The Porch Saga.

I suppose I should tell this story now because it has some vague connection with technical solutions reducing ghg intensity through architecture/urban design.

For as long as I can remember my house has had a vestibule porch separating the front door everyone sees from the street from the actual front door of the building. This porch is built of brick, timber and single pane glass. Over the years the weather has got into the timber wearing it out so my father decided to replace the timber with a - I believe UPVC- frame and the glass with double glazing units. This new design should reduce the heat loss thus reducing the amount of natural gas needed to heat the property.

Rather then being done as a properly planned and costed construction project this is being done through friends. As a result a few months ago it was all measured up and the design sent off to a manufacturer for construction. All the pieces were delivered on Wednesday (20/11/13) so I should have been spending today helping to assemble it all which isn't actually as painful as it sounds. Unfortunately the manufacturer screwed up the design with the door opening to the wrong side of the frame. As a result we are now entering into a lengthy negotiation about who should pay to replace the defective double glazing units/frame. I obviously vote the manufacturer but failing that the Notting Hill Housing Trust (NHHT). After all this wouldn't be the first double glazing unit they've unexpectedly had to pay to replace recently.

As a result of all this I'm still trying to catch up with what has happened in the world since I went to bed. However it's clear that one of the big stories has been the collapse of a supermarket in Riga, Latvia that has killed at least 33 people. This actually helps to highlight the way in which the green development strategies being developed at the COP19/CMP9 can have wider social benefits. For example bringing in international verfied environmental construction rules will help strengthen over all construction rules in developing nations helping prevent this sort of tragedy.

Latvia is of course one of those nations that is getting squeezed between an expanding European Union (EU) and Russia in a situation that is being massively complicated by the Syria conflict. For example in response to Russia's anti-promotion of homosexuality laws the UK's gay community banned Stolichnaya vodka from all its outlets. Stolichnaya vodka of course comes from Riga in Latvia.


So in summary the COP19/CMP9 summit was never going to end with the signing of some great international agreement. As it enters into its final hours we are still holding out hope that it will result in some very small and technical improvements along with a consensus that the SBI and the SBSTA should at least be allowed to grow their budgets in line with their increased work load.

12:55 on 22/11/13 (UK date).