Local government

Yesterday I spent an hour or so at the local council, discussing the building strategy and the use of various sustainability measurements.

I wanted to see if there was any scope for my exploring a career as a building services manager or architect and soon realised that the constraints and financial directives would drive me round the bend.

Even worse, both of the men who gave up their time to talk to me (buildings energy consultant and a building service manager) were so dejected about the lack of support from the council and government that they had given up trying to push for changes in buildings. They seemed frustrated with the lip-service paid to environmental concerns, the endless beourocracy and general lack of support for their work. They questioned why "Eco-schools" are being built which use more energy than the buildings used to previously house the schools.

I wondered how anybody could achieve anything in local government- these men seemed to have achieved nothing and were apparently unfulfilled in their careers.