A few days of silence was caused by a weekend trip to Paris (not something you want to announce publicly on the Internet before you go). Now that we're back I want to share with you some comments...
As we drove back frome the airport last night the top story on the local news was: "the norwegian delegation to the UN conference on climate changes in Copenhagen says that dramatic changes have to take place to limit the global warming to 2C. We should not shower for a few minutes less or drop our trip Paris, but isolate our houses and get fossil-fuel cars off the roads."
This was my point exactly in an earlier blog-post and I was pleased to hear that even the governments speaks of JAHUS projects as one very obvious and achivable route to the numbers we need. We will only get the "big numbers" if houses are brought up to the low energy house standard (less than 100KWh/sq m per year) - and the good news is that such JAHUS projects also improve the standard of living and most of the cost is paid for by savings on the electricity bill. So, we don't feel guilty for flying to Paris even though our friends make fun (in a nice way) of the commitment and energy we put into the JAHUS project. They too are beginning to see that it is not ajusting the travel plans or reduced shower time that will get us were we need to be.
Progress:
While in Paris I emailed with the team back in our house. Not much happened in the house, but there was a heated discussion about the ventilation system.
I have been asking them again and again when they plan to finish and used as an example the fact that I don't see the fan that we had ordered or the 3 big pipes (I see only 2) going from the ground floor up to the first floor and onwards up ot the attic for distribution to the different rooms. On Friday they tried to "pull a quick one" and said that there had been a change of plans and the separate loop for colder air from the gound floor to the bedrooms - had been replaced by a pipe from the hall to the ventilation room.
I explained that we had agreed to the original solution (suggested by them) because it will give us cooler temperature in the bedrooms than the other areas of the house. Even without the heatpump running as A/C on hot summer nights, we will get cool air from the cellar/ground floor delivered to our bedrooms on the first floor. The price for the total solution including the extra fan had been agreed to and we placed the order in September. I therefore told them that they either deliver what we have agreed to - or they explain to me how this new design will be better than the original design (and if so, how much will the price go down).
I somehow feel like a difficult customer, but shouldn't they have discussed this with me prior to totally changing the solution that we have agreed to? It feels like they have taken over the house and do with it what they please, but I can't have it that way...
The construction entrepreneur responsible for the project agrees with me and is meeting with the subcontractor (ventilation) later today to discuss this issue. Meanwhile the house is now so well isolated, but without supply of fresh air - that we have to open windows briefly every now and then until the ventilation system is finished.
Global and national events:
On Saturday the local newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv ("Daily Business") included a story about a state owned property company (ROM) who had found the process of applying for the extra funds allocated for energysaving measures in public buildings (from Enova) too bureaucratic - so they gave up.
The director of Byggenaeringens Landsforening (the organization for the construction industry) says in a comment that the program is not good enough for small size projects and private homes - this is where 40% of all energy for lights and heating is being used. If reductions are needed - they have to do better here.
I couldn't agree more.
On deforestation:
By the year 2020, the Lula government (Brazil) has vowed to cut deforestation by 80 percent from a base of 19,500 sq. km. Such reductions are vital because a large part of Brazil’s CO2 emissions come from burning land in order to use it for agriculture. Worldwide, tropical deforestation in nations such as Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts for more CO2 emissions than all the exhaust from cars, boats, and planes combined. As we all know, these trees would otherwise continue to slurpe CO2 (as part of the photosynthesis) - making deforestation a "double trouble" issue.
Personal:
The trip to Paris was a huge success :-) My wife and I left for Paris on Friday morning and stayed in a nice hotel not far from the Opera and Galleries Lafayette (shopping paradise). For the first time we found that the concierge in the hotel actually was very helpful in finding nice restaurants for us. The highlight, though, was a restaurant we read about in the free tourist magazine Where Paris (November edition) "The New Stars in the Kitchens of Paris". They were so newly established that the concierge had not heard of them, but he called the restaurant Jardin d'Ampère on Friday afternoon and managed to get us a reservation for Saturday night (8 pm).
It was 10 minutes by taxi (to 17th arondissement), but it was definitely worth the effort because this turned out to be one of the best gourmet dinners we have ever had. The restaurant is located in a newly renowated designer-hotel and while you're eating you are overlooking the nice garden. The service was perfect and the 3-course meal was heavenly (it actually turned out to be a 7-course meal with all the in-betweens).
Never tasted better scallops (or seen a nicer way to present it), never tasted better and more tender veal - and to top it all the art they created from chocolate is just amazing. The price - 79 Euros per person for the meal - not bad considering the price included all the wines that the chef selected for each of the 7-courses.
If you ever get a chance - I recommend a vistit to this talented young chef Yannick Tessier (33). Find out more at the http://www.parishotelampere.com/
Yesterday we had breakfast in a nearby street cafè, spent a few hours at the Louvre and had a nice long lunch at Cafè Cappucine (near the Opera) - before we collected our luggage at the hotel and headed for the airport. Paris in the spring is nice - but it sure is nice in the fall too.
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