions from new buildings by 20%.
Today, Christopher Scholefield of Viberts and Anna van Oordt of the Jersey Environment Forum made a call for sustained action to help Jersey combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions.
Advocate Scholefield said: ‘Jersey ratified the Kyoto Protocol on the 12 April 2006. This established binding obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as against a base line standard of emissions in 1990. Between 1990 and 2005, Jersey actually increased its energy use by 26%, so there is much to be done. The Environment Minister has now published his promised Building Bye-laws which should reduce carbon emissions arising from new buildings by 20%. If he succeeds in achieving this reduction, it will be an important first step towards fulfilling our international obligations. We need significantly to reduce our demand for energy, and constructing more sustainable buildings is a first step – but it should not be all that we do. The people of Jersey are – I believe – willing to help the environment. What they need is clear and impartial advice on how they can do it. I think this would be achieved by establishing in Jersey a body like the UK’s Energy Saving Trust.’
Anna van Oordt said: ‘We were delighted by the response to the conference from the industry, with well over 100 people participating. There seems to be an increasing desire by the public to build healthy, energy efficient buildings. It is now up to the building industry, the States of Jersey and the business community to encourage and initiate environmentally sensitive, low-energy buildings which are appropriate and aesthetically pleasing. At the conference our speakers showed us that sustainable architecture need not just be for the wealthy – examples were given of cost-effective ecological architecture applied to social housing, schools, concert halls and sports centres which use less energy than the norm.’
Advocate Scholefield said his office had received numerous letters and emails from architects who had welcomed the conference, expressing the hope that the benefits of sustainable building will become more widely understood. “We need to employ both the carrot and the stick,’ he said. The new Bye-Laws will be the stick which forces improved practice when people construct or refurbish buildings; what we need is a broader approach so that everybody in Jersey is given the help and information they need to protect our environment. To do this, we could adopt an approach which we are told works well, which is to have an energy saving trust organisation in Jersey.’
Mrs van Oordt added: ‘What we learned from those who attended the conference was that we need to do more than play catch-up with the UK. In 2006, one half of the Island’s carbon emissions came from the built environment. Our homes currently account for 22% of our ecological footprint and 27% of our carbon emissions. The conference showed overwhelming support for measures to improve sustainability of buildings from increased insulation, the use of environmentally friendly materials, and the use of renewable energy systems such as solar hot water and ground/air source heat pumps. There was recognition of a need for information and training to be available locally on environmental building techniques both for professionals and the public alike. There is also a need in Jersey for an information centre, similar to the UK’s Energy Saving Trust, a non-profit making independent organisation, providing advice to the public on sustainable building systems and related issues.’ Finally, she added: ‘The public should lobby government to initiate a grant system for sustainable improvements, for example, financial incentives to increase insulation.'
