Ferdinand

I think Govt policy has for a number of years required fabric improvements before renewable technology gets funded. A current example is I think the investment sequence imposed for GHG funding. Previously this also applied to funding for solar panels iirc under the FIT programme. IMO there are three important lessons we have learnt: 1 - Gordon Brown's Code for Sustainable Homes taught us about the problems with gimmicks. 2 - The Conservative programme thinking about funding out of energy bill savings taught us to keep it as simple as possible. 3 - The spiralling cost of FIT when it the arates were kept high enough to be free money taught us (I hope) about realism and keeping subsidies relatively small to maximise overall returns in CO2 savings. F

I have a strange noise somewhere in (I think) my shower pipework. When I turn the hot tap off abruptly at the wash basin there is a "ker-lunk" from somewhere in the shower pipework (I think). Can anyone give any thoughts about what I need to look for? For example is it likely to be a pipe loose in its mounting? The bathroom was completely redone a few years ago. It sounds like a variety of waterhammer to me, of which I am familiar as pipe vibrations at previous houses. Thanks Ferdinand

Indeed. Not paying attention to parapet walls can have consequences. Good that you are taking the time to address it. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jun/02/deborah-orr-roof-silent-disaster

Does i require planning to remove a parapet wall? I don't know. Not that it looks like the neighbours opposite will mind.

Quite like the idea of a "ventilated ridge". Suggest Striding Edge, or the Black Cuilin. Very well ventilalted, those two ?.

Planning are mainly interested in your impact on others. In this case it might be wortha chat with planning if you are confident in the "no overlooking". "Why do they want all those rooms" would not be a relevant objection, so they would have to be more creative. For planning it might require an extra parking space to go from 4 to 5.

Buy plot, get planning, build house is perhaps more like 2-5 years after you have bought the plot.

"less" is "more". ? I think a license is >10,000l per day. ie up to 1.5 Olympic Pools per year ish.

Back on population control, I was wondering about Iran, where fertility fell from 6.5 births per woman to 2 between 1980 and 2010, largely as a result of free family planning services from the state when Mr Rafsanjani was President. An interesting case. As a result there is now a demographic window whilst there is a large young-old ratio to do things with old age care and their Health Service. It fell by about 60% in 10 years between 1985 and 1995. I remember Peter Day on R4 In Business making a similar point about China around 1995-2000, during a programme about China's future health service. An interesting account of Iran is here: https://carnegieendowment.org/2017/12/18/iran-in-transition-implications-of-islamic-republic-s-changing-demographics-pub-75042

I think we need some more information. Your first step is to work out how you are going to renovate it and what your needs will be, before you decide if you need it. It sounds as if you are looking at a Heat Pump, and I wonder if you can put more solar on the ground. The name of the game in investment-effectiveness in solar is saving money on the way in, and making sure you can maximise it. Remember that you may have an opportunity for charging car or supply-smoothing batteries in the future. In roof solar will save on new roof tiles if you have to replace these. I renovated a 67sqm 60s bungalow 3 years ago to a high standard (EPC 74C) with no panels, and the tenants tell me that bills for a family of 3 ran at about £55-60 per month all in. The thread is here and has bits in it about building quality, heat control etc

Interestingly different to the emissions per pop numbers, where France is just below the UK and Germany about 80% higher.

@SteamyTea Where are forest fires on that chart, as are getting attention on the news in Siberia at present? @MikeSharp01 Do you have a definition of "Developed World"? In particular where do you put "LOWER-MIDDLE INCOME ECONOMIES ($1,046 TO $4,095) " (includes India / Indonesia / Bangladesh / Iran) and "UPPER-MIDDLE-INCOME ECONOMIES ($4,096 TO $12,695) " (Includes China)? Transferring the lessons of some High Income economies to these in a way that all find acceptable will be key between now and 2050 imo. The Emissions Intensity of GDP is an interesting (and hopeful - maybe) chart. It's about moving towards high income without going through the high-emissions stage. At the risk of horribly abusing Maslow, many many countries are at the level in his hierarchy where these questions are not important enough.

I don't think Deane is especially germane - he writes about a "big man" theory of history. I am talking about how a reasonable security in life / society impacts on population growth, at an everyday level. Literacy, education, trade are all parts of development. The data is out there.

Talk to your local council, and an experienced HMO-specialist management agency in your area. It is very different everywhere by nation and by Local Authority.

C will be 2030 for English Rental, as that has been in the programme for nearly a decade now. Ed Davey's great achievement imo. C was very carefully chosen when the rules came in, as it is roughly what can be done with a traditionally built old housing stock house practically and cost-effectively. I hit C in renovating 1900-1930s houses with relatively little trouble, and mine all have upgrade routes more or less identified. B could be difficult. It is also roughly the level at which the EPC number starts to become less reliable, so perhaps where better measures would be needed. Estates will get renovated rather than demolished. Remember the flak that John Prescott got back in 2000-2005 when he tried to demolish swathes of Northern England to boost the market. We are no longer have millions of extra unused houses. @ProDave One question I have wrt the Owner Occupied energy regulation in Scotland to a C by 2045 (iirc), is how will they enforce it? My take would be add a band to the Council Tax and 1-2% to Stamp Duty to make Energy Efficiency have a footprint in the marketplace. Do you know what the plan is? Cheers F

So all rich? So all have the same. So all average??? No chance of success with that idea with humans. @Marvin Rich enough to feel secure. It's a soundbite, but there is a correlation between growing wealth and falling fertility, especially in developing countries. Check the numbers for say South Korea after WW2, Bangladesh in the last 20-25 years, or many others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_total_fertility_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_past_fertility_rate Which makes it about development, and in particular low energy development. Given that it is some advanced countries who are demonstrating creating increasingly more income per unit of emissions, that suggests that the different demands can perhaps be met together. Ferdinand

That's so boring. I have you down as being in historic competition with Sir Christopher Wren to see who can build it more slowly. His was 10 years to design and 40 years to build. ? (PS. Harlech Castle took Edward I seven years from 'Ground to Battlements', which was only one year slower than the "castle in a haystack" bloke.).

The quickest way to achieve that is to make everyone rich, which minimises the need for "children for security".

I've been debating this on a politics site today, and it has been between the "Climate Emergency" approach and the "Get on with the nitty-gritty" approach, if there is a conflict / contrast. I think the conflict / contrast is more defined by the politics than the need to act.

Take the rest down to your local tip in suitable bags, and they may well have a suitable skip.

On broadband, I do not really know where we with HS boradband layout, especially in Scotland. I heard a good brief mention on the Radio the other day, but I have not researched it. Will OneWeb be having much of an impact? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57674882 Or Starlink? Might one of these save your digital bacon?

Welcome. There may be something useful here: I'm inclined to coin the term "Enerphetish",

Yes to this. This is why Grandma kept her wardrobe 2" away from the wall.

If anyone else has built extensions knock on the door and ask what happened to them. Standard covenants can be rendered unenforcible by others being allowed to violate them. 15 years might be enough for that to have happened. Do not necessarily believe people saying "Yes, you must give us money". F

So where are you keeping the Lotus Elite? Unless the underground garage will have no drains?