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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.

Buy individually or both books together. Delivery is free!


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    • CommentAuthorcjard
    • CommentTimeNov 25th 2022
     
    Posted By: bot de pailleA better solution for the forum might be jar tipping.

    If Keith was to post how much was needed to keep the servers up, as at funding goal each year.


    A forum as low impact/tech as this would probably fit on a free hosting provision. I'd host it for nothing alongside the rest of my stuff as it'd be no skin off my server's nose but it's maybe not the large scale commercial al hosting op a webmaster would want..
    • CommentAuthorlineweight
    • CommentTimeNov 25th 2022
     
    Another annoyance on this forum is that you don't seem to be able to quote-reply to a message that's on the previous page.

    In this case, I wanted to reply to cjard's comments about losing text in boxes:

    Nearly every other forum I use, now saves whatever text (in unsent draft form) you are typing as you type it. It'll even stay there between sessions or between devices.

    So, that problem has already been solved!
    • CommentAuthorcjard
    • CommentTimeNov 25th 2022
     
    Mmhh; it's been solved at the wrong level

    The browser is what you type into - the browser should retain the input in a retrievable form. Websites have various methods of solving it, such as bits of javascript that set cookies or use a special db built into the browser to retain it, or even submit partial replies to the server to be stored as drafts

    All massively more complex and lower level than needed. This should have been a thing browsers did since html forms were a thing
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeNov 27th 2022
     
    I really don't think the software nor the pricing model are big deals. If something is useful to enough people it will be successful. People work around such deficiencies. Once you have scale, that's when to optimise.

    The forum's biggest problem is audience; the lack of it. Whilst people still regard high performance building as something to be avoided if possible that will not change.
    • CommentAuthorlineweight
    • CommentTimeNov 28th 2022
     
    Posted By: gravelldI really don't think the software nor the pricing model are big deals. If something is useful to enough people it will be successful. People work around such deficiencies. Once you have scale, that's when to optimise.

    The forum's biggest problem is audience; the lack of it. Whilst people still regard high performance building as something to be avoided if possible that will not change.


    This seems very defeatist: we have no idea how many people are put off participating by the antiquated software or the subscription fee - the only way to find out would be to change it and see if it made a difference.

    As I said in the first post: I am pretty sure I'd contribute more here if there weren't so many things that make it awkward to do so.

    Threads in this forum actually seem to do pretty well in google searches on certain subjects - there may well be more of an audience there than you assume. Especially at this moment in time where there's an increased incentive for people to take an interest in energy efficient building.
  1.  
    <blockquote><cite>Posted By: gravelld</cite>I really don't think the software nor the pricing model are big deals. If something is useful to enough people it will be successful. People work around such deficiencies. Once you have scale, that's when to optimise.

    The forum's biggest problem is audience; the lack of it. Whilst people still regard high performance building as something to be avoided if possible that will not change.</blockquote>

    My experience is that almost all my clients are now asking for energy saving solutions and renewables, which has never been the case before. I'm still trying to get used to it!

    Before it was something I might suggest but only very specific clients would be remotely interested in these measures. It was always about design and property value etc.

    So I think the audience is now very much there. I would suggest lifting the subscription as a test and publicising through social media. I get the impression that the owners/moderators of this forum are not very IT/Social media orientated...
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeDec 2nd 2022
     
    There's a massive difference between being 'interested' in energy efficiency as a consumer and being interested in it as an implementer or practitioner of some sort.

    I hear what you're saying about running an experiment. I was probably being overly cynical, but the reality is in this field the barriers are financial and educational. The former is overwhelming; people in general just can't afford what we talk about. The latter (or lack of it) is pervasive even across the construction industry,let alone end-users.
  2.  
    I would class myself as a new user so can give some feedback from that perspective:

    pros:
    Huge searchable knowledgebase (which is what drew me in). Very bespoke technical advice generously put forward by experienced members. I recently joined two period property type Facebook groups, one run by Peter Ward, a slightly different slant to GBF but I was shocked at how much traffic they get with multiple posts per day and number of responses in the 40s upwards sometimes. The advice is nowhere near as good as you would get here but perhaps more 'accessible'?


    cons:
    Subscription fee before being able to post! This is a huge factor surely? And unique to this forum? Second is that the first-time posting can be a little intimidating for the less experienced on here; I was openly scorned in my first post for building myself a parking space! The posts can go a little off piste in terms of technical debate between experienced members. which is great, that is what forums are about, but again can be a little intimidating for those not in the know. Also I too have lost long posts after striking a key and not known why. Infuriating. Other than that I don't find the actual forum mechanics too clunky and actually the layout is quite endearing.

    But as others have said I have found the advice here invaluable and would be really sad to see it not continue.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeDec 6th 2022
     
    Thanks 👍
    • CommentAuthorlsx
    • CommentTimeDec 11th 2022 edited
     
    For what it's worth I joined GBF in Feb 2018 and have paid £5 a year since then.

    Not that I have experience of loads of forums (BuildHub, DIYNot, Screwfix, UltimateHandyman mainly), what struck me about GBF was the quality of the replies. For me every forum has its own feel and GBF along with BuildHub, feels 'top end' in terms of the responses you get.

    I've been happy to pay the sub because the value from the replies I've had is loads more than the £20 I've paid so far. But that's me and that's how I look at things. I'm not sure everyone is like that.

    IMHO the forum software needs an upgrade to something like what Arstechnica uses (https://arstechnica.com/civis), something that's not 'social' focused but modern. I'm in my *early* 40s so don't mind a lack of modern features really, but I doubt I could convince my nephews in their 20s to use GBF just because it will feel ancient to them.
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeDec 13th 2022
     
    This forum's the best £5 I ever spent. Lifesaver. But an update would be welcome.
    • CommentAuthorlineweight
    • CommentTimeDec 13th 2022
     
    Posted By: lsxI'm in my *early* 40s so don't mind a lack of modern features really, but I doubt I could convince my nephews in their 20s to use GBF just because it will feel ancient to them.


    This!

    I'm in my mid 40s now but joined this forum in my early 30s.

    Most of my early use of the internet was around discussion forums - so feel quite comfortable with the format, and can tolerate the clunkiness of this one.

    That will not be the case for most people younger than about 35 though.
    • CommentAuthorRick_M
    • CommentTimeDec 14th 2022
     
    Any thoughts on adding a 'suggest corrections' feature to posts? I find some posts have exactly the right information but contain a typo or other mistake (eg a failed autocorrect) which makes understanding it difficult. A post might have a few acronyms and some technical terms that a new reader would have to look up, and then this is compounded with a typo resulting in them giving up.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeDec 15th 2022
     
    I do correct typos but only in posts that I read and even in those I sometimes miss some errors.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeDec 15th 2022
     
    Everyone can correct their own errors but I have the power to correct everyone else’s typos.
    • CommentAuthorRick_M
    • CommentTimeDec 15th 2022
     
    I suppose we can just whisper to the author (and also cc to Tony perhaps?), I'd not thought of doing that.
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