Over the last couple of issues we concentrated heavily on the ODPM’s proposed sustainable communities’ plan. Now we have got that out of our system we can get back to the reality of reporting about ‘real’ green buildings, their designers, builders and users.

We have a wide range of articles and reports from a diverse group of reporters. Our two main feature stories; Green Towers on page 8 and Green Roofs on page 28, both point to the need to not only look for ways to protect the wider environment but also to address how we live and how good design strategies might make urban living more tolerable in a rapidly changing world. For instance, you will be interested to read in the Green Towers story, that Oliver Lowenstein, in an interview with Chris McCarthy of Battle McCarthy engineers, discovered that a major aspect of green tower philosophy/design includes detailed social studies. Talking of social studies, who would believe that a simple grass roof on a building might help improve the health of the workers that use it? This was just one of the many facts that Olwyn Pritchard and I discovered when researching the Green Roof story.

While putting this issue of the magazine together I found it interesting to see how interconnected the articles were. In Green Towers, Oliver Lowenstein highlighted Professor Sue Roaf’s concerns about tall buildings. In Sue’s own story, Hot on the Heels of Coolth on page 38, Sue reports from Kuwait where tall buildings are coming into vogue. Reading her story, you can understand her misgivings for such buildings in a future where climate change could turn current building design strategy on its head.

Finally a word about training. It is fast becoming a major aspect of the green building arena, especially as the mainstream players in the industry are slowly realising that many of their staff know little about the environmental aspects involved. There are ever-increasing opportunities for those with the requisite knowledge to take advantage of this opportunity. An example is outlined in the RuralZED article on page 18 by Barbara Tremain. This reveals how a new group, CSBT, frustrated by the lack of progress in Cornwall, took the initiative and has influenced the powers that be, locally and probably nationally too. So go for it! Many of you have been designing and building green buildings for years. Use your skills to help teach those that will follow!

Keith Hall