Pragmatism the key to green progress

Engineering a sustainable building is easy, says Max Fordham. But poor planning is preventing progress

There's good news and bad news about our ability to heat and cool buildings without burning unhealthy amounts of fossil fuels. The good news – the way Max Fordham describes it, at least – is that the solutions for making buildings more sustainable are mostly common sense: insulation and triple glazing, for example, or big enough, openable windows to provide ventilation in warm weather. By insulating thoroughly, it's "quite easy to build a house that practically needs no heating", says Fordham, who founded Max Fordham LLP – a buildings-engineering consultancy with a special interest in sustainability – 40 years ago. The London-based company has won numerous awards, including, in 2004, a Queen