As a film technician, for me the most noticeable impact of climate change in Ireland has been the increasing wind speeds – in the past 18 months I’ve been on two commercials that were closed down because it was too windy to shoot; that had never happened to me in the previous 15 years. However, there are may be some positive side effects to this new phenomena, energy independence being chief among them.  (more…)

I have long suspected that most landlords in the rental sector are avoiding getting Building Energy Rating (BERs) Certificates on their properties.  The results of a recent survey that we conducted in-house at National Energy Assessors (NEA) have confirmed this to be the case.

Of 800 landlords contacted during the month of August, we found that

• 84%  of landlords have not acquired BERs for their properties
• 43% said they would obtain a BER when there was more compliance in the marketplace and
• 41% were considering getting a BER, but had not done so at the time their property was advertised.  

The BER  legislation which came into effect on the 1st of Jan last, states that a BER Certificate is required when a property is offered for sale, lease or rent.  So according to our survey only 16% of landlords in the residential sector are actually complying with the law. 

According to Ronan Carroll from NEA Kerry who spoke to a landlord with multiple properties in the South West Region,
“No-one has been looking for them, either students or the authorities, so he won’t be bothering getting the BERs done until such time as he is required to do so”

Similarly, Alan Fayne from the NEA Dublin Office has been in contact with a  landlord who in early 2009 got a few BERs done on a couple of vacant units.  He has had a number of subsequent vacant units since then, but has been able to rent them without being asked for a BER.  Had he been asked for one by the authorities, he would have complied, but doesn’t want to spend any money unless he is forced to.

This survey proves that no one is policing the uptake of BERs in the rental sector in Ireland. 

 The Government has spent millions of Euros introducing and promoting the BER Programme, yet has failed to focus on its implementation which has led to low compliance levels, particularly in the rental sector.  I think that this is nothing short of scandalous!

Landlords are probably unaware that by not having a BER, leases issued since the 1st January 2009 for new tenants are invalid. 

Tenants should be looking at the BER of a property as it is a good indicator of its heating and lighting costs.  The cost savings between a B rated and an E rated property can be as much as €1500 per annum.  A lot of money in any economic climate!

So – what needs to happen in the residential rental market?  It’s actually the Building Control Officers in the County Councils who are responsible for checking compliance in the marketplace.  This is a bit of a cop out for SEI if you ask me.  Surely the success of this programme has to be linked in some way with to its uptake. 

The fact that all revenue generated through the BER Scheme goes to SEI, yet the County Councils have to supply the resources, without any additional funding, to implement the scheme is also a fundamental flaw in the process. 

But whether it’s SEI or the Building Control Officer’s – something needs to happen..and soon!

Eco-Living, Eco-Loving!  Would you like to live without a mortgage or an electricity bill? Last weekend’s Eco-Living Festival in Drumnsa, Co. Leitrim showed you how.  The event was hosted and organized by Permaculture Ireland; permaculture, according to Wikipedia, “is an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in the natural ecologies…The intent is that, by rapidly training individuals in a core set of design principles, those individuals can design their own environments and build increasingly self-sufficient human settlements — ones that reduce society’s reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution.”  And the hosts of the event are living proof that the principles work – even in boggy “bad” Leitrim land.

Sian demonstrates mulching

Sian Cowman demonstrated the virtues (and taste!) of permaculture food: growing your own in a non-dig garden. Non-dig is great because it doesn’t disturb the crucial earthworms underneath and also, unlike in conventional farming, the precious topsoil doesn’t dry out and blow away.  Digging also releases CO2, and requires a lot of energy, human, animal, or machine.  In contrast, permaculture is all about mulch: take a 6-foot patch, and in September simply cut the grass and weeds in the area that you plan to plant, leave the cuttings in place, cover this with wet cardboard, cover that with straw and leave it sit until spring, when planting is easy and the soil is rich, and plants and herbs just love it.  There are far too many good ideas to mention here, but you can get more info at permacultureireland – it’s both the newest and the oldest way of living on the earth.

Permaculture shelter is embodied in Peter Cowman’s amazing is home: a 25 metre squared “econospace,” built by himself and friends for only €7,000, where he and his family live on their own wind-generated electricity.  No mortgage, no car, no connection to the grid: this family walk the green walk all the way to their outdoor bathtub, where they build a fire underneath and bathe under the stars! Check out Peter’s website for more information about courses and shelter-building.  Without a mortgage and a food bill, how would your life change?

The signs of change are everywhere: not just in the economy, but also in the enormous wave of new ventures that are using cutting-edge technology, sustainable objectives and social consciousness to create a new paradigm of private enterprise for the common good.  Umair Haque, the Harvard economist, eloquently describes the collapse of the “Zombieconomy” and what he calls Capitalism 1.0 evolving into Capitalism 2.0, or constructive capitalism.  He also talks about old business models that produced good incomes and bad outcomes giving way to an “institutional revolution,” coming up from the grass-roots of society and changing the world as we know it.

In fact, once you start looking, the amount of organisations and companies trying to do the right thing for people, nature and the planet is simply overwhelming and far more than I could ever fit into one blog post.  So I’ve divided them into three categories: digital, physical and consumable.

Today I’m listing my top 10 in the digital category: ways in which with simply a click you can change the world for the better. (with thanks to Mashable)

Digital Actions for good:

1. Change your iGoogle theme to help the hungry

2. Every time you use Windows Live™ Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail®, our free webmail service, they’ll share a portion of their advertising revenue with the cause you choose from among their partner social cause organizations

3. Teach your Granny to Text: The big book of small actions to change the world is out now.  Written by children, for children, it’s a technicolour ‘how to’ for doing things.  And changing things. How can you change the world?  We Are What We Do is a new kind of movement inspiring people to change the world one small action at a time.  Their philosophy is simple: small actions x lots of people = big change.  They have the 130 small things that you can do to change really big things. Pick an action, track it here, and see how it all adds up.

4. Seventy-one ways to give without opening your wallet: mostly tweeted ideas, very brief and some very good

5.  Good is – the magazine.  Subscribe and 100% of the fee supports a social action project

6. Changing the Present -  Like Bothar but even more gift ideas: roof tiles, tutoring for deaf children, books, tetanus injections, and more.

7. The Case Foundation – another giving website, but this has suggestions of things you can do as well as donations or gifts that benefit those in need.

8. World Concern – More giving again, but they also do HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa, water wells, orphans, education and help prevent child trafficking.

9. Good.ly For all you eco-bloggers, a url shortener that donates to charity for every address you shorten.  Most Irish charities aren’t signed up yet, but using it creates the potential demand so try it out.

10. Blackle is a black version of Google that consumes less wattage. Apparently, it takes 74 watts to power a white screen, but only 59 watts for a dark screen. The site aims to “save energy, one search at a time.” You can also follow it on Twitter for more simple energy-saving ideas.

Next time, I’ll list my favourite sites for consumable actions for good – or, to put it another way – Shopping!!!  And please let me know of your favourites too so we can spread the word…