tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24691627.post3841515267782773597..comments2023-06-13T15:05:46.436+01:00Comments on Green Ladywell: Heritage versus Energy Efficiency?Ute Michelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15819271761643921236noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24691627.post-85403492069859296362008-09-26T12:46:00.000+01:002008-09-26T12:46:00.000+01:00Both options involve a fairly hefty amount of carb...Both options involve a fairly hefty amount of carbon, whether you continue heating poorly-insulated, draughty homes, or use lots of concrete to build new ones. That's why I would like to know a bit more about the feasibility of insulating the existing houses and the relative carbon cost.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24691627.post-34999724292069583392008-09-26T12:36:00.000+01:002008-09-26T12:36:00.000+01:00Won't knocking these houses and rebuilding them wi...Won't knocking these houses and rebuilding them with new materials (which will have to be fabricated) produce a mountain of CO2, whilst also forcing the residents into rabbit hutch flats which they will hate?<BR/><BR/>To me that sounds like a pretty bad idea..Petehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08312860889429622212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24691627.post-66526410484545939752008-09-24T23:24:00.000+01:002008-09-24T23:24:00.000+01:00I had spotted the honeytrap, I just could not resi...I had spotted the honeytrap, I just could not resist jumping into it!<BR/><BR/>Yes it could be that building new saves energy compared to refurbishing but until somebody tries to calculate what savings could be achieved by adaptations to the existing one there are no terms of comparison.<BR/><BR/>But writing that bit of nonsense about gardening and blood circulation made me think that actually there's something there.<BR/>As human bodies require less heat when they're in state of fitness then the energy used to run a swimming pool translates into thermal efficiency gains for the bodies of the swimmers, in turn that translates into less energy for domestic heating. So you spend in one way to save in another.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, swimming pools are so energy hungry that they can be used as cogeneration units and I think that the new pool is also supposed to provide energy to the blocks nearby and I'm very pleased about it.<BR/><BR/>But, but....where's the deep end?<BR/>My point is that Ladywell Pool provides a benchmark, there should be no lowering of standards when planning its replacement.<BR/>Yesterday I learnt that diving is being taught at the Bridge because it has a 3.5 m deep end. Ladywell has 3.8m but Loampit Vale is supposed to have 2m only. Why?<BR/>Sports England is saying that they want to promote diving but there are no pools being built with enough deep end to do it so they are doing "dry training" using straps and braces to flip in the air mimicking dives. I want to see that, it must be pretty ridiculous.<BR/>We have the chance of having a good pool built for not much more than what it costs to build what is now being planned.<BR/>And btw 2 more lanes wouldn't go amiss.<BR/><BR/>About Excalibur, I hear you, if they are cold they must be improved but is it really that difficult to apply insulating panels around them? They are shoeboxes, how hard can that be?<BR/>I can't sympathize with the Decent Homes Scheme really when it's saying that it's for upgrading when there's a blatant hidden agenda of densification taht doesn't even come with any other benefit that I know of. There's a community there and many people feel that they'll be transformed into blocks of flats and object to that and they really have my sympathy.<BR/>I'm sorry for those that would like to be "upgraded". Maybe they can ask for a transfer and move into a decent standard block of flats somewhere else. Do you know if they have this option available to them?<BR/><BR/>I still feel a bit ambivalent about the listing of buildings that are not conventionally beautiful in order to achieve a political point but defense of a community could be a reasonal ground for this "misbehaviour".maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17528649995290747213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24691627.post-69669931244067000932008-09-24T21:29:00.000+01:002008-09-24T21:29:00.000+01:00Ha ha you rose to the bait! Re the pool and energy...Ha ha you rose to the bait! Re the pool and energy costs in demolition, a lot does depend on construction methods and how they recycle the materials post demolition etc, but I would have thought given that swimming pools are so energy-intensive to operate, savings over a lifetime would be considerably greater than for other buildings. <BR/><BR/>I think if I was an elderly resident living on Excalibur Estate struggling to meet the fuel bills to heat my home, I may not look kindly on someone telling me to do more gardening to keep warm!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24691627.post-40019961935287839192008-09-24T15:43:00.000+01:002008-09-24T15:43:00.000+01:00He he, here I am.I never sympathized with proposal...He he, here I am.<BR/>I never sympathized with proposals to try and have the Ladywell Leisure Centre listed actually, a few people threw that idea to me but I didn't support it. I don't know if that would be granted but if one would submit a well-written application there would be some degree of risk.<BR/>I nevertheless suspect that a comparison of energy costs that includes demolition and rebuild versus what upgrade of the present building could deliver would not present a clear advantage for new built.<BR/>I mostly value Ladywell Pool as a benchmark for its replacement rather than an unsurpassable example that needs to be retained, hence my discontent at a couple of the specs of the new pool that I think are not what they should be.<BR/> <BR/>You may have read on SE23 that I'm horrified by the listing of Louise House but there are other considerations there. It's about the missing opportunity to start works immediately and having a bigger leisure centre than what can e delivered now. An antropocentric consideration rather than energy efficiency.<BR/>I agree that the Louise House and Forest Hill Pools gruop has some historic value but I also think that it has very little architectural or even aesthetic value so on balance it would have been better if they had been demolished.<BR/><BR/>Likewise in the interests of beauty alone Citibank should come down (the building, not the bank).<BR/><BR/>The Excalibur Estate issue is very interesting and you know what I think, that they are cute little houses where I wouldn't mind living too and if they have a little garden to grow their vegetables then they keep fit through gardening, this will mean better blood circulation that in turn means less need of heat in the house.maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17528649995290747213noreply@blogger.com