[Committee] Petition

[Gunnar Möller]

Dear all,

we had the idea to start a petition for a green orientation of the
Supplementary Planning Document of the City Council.
I drafted some lines for the introduction of this petition, below. Please,
have a look, everybody, and make your corrections and amendments.
As I'll be off for some day, could someone take over the execution of this
idea: Anna, Stephen?

So, here's the text, for the moment:


Call for a GREEN local development policy

Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that global warming is related to
man-made greenhouse gas emissions. This issue has to be addressed quickly,
in order to prevent the most desastrous consequences of climate change!

It is a challenge to induce these changes rapidly, given that much of the
existing infrastructure that shapes the prevailing consumption patterns will
persist over long time periods. However, this reinforces the incentive to
adapt concepts for newly created infrastructure to the requirement of a
strong reduction in greenhouse emissions!

There are well established concepts available to contruct buildings with
drastically reduced energy consumption. The annual consumption for heating
can and should be less than 15kWh/m^2 according to the passive house
standard, less than 10% of what is required to heat many existing buildings!
Building such energy-efficient houses in the first place is not only much
easier than upgrading less efficient ones later - it is also much cheaper.
Studies have proven that houses built according to the highest efficiency
standards have outstanding economic benefits, saving a multiple of the
initial investment during the lifetime of the building.

We therefore demand that the local development policy of Cambridge City
Council shall be designed to establish the passive house standard as a
requirement for all new buildings to be erected in this city!

The world needs to see less energy wasted - and we, the citizens of the City
of Cambridge need houses that sustainably deliver comfortable and affordable
living.



Name                   Address                   Signature, etc.



I'm looking forward to your reactions!

Best,

Gunnar
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