Eco Houses: West Bridgford in Transition

Help for older people in Nottinghamshire this winter

2012-02-20T23:02:00.000Z

Nottinghamshire County Council has secured additionalGovernment funding so that older people can get help to keep warm this winter.The new Warm Homes Healthy People Fund willpay for:

· Emergency heaters delivered to the older personshome if their own heating stops working

· Installation of temperature monitors to alert acentral monitoring team if temperatures drop below a certain level
· Approved handyperson checks on thermostats andinsulation. They can also bleed radiators
· Electric blanket check and exchange
· Energy advisors to visit homes to help switch toa cheaper tariff and to give energy efficiency advice
· Free information packs – including wallthermostats

Nottinghamshire County Council is working closely withvarious statutory and voluntary organisations including Rushcliffe CVS (whosedrivers will deliver heaters), Rushcliffe Borough Council, NHS andNottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.

To access the scheme contact: 0844980 80 80

Produced byRushcliffe CVS in support of this initiative:

RCVS, Level3a, Bridgford House, Pavilion Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 5GJ.0115 9699060

Visit to Julian Marsh's house

2012-02-20T09:26:00.001Z

18 Feb 2012: DNC writes: "Project Nottingham organised a visit to Julian Marsh's house in the Meadows, Nottingham. Although I have seen it from the outside, and heard Julian's lecture and read the article in the Architects Journal, I hadn't seen the interior.

Panoramic image of the front, with the house closely touching the neighbours at the corner - significantly reducing their heat losses. The front entrance has steps because it was built before the recent Severn-Trent flood prevention bank was built, and there is disabled access at the side door.

Steel Stair and Bottle Wall - the stair is of bent mild steel plate, and the baluster has stretched flexible PVC curtaining of the sort used in warehouses - a reminiscence of the old Meat Factory on the site. The wall is of concrete shelves alternating with recycled Ecover bottles filled with salt water. This has a high thermal capacity (4 times that of concrete) and soaks up winter sun, and releases it later. I am inspired to start collecting bottles myself now! The grilles in the floor allow cool air from the cavity below the ground floor during the hot months of summer.

Wood-burning stove and flue at the centre of the house in the double height living space. There is also a large roof light above, cascading the room with daylight. Most of the floor is light cream coloured rubber surface, giving high daylight levels internally.

Rainwater purification filters - these provide most of the cold water, except the main CW tap in the kitchen that remains connected to the mains. The house is heated by a Dimplex ground source heat pump, with underfloor heating. There is a MVHR system for ventilation support, and the ground and first floors have concrete ceilings for optimum thermal mass.

Teak washbasin in the bathroom - and there is teak flooring in the shower. As the ensuite bathroom is furthest from the stair, it has a concealed door which leads to a fire escape.

Entrance courtyard elevation - the garden is full of raised vegetable beds, and under the walkway is a 4000 litre rainwater storage tank. The PV array is facing due south at the perfect angle. There are more PVs behind the beam above the roof. There are fixing points for a wind turbine that never happened because of opposition from the planners.
There are many other features, such as the composting toilet, the use of a larder instead of a fridge, the sunspace design of the front facade, the use of flitched parallax beams and columns, multi walled polycarbonate panels, parking space for electric car, and more that make this house totally unique and unrepeatable - it is totally born of the spirit of its location and of Julian's ingenuity."

Homes Behaving Badly workshops

2012-02-19T22:02:00.001Z

These free workshops (one devoted to cavity wall houses, two to solid wall houses and one to rooms in the roof) are a fantastic chance to get some really good information about all the ways you could improve comfort or reduce the energy bills in your home. (see full details in recent posts)

The workshops will be based around 8 examples of typical house types in West Bridgford, each example having undergone improvements small or large. Some of the home owners will be there to talk and answer questions about their energy saving experiences.

If you live in a house of solid (not cavity) wall construction and are not sure which solid wall workshop is for you - the first covers free and lower cost options and the second covers higher cost options and whole house retrofit. Why not come to both?

The Homes Behaving Badly workshops will be held at Edwalton Primary School, Wellin Lane, Edwalton, Nottingham NG12 4AS.
Click on the link for a map and details of the no 6 bus stops near Edwalton Primary School.

Although you can turn up on the day, it would really help us to anticipate numbers if you book your place by contacting Sarah on 07772 330779 or by email: sarah.goodman.ehg@gmail.com

3 March 9.30-12.30 - Cavity wall workshop
3 March 1.30-4.30pm - Solid wall workshop (lower cost options)
10 March 9.30-12.30 - Solid wall workshop (higher cost options)
10 March 1.30-4.30pm - Rooms in the roof - improving attics and loft conversions new and old

Loft and cavity insulation for free...

2012-02-19T21:36:00.001Z

Subsidies for loft and cavity wall insulation may be harder to find beyond March 2012 - so if you haven't already got a good deal on your insulation, do think about it!

For FREE insulation, try Nottingham Energy Partnership's scheme (but hurry - last free install on 31st March 2012)

And there are other good deals around too. For £99 including VAT you could get your loft (or cavity walls) insulated by Westville.

In January 2012, Westville insulated the walls and loft in the house that I am currently renting - a couple of hours and job well done, as we can see from the thermal imaging photograph...
The green whispy bits to the left of the front door are where hot air comes out of the boiler vent. The walls themselves are a lovely insulated blue colour!
The red patch on the roof is another vent, but the roof insulation is keeping us warm.

Can radical energy efficiency solve the energy crisis?

2012-02-17T10:26:00.001Z

A new report by the AECB - the sustainable building association - challenges Ed Davey, the new Secretary of Energy and Climate Change, to get serious about energy efficiency.

Why? Well, as AECB CEO Andrew Simmonds says "None of the energy efficiency measures cited inour report would cost the UK more than about 3p per kWh electricity saved."

That's well worth doing when most consumers currently pay 8-13 p per kWh!

For the full press release, click here.

To read the full report.... Less is More: Energy Security after Oil

Homes Behaving Badly - which workshop is for you?

2012-02-14T23:29:00.000Z

As part of the Homes Behaving Badly project, there will be 4 free workshops for householders (details in previous posts and this press release).

But which workshop (or workshops) would be relevant to you?

The first workshop is for people living in cavity wall homes. It does not matter whether your cavity walls are already insulated or not - we'll cover both. There are plenty of ways to reduce the energy bills or deal with issues such as cold, condensation and mould. Some options are completely free, others are basic DIY tasks, and others have a medium or large price tag.

If you want to talk to someone who has trimmed their bills right down (in a perfectly ordinary cavity wall house, on a very ordinary budget), this is the workshop for you. Maybe your home is already pretty good but you are thinking about renewables, come along and find out whether it's worth it. Maybe you've heard about the Green Deal - the government's finance scheme for efficiency improvements, due to be launched in autumn 2012. We'll have the latest update on that as well.

(If you don't know whether your home has a cavity between the two skins of brick that make up the wall, step outside and look at the brickwork. If all the bricks are lengthways on (i.e. no end-on bricks in the pattern), and this pattern continues all the way up the wall, then your house is likely to have a cavity, which may or may not be filled with insulation already.)

The second and third workshops are for people living in solid wall homes. The workshops will cover similar topics, but on the 3rd March, the focus will be on lower cost and DIY improvements, while on 10th March we will go into more detail on the higher cost options that can result in bigger changes in energy use and comfort.

Maybe you've heard about the Green Deal - the government's finance scheme due to be launched in autumn 2012. Will the Green Deal and the related "ECO" scheme help towards the costs of improving solid wall homes? We'll have the latest update on that as well.

(If you think your home may have solid walls (rather than cavity walls), look at the external brickwork for end-on bricks. These end-on bricks go right through the wall and indicate that the 2 skins of brick forming the wall have no gap between them.)

In these three workshops, we will use energy modelling (SAP) to show how houses of different types and ages can be made more energy efficient in different ways. And we'll use real case studies to show what the reality of different options can be like. Some of the home owners whose houses form the case studies will be at the workshop to talk about their homes and their experiences.

The final workshop will focus on saving energy in loft conversions, attic rooms, and any other locations where there is a combination of roofs and walls. Whether you are considering a new loft conversion, or trying to improve one that was built some years ago and needs upgrading in some way, this workshop will consider the products and methods that work best in different situations. Again, we'll look at DIY and higher cost options, the pitfalls and the top tips.

Booking is recommended so book your place with Sarah Goodman
07772 330779 or by email sarah.goodman.ehg@gmail.com

Homes Behaving Badly - workshops

2012-02-12T12:24:00.000Z

The dates are now set for the Homes Behaving Badly workshops:

3rd March 2012 - 9.30am to 12.30pm:
Saving energy in homes of cavity wall construction

3rd March 2012 - 1.30pm to 4.30pm:
Saving energy in solid wall homes (with emphasis on the lower cost options)

10th March 2012 - 9.30am to 12.30pm:
Saving energy in solid wall homes (with emphasis on the higher cost options)

10th March 2012 - 1.30pm to 4.30pm:
Saving energy in loft conversions and attic rooms

18th March am and pm Eco House Tour (Nottingham Ecohome)
25th March am and pm Eco House under Construction Tour (1950's refurb)

Each workshop will focus on real life examples of homes that have undergone small and large energy-saving improvements. By comparing the actual energy use of these homes we will show what is possible in reality, not just in theory!

In each workshop, we will also demonstrate just how much energy can be saved without spending any money at all - just with energy saving habits. And we'll talk about how to become your own energy expert, so that you can suss out the best energy-saving options for your house and the way you use it. (One size does not fit all!)

And finally, the workshops will introduce the Green Deal - the government's new scheme to help finance home energy improvements from autumn 2012. Find out how it works to make sure you get the right deal for you and your home!

To book your free place on the workshops or the tours:

email sarah.goodman.ehg@gmail.com

tel. 07772 330779

This is a Transition West Bridgford project, made possible with LEAF funding. The Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF) is managed by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Department for Energy and Climate Change. The project is also supported by the Sustainable Growth Group, supplying 250 state-of-the-art low energy LED lightbulbs for householders taking part in the project.

More thermographic images

2012-02-11T23:32:00.001Z

10 Feb 2012: DNC writes: "I have returned the loaned camera now, but here are a few of the key pictures. Each picture tells a small story."

"My house, SW corner external, shows heat loss around the window head, when that was being built, I was convinced that the builder wasn't taking care to close up the jamb correctly, and now I have proof."

"Same house SW corner interior… further proof. Builder promised that when the window was enclosed he would seal back the insulation correctly. Cavity insulation omitted! I am wondering whether to contact NHBC."

"DNC house back elevation. It shows that we heat the kitchen-dining room well, but leave the bedrooms unheated. Also, when there is no windspeed, the wall adjacent to the drainpipes gets warmed."

"Victorian semi-detached, lived in by a WB architect and his eco-campaigning wife. Ear elevation picture shows contrast between externally insulated and non insulated neighbour. Also the effect of an extractor fan. The front elevation photos is showing how much they need a door lobby! (the front walls are internally insulated)"

"Detached West Bridgford house (right) recently externally insulated with 100mm Kingspan and render. House on the left is solid walled. The house has the insulation continuing to below the ground, so there is no bridging, just a little tell tale yellow line to indicate the DPC line."

"A near neighbour's terraced stepped house, with PV solar panels above and cavity fill, but note the house next door, glowing brightly! Radiators against the wall are a thermal giveaway. The house on the extreme left? perhaps the neighbours are out."

"House in Lady Bay has had a 2 storey extension [Left] added to the existing house, [Right]. Extension has been built with solid wall and external insulation. Side wall of the existing house has been externally insulated [extreme right]. The bedroom above the front door has a giveaway radiator, and the front door needs a lobby and double glazing."

"Another of DNC's near neighbours has had house cavity filled last year, and it is working. The other half of her semi-D needs wall insulation, and to consider the wall mounted radiators."

"Large house in Musters Rd, but solid walled, with secondary glazing by Storm Windows. Central pane in upper bay window has been de-secondary-glazed specially for the camera to show the effectiveness of Sec-Glazing. Front door has no lobby, and a single glazed glass viewing panel. Entire house needs insulating (all walls are glowing slightly) but it would be a large and expensive project. "

Check your Loft insulation

2012-02-10T01:29:00.001Z

9 Feb 2012: Your loft may have been insulated, but has the insulation been tucked closely up against the rafters and other edge conditions - or are there gaps showing? This thermographic photo tells a story.

This loft has 400mm of insulation off to the left, and in the foreground, it is 200mm of insulation with boarding over. Both of these are effective, but the junction between needs looking at. Where they meet, there is an awkward gap, with plenty of heat leaking up into the loft space.

Thermographic images

2012-02-08T12:44:00.002Z

8 Feb 2012: DNC writes: At this time of cold weather, it is an ideal time to get out with a Thermographic camera - forms the image from infrared radiation. This is a FLIR T400 which I have borrowed from my Faculty at the University of Nottingham. It's chinese made, and very easy to use, and copying the images to computer is like copying from a memory stick! There are a few things to learn, but it only takes a few experimental pictures to get the balance right. After more experience, there are deeper subtleties one can employ. But the initial results are very good, and I had the coldest night of the entire winter, ensuring maximum contrast between interior and exterior temperatures.

My first picture, the car parked just after driving it a couple of miles.

The remaining images are of the Peveril Solar house, which is has a cavity wall with 100mm full cavity fill.

Front wall of the house, revealing conduction at window heads

Window of my home-office, revealing the thermal bridge of the lintel

SW corner, including the Surya Sunbox, showing that there is a warm zone
below the Sunbox. The temperature inside the sun box is almost always warmer than
the surroundings, even at night, so I am not surprised to see the brickwork being warmer,
and warmth leaking out at the edges.

Interior ceiling corner of my home-office. There is a cold bridge where
the blockwork goes up into the Loft.

This could be useful for the West Bridgford Ecohouses group, to check if their insulation has been done effectively, especially at junctions and corners.
I have to return the camera tomorrow, but if you are nearby and read this, and want your house thermally photographed, then please email me on dnicholsoncole@gmail.com . I can reborrow it at any reasonable time up to end of February. Beyond that, the weather may be too mild to be worth testing.

Homes Behaving Badly!

2012-02-06T20:35:00.001Z

Our new project, Homes Behaving Badly (HOBBs), is now under-way.

For all the details, do have a look at the press release. (we are very proud of it!)

We are busy preparing for the free HOBBs events in March, and to make that as relevant as possible for people who are considering home energy improvements, we have created a questionnaire.

If you would like to tell us a bit about your house and your home energy priorities, click here to take part in the questionnaire. (It is entirely up to you whether you provide your name or contact details, or complete it anonymously.)

If your home is not a paragon of energy-efficiency and comfort, the HOBBs project could be right up your street!

Tina and the HOBBs team

An invitation from Groundwork....

2012-01-30T19:45:00.001Z

This event will showcase a number of projects in the region, including our very own "Eco Houses under Construction". Maybe see you there....!

Groundwork Derby &; Derbyshire
on behalf of Groundwork East Midlands and Climate East Midlands
invites you to:
POWER TO THE PEOPLE

When:
Saturday 17 March 2012
10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. followed by networking buffet
Where:
Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire
The Bridge Centre, 43 Cromford Road
Langley Mill, Derbyshire, NG16 4EF

Climate East Midlands’ Skills programme is building essential climate skills amongst our councils, schools and communities in support of the UK’s journey towards a low carbon and resilient economy.
Power to the People showcases projects that have developed skills within communities to address the causes and consequences of climate change and features support that is available at the local level.

Keynote speaker: Graham Truscott, Transition Network
Please RSVP by 7 March 2012 by emailing eastmidlands@groundwork.org.uk or by post to: Groundwork East Midlands, Denman Street East, Nottingham NG7 3GX

Exhibition presentations

2012-01-29T16:24:00.002Z

During the recent exhibition of low energy homes, experts gave presentations on 5 very different homes.

A sixth presentation was given by Tim Saunders of the Energy Savings Trust, on grants and financial incentives (the FIT, the RHI and an introduction to the Green Deal).

If you missed the presentations or would like to see them again, here they are:

Architect Michael Siebert described a timber frame new build (to Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes)

Dr Tina Holt talked about progress to date on her 1950's solid wall house (which is aiming for EnerPHit or somewhere close.)

(more to follow)

Janet's water-saving information

2012-01-29T15:27:00.002Z

One member of the Eco House Group has sent me some practicalinformation about her experiences of fitting water-saving devices in her home.

An alternative togetting a new low flush loo, or using the simple brick or hippo in the cisternis to fit a variable flush device to the existing toilet.

Janet says

"The variableflush device is called Interflush. It has a website: http://www.interflush.co.uk/.

I also found the following:

http://www.mygreenerhome.co.uk/water-savers-5/interflush-toilet-water-saving-device-1.html

http://blog.ooffoo.com/blogs/2009/03/06/Review-The-Interflush-a-flush-inhibitor/

It says a competent DIY personshould be able to fit it, though I had a builder do it. So far, therehave been no problems with it, though I think the builder said it needed somecareful adjustment.

It appears to come in 2 versions: £14.95, with installation tools, and £12.95 without the tools (for the 2^nd toilet you can use the same tools again). We still have the box with the tools - If anyone wants to borrow the tools, they’d be welcome. There is a screw driver, 2 other things that look like tools, plus what appear to be some parts that weren’t needed and the instructions.

We now also have a ‘grey water’ system for that toilet, which uses mainly rainwater water collected from our roof and drive. (The plumber calls it grey water, as it could be contaminated, and has labelled all the pipes accordingly). We have mains backup using a tank with 2 ball valves. The plumber advised having the mains valve on a trickle to avoid things seizing up during long periods when not using it. So far (since late Autumn) the stored rainwater has held out but I suspect we’ll need mains sometimes in the summer."

Low energy homes exhibition a success

2012-01-25T21:26:00.000Z

On 21st January 2012, the exhibition of low energy homes attracted about 130 people interested in seeing the homes on show and listening to the talks. With stall-holders displaying a range of technologies from Rushcliffe Borough Council's light-bulb library to full scale home refurbishments and renewable technologies, there was a lot to see. To read about the stalls, talks and afternoon house tours in more detail, read the full write-up here.

A very big thank you must go to the exhibitors and a super team of Transition West Bridgford / Eco House Group volunteers who worked hard on the day to make it happen and to provide a warm welcome to the visitors.

This exhibition marks the final event in our "Eco Houses under Construction" series, but don't worry - there will be opportunities to see these homes and others in the future.

Thanks to our recent successful LEAF funding bid, there will be further house visits and a set of workshops due in March, so look out for our "Homes Behaving Badly" events. The idea is to make sure that these workshops are as relevant as possible to those who come along. Knowing that West Bridgford has more than its fair share of solid wall homes and large areas of cavity wall housing, different workshops will focus on different types of homes and the associated low, medium and high cost solutions to cut energy use.

As well as looking at all the feedback from the exhibition, we would like to know if you live in a cavity wall home or a solid wall home, and what issues and options you need to know about in more detail. A questionnaire is coming soon!

More about the exhibition

2012-01-11T22:37:00.000Z

There are just days to go toWest Bridgford’s free exhibition of low energy homes on 21st January 2012 (see previous post), so here is a bit moreinformation about the displays and presentations.

Seven low energy homes will berepresented in detail, each with their own display of photos, information and insome cases, samples of energy saving products.

(Two homes will be open to visitors during the afternoon - the timber frame new build and the 1950's refurbishment. Just sign up at the stand for either house or email info@wbecohouses.co.uk to visit at 2pm or 3pm.)

Energy efficiency advice willbe available from Sheila Hood, Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Energy Officer.

Independent information about renewable technologies will be displayed on theEnergy Saving Trust stand where Tim Saunders will be able to answer yourquestions.

In a separate room, between10am and 1pm there will be a series of short 20 minute presentations in the following order:

10.15 Creating a zero carbon barn conversion

David Hill, Managing Director of Carbon Legacy

10.40 Latest news on the Feed inTariff, Renewable Heat Incentive and Green Deal

Tim Saunders,Energy Saving Trust

11.10 Ultra low energy refurbishment – externally insulated 1950’s brick house

Gil Schalom, Architect and Tina Holt, organiser of the exhibition

11.30 Ultra low energy refurbishment – internally insulated stone Coach House

Gil Schalom, Architect

12.00 Building low energy homes in theMeadows and Sneinton

John Long,project leader for Igloo and Blueprint Regeneration

12.30 Timber frame new build – a very low energy home in West Bridgford

Mike Siebert, Architect

If you would like any further information about the exhibition, email info@wbecohouses.co.uk

Radiators for Heat Pump

2012-01-11T16:34:00.000Z

11 Jan 2012: DNC writes: People often ask me how they could use a Heat Pump without tearing the floor up and laying an expensive underfloor heating system. Some people just like something warm to hug or to stand with one's back to on a cold day, or put a damp coat onto after being caught in the rain. Underfloor heating just doesn't have this comfort (except for cats who love it!) Underfloor heating is invisible, and sometimes, if you can't see it, you don't feel it! If you have thick carpets, then expect even more delay before warmth comes through. For Retrofit, Underfloor heating is just about too challenging for anybody to take up.

I happened across this company, JAGA, who claim to have a whole range of suitable low temperature radiators, some for surface mounting, some recessed or flush with the floor.
http://www.jaga.co.uk/products/catalogue/top-performers
Jaga have a number of products, but their 'Performers' range of radiators are suitable for the lower heating temperature from a heat pump. They even include one that can be a cooler if you have a reverse cycle HP.
These are the first ones I have found that I would quite like! Jaga use the expression 'DBE' (dynamic boost effect) which is very quietly running fan assistance, but I would expect these to be virtually inaudible compared to MVHR. They would all need a power supply, but this can be provided in the same skirting duct or alongside whatever the pipes run through.

So, take heart. If you are planning to try a heat pump, then these radiators are the ideal way to avoid the disruption or the impossibility of installing Underfloor heating, and which could use your existing pipework for your previous central heating layout.

Exhibition of local low energy homes

2011-12-29T17:36:00.001Z

As part of the Eco Houses under Construction series, we have organised a FREE Exhibition on Saturday 21st January 2012 (10am-1pm) at St Paul's Church Hall on Boundary Road in West Bridgford. To see to poster, click here.

The exhibition will showcase all the houses that have already featured in the Eco Houses under Construction series, with a few additional examples as well. From a solid wall home insulated with minimal disruption to the occupants, to full scale ultra low energy refurbishments and new builds, this is a sneak preview of the homes of the future.

It is a great chance to see the displays and talk to the home owners, architects and those who provided the products and services to create these low energy homes. And it is a one-off opportunity to compare the different projects while they are all represented under one roof.

• If your New Year's resolutions include cutting your energy bills, come and have a chat with Rushcliffe Borough Council's Energy Officer. She will be offering independent advice about improvements that should save you money in the short to medium term. And we'll have the latest news on the Green Deal - a scheme designed to help people finance energy efficiency savings with no up front cost.

• If you live in a solid wall house and find it increasingly expensive to heat, come and talk to the home-owners who have already improved their homes, and the experts who helped them.

• If installing renewable energy generation technologies might be for you, independent renewables expert, Tim Saunders from the Energy Saving Trust will be able to answer your questions.

• If you have ambitious plans to live in an ultra low energy or zero carbon home, or to be completely self-sufficient by producing all your own energy, this exhibition is a must-see.

We hope to make the event enjoyable as well as informative, so Taste Cafe will be there selling their delicious cakes and light lunchtime snacks.

The EcoHouses Under Construction projectis funded by ClimateEast Midlands, East Midlands Improvementand Efficiency Partnership and Communities and LocalGovernment witha Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. It is overseen by the charity Groundwork East Midlands.

High Court ruling on Feed in Tariff

2011-12-27T17:26:00.000Z

24 Dec 2011: It seems that the High Court found that the government were wrongful in pressing ahead with major changes to the Feed in Tariff without considering that the consultation process was not completed, and that the deadlines given have caused untold chaos in the solar installation industry.... and we should not forget some of the inevitable job losses or company closures.

[See the Guardian Report for details. ]

Most people assume that Cameron and Osborne (who seems from his actions and saying to have little regard for the 'Green' revolution) will just carry on regardless of the Court ruling, or of the effects on the Solar industry and customers.

Why link to Insulation?

When this was first mooted, it was proposed that the higher tariff should apply to houses which meet an Energy Performance Certificate of level "C". Although this sounds at first sight like a good incentive, it reveals, at closer inspection to be just another form of discouragement, and favouring the well off.

Energy Generation is a different matter from Energy Conservation, and both are excellent, but there is No Reason for them to be so tightly linked, or for one to exclude the other. Should we also make a law that only houses with PV panels should be Insulated? Of course not. That demonstrates the absurdity of the proposal. There are other ways to incentivise insulation, and these are being done.

Society needs Energy, so why should we not encourage panels to be fixed on garages, barns and old houses that are not easy to insulate? In the same way, there are many buildings than can and should be insulated, but because of chimneys, dormers, trees or hips, they cannot be adapted for photovoltaic.

It can cost more to insulate a house up to level C than to fix solar panels. This becomes a charter favouring the rich or the owner occupier, because it requires an expensive operation on the house first, and perhaps a season's delay.

What does it do for social housing (especially of older dwellings)? A quick one or two day installation of panels can reduce future fuel poverty for a whole street, but a programme of insulation of a whole street would mean a complex and expensive process of decanting tenants etc. with funds that the local authorities or housing associations do not have.

Green Deal Consultation - we want your views!

2011-12-15T10:58:00.004Z

A few of us attended the "Greening the Green Deal" event in Radcliffe on Trent on Saturday 10th December. It was run by Terena Plowright, the founder of the Greening Campaign, and champion of putting communities in the driving seat.

After a very useful review of the Green Deal's key features, Terena invited us to read the consultation document and to respond to it.

Questions you may wish to consider:

Do you think communities have a role in the present outline policy?
Where do you think the blocks to the household uptake will be?
Can you see an opportunity for communities to make money? How?
Can you seen an opportunity for setting up community energy schemes? How?
How can community energy develop within the framework of the Green Deal?
What needs to be added or altered to the Green Deal framework to make this easier?
What blocks stop community energy schemes taking place?

The online consultation response document is rather heavy going so Terena invited us to email our comments to her for her to discuss with DECC directly. If you would like to take part in this process, please read the consultation document and email your thoughts to info@wbecohouses.co.uk and I will send on the combined "wbecohouses" response.

The consultation ends on 18th January 2012, but Terena may need our responses before that. If I can get an exact date I will add it here. I hope to hear from you - the sooner the better!

2011-12-10T09:54:00.001Z

10 Dec 2011: If you are thinking of going to the Green Deal Seminar, in Radcliffe [Dec 10th 1-4pm], it is still possible to book, read the link below of the report of the London seminar held earlier in the week, and check a couple of stories below this for the details for booking the Radcliffe event.

http://blog.emap.com/footprint/2011/12/09/eco-refurbishment-and-the-green-deal/

List of events, and how to book, see:
http://www.greening-campaign.co.uk/green-deal-event-list.html

1950's refurb - mini event 2

2011-12-08T22:17:00.001Z

As part of the Eco Houses Under Construction series, a second mini event was held on site at the 1950's solid wall house. (...mini events because it would be impractical to have many people present at one time).

Gil Schalom (the architect) started by talking about how the ground floor is being insulated. Then attention turned to the roof. Due to the obvious shortcomings of the roof in its present state, and the plan to carry out a loft conversion with dormer and change from hip to gable at the back of the roof, major work will be needed.

The wind whistles through the loft due to the deterioration of the roofing felt, and the loft insulation was thin and full of dust. These two things alone conspire to make the house much colder than it should be.

Had the condition of the roof been better, most of the existing structure and the tiles would have been preserved, and insulation placed between and possibly beneath the rafters. However, in this case, we've decided to renew everything so that it will last long into the future, and at the same time aim for a very air tight construction and super-insulate at rafter level.

Another 1950's feature we won't be retaining is the state-of-the-ark Baxi fireplace! It's funny to think that this is where Baxi must have started when you consider the range of systems they now offer (from gas boilers to ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, one of the first domestic "combined heat and power" systems, solar hot water and so on!)

To see more about this house, click here

Green Deal Consultation Events

2011-11-29T17:33:00.001Z

The Greening Campaign invites us to get involved in "Greening the Green Deal". Your chance to make your voice heard.

For events across the country, go to: http://www.greening-campaign.co.uk/green-deal-event-list.html. The Nottingham event will be in Radcliffe on Trent on the 10th December - follow the link above to book your place.

If you would like an easy to read summary of the consultation, email info@wbecohouses.co.uk and one will be emailed to you.

Here is more information from Terena, founder of the Greening Campaign:

The Green Deal Consultation document has been released and can be found at

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/green_deal/green_deal.aspx

We are discussing this document and the issues surrounding it at events across the country and will be presenting a formal report to DECC early January.
Please see attached information.To book FREE seats at any of the events (and more information) please go to:
http://www.greening-campaign.co.uk/green-deal-event-list.html

This is our biggest chance to reduce CO2 effectively and it would also create jobs and could bring communities together. Lets make sure we get this right. If you attend any meeting this month please attend one of these. We need your brains to think this through. The Green Deal team are attending many of the conferences and want to hear your thoughts.

With the Green Deal we can get massive energy efficiency moderations made to peoples homes without them paying for the work up front (in some tests energy use has dropped by 80%). The electric bill will go down and a little more is added to pay back for the work – Brilliant!! However, as always the small print can make a difference so lets at least read it!! And then lets comment constructively to make this happen.

Please pass this to your contacts!!!
See you there – it is all FREE
Terena

Eco Houses Under Construction - mini events

2011-11-22T21:37:00.001Z

Inaddition to the main “Eco Houses Under Construction” events, a number ofmini-events will be held on site at the 1950’s low energy refurbishment. Thisgives people who are particularly interested in this kind of project the chanceto follow it more closely and gain a more in-depth understanding from thearchitect and home-owner. The house and surrounding plot are quite small, so itis easier to cater for smaller groups. Email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you would like to join any of these mini-events.

19^th November 2011 – first mini-event

Thefirst mini-event was held on a sunny November afternoon, attended by 3 membersof the Eco House Group. With the lounge floor, the dining room floor and thefloor of the new extension all at different stages of the insulation process,the event had a “Blue Peter” style “…and here’s one I prepared earlier…” feelto it!

GilSchalom, the architect, started in the lounge. Floorboards and joists weregone, and bricks and rubble from elsewhere in the house had been used to raisethe level (with addition of a little road stone). The plan is to use the old floorboardsas the new floor in the loft conversion. Round the edge of the room, downstandsof grey insulation can be seen. These will minimise heat loss through the wallsinto the ground.

Movingon to the dining room, the next step in the process was on display: 300mm thicksheets of silver EPS (expanded polystyrene) were in place, complete with woodchocks between them, and expaning foam protruding from all the joints.

Outside,the ground floor of the extension showed the next step: the expanding foam hadbeen trimmed, a small upstand of insulation placed (and stuck down) around theedge of the walls, and the concrete floor slab poured on top.

Formore on this project, go to http://eco-retrofit.blogspot.com/

December PV scramble!

2011-11-21T14:27:00.001Z

21 Nov 2011: DNC writes: I had an email from Good Energy today to say that they will have staff in the office on Saturday 10th (10-4pm) and Sunday 11th (12-6pm) in December to super-streamline OfGem registrations in time for the midnight deadline of Dec 11th. If you get your installation registered by then, you are on the 43pence tariff for the next 25 years! Some utility companies are telling people that they need 3 or 4 weeks to register, so don't take that nonsense from them - switch!
I don't normally want to promote one company only, but if they can do this for the customers, it's a benefit for all. Also. I hope they can lose George Monbiot his £100 bet - he bet someone that renewable energy companies can't maintain their prices till 2014... but GE have already maintained their prices without an increase for 4 years - due to the fact that their 'Wholesale Fuel' price is zero - the Wind for their windfarm and the Sun for their customers who are home generators!
This underlines the fundamental benefit of renewable technology - it trumps all the arguments of people who say that Wind farms or Solar or Hydro is not 'economic'. The fossil/nuclear generators are helped by the many visible and invisible subsidies and economies of scale that the fossil/nuclear systems get - but every other one of these is trumped by the fact that the renewables come free, but the nuclear fossils have a Wholesale fuel purchase price, with competition from others to obtain those fuels, with risks of war or hostilities cutting off the supply.

Eco Houses Under Construction - Event 5

2011-11-14T22:53:00.001Z

On 12^thNovember, a dozen people gathered to find out more about barn conversion inEast Leake that will soon become zero carbon. David Hill (now Managing Directorof Carbon Legacy Ltd.) turned the old dairy into a comfortable, highlyinsulated space. If you think that going low carbon is for the “hair shirtbrigade”, think again – this is definitely luxury low carbon living!

Good airquality is provided by the MVHR system (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery),which draws stale air out of kitchens, bathrooms and the utility room, and sendswarmed fresh air into the main living spaces. (This makes the utility room agreat place to dry clothes simply because of the air flow.) The system wasextremely quiet (well, I didn’t even notice it), although it could be heard inthe utility room where the MVHR box was located.

The house designensures thermal comfort thanks to insulation, controlled ventilation ratherthan cold draughts, and plenty of “thermal mass”. Thermal mass is present inthe form of stone floors and stone or brick walls – these absorb heat to keepthe house cool on a hot day, and release the heat as the air cools in theevening.

Energy isprovided in a variety of ways:

The forthcomingaddition of more PV panels to create a 10kwp system, will equal the entire annualenergy consumption of the house (10,000-10,500kWh per year). Furthermore, theimminent installation of an inverter with intelligent control system andbatteries (called Power Routerfrom Nedap in Holland. www.powerrouter.com) means that this house will continue to have anelectricity supply even if the rest of the area suffers a power cut!

Solar hot waterpanels supply hot water during the summer months, and a ground source heat pumpprovides heat to the under-floor heating system. Recently, a pellet burningstove in the main living area has been installed in case of power failure ortemperatures below -10 degrees C or when the main heating system has not beenswitched on.

Low energy refurb of 1950's house underway

2011-11-10T20:46:00.001Z

Back in July, the first "Eco Houses Under Construction" event introduced the design for the ultra-low energy refurbishment of a 1950's solid wall house (my house).

The refurbishment work will combine essential maintenance, a loft conversion, and an extension with a radical low-energy refit. There will eventually be a super-insulated roof, ground floor and external walls, triple glazed windows, and a ventilation system with heat recovery.

Finally, work has started - with the floor of the extension. To follow the whole process, keep your eye on the blog: http://eco-retrofit.blogspot.com/

As work progresses, there will be the chance to visit this house and learn more about it from the architect, Gil Schalom. Email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you would like to receive details as visits are organised.

Visit to Green Street

2011-11-07T01:09:00.001Z

29 October 2011: The WB Ecohouses group were invited to view the show house in the Green Street development in the Meadows - by architects Marsh Grochowski, and developers Blueprint. See more detail at:
http://www.ourgreenstreet.co.uk/downloads/Scheme%20Summary.pdf

John Long, for Blueprint was showing us around, and we had about a dozen members from WB Ecohouses. This was a brave venture to build in an area that has been 'postcoded', i.e. has lower house prices than south of the river, but the quality of the houses has been sufficient to generate a huge amount of interest. The architect, Julian, lives nearby in a self-built house, and Blueprint have a policy of sustainable development. There are 38 houses, and it's a reasonable risk that there are 38 families willing to move to energy efficient houses like these, so Blueprint went ahead with the scheme.

The houses are almost Passivhaus standard, with a high attention to thermal insulation, thermal break detailing, MVHR, on site power generation, high quality windows and other features. Added to which they have wonderful qualities of daylighting and space. They have a good urban density (being compact town houses to 3 stories) with roof gardens and on site car storage.

The houses of the second phase have an excellent view of the Victoria Gardens park on the Embankment. There was such high demand for these that they were sold by sealed bid, demonstrating that there are more than 38 families who recognise quality!

These houses of the first phase have high performance windows with external window blinds, operable from within. Each window has a small anemometer so that they blinds can retract in high wind conditions. The houses all have PV panels on the roofs, although only a token amount per house. We were distressed to see that subsequent fitting of satellite dishes and TV aerials appear to have misunderstood the risks of shading to the PV panels (many of which seemed to be partially shaded.)
It is nice that John seems to know all the buyers of the properties. He has also got some shared promotion with the Riverbank restaurant, to get help with leafletting and hospitality.

Want PV? soon, you will need an EPC!

2011-11-05T11:30:00.001Z

5 Nov 2011: After April 12th 2012, it's likely that householders will have to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for their house to be eligible for the 21pence tariff. The EPC should be grade 'C' or better. Without this, you may only be eligible for 9 pence/unit.
This is going to need clarifying, because it seems to be bad news for people in historic buildings who are unable to bring the buildings up to grade C, or those who have to erect panels in the orchard, garage or uninsulated outbuildings because the house is historic, listed or is encrusted with chimneys and dormers. You need EPCs in order to sell a house, so there is now a small industry of EPC assessors. Google EPC and you will find loads, including some companies based in West Bridgford/ Rushcliffe. If your house does not yet meet grade C, then you will get advice from the assessor on how far it can be taken.

How do you get an EPC?
• EPCs are explained further on the DECC website,
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/Energyperformancecertificates/index.htm
• It costs between £30 and £70 to get an EPC evaluation, there are many companies offering to do one. See this page:
https://www.epcregister.com/searchAssessor.html
• Here's an example of a EPC for a house in 'AnyTown'
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/319282.pdf

Get your PV quickly!

2011-10-30T22:13:00.000Z

30 Oct 2011: There are changes to the PV Feed in Tariff coming up, and these will affect newcomers, not those who already have it. The likelihood is that the FIT will drop from 43pence a unit to about 21p a unit. This is still well above the buy-in price of electricity, but gives a slower return - more like 18 years, instead of 8 years.
This is partially to deter the slap-happy buyer who is doing it for the money, and not considering the quality of the installation, or the better use of their money, for example by Thermal Insulation. The other reason is that the world price of panels has fallen so massively, that the cost of installation has halved in just 2 years - scaffolding labour and inverters are the same, but the Chinese production volume and quality have improved beyond all predictions. Relative to what they have invested, the return (from a micro-levy on all energy buyers) is too great.
It is a big blow for the Solar industry which has geared up to meet the demand, and now has to diversify or see many new companies closing or merging.
If you have PV up, but have not yet registered for FIT, do it now! If you are merely thinking about PV, then decide quickly as there may be only a month to get it fitted, and installers will have such full order books that you cannot be 'shopping around for a bargain' - just decide quickly.
See a few links.
http://rushcliffesolar.blogspot.com/2011/10/changes-to-fit.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/oct/28/feed-in-tariffs-solarpower
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2120568/feed-tariff-cuts-threaten-kill-solar-pv
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/122739-consumers-and-industry-react-with-fury-to-leaked-feed-in-tariff-cut-plans.html

Radcliffe Superhome!

2011-10-21T17:58:00.002+01:00

20 October 2011: DNC writes: Michael Bedford of Radcliffe has just had his house added to the Superhomes website, which is for retrofit to older homes, using energy saving methods or technology. See:
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/superhomes/nottingham-johns-road
Somehow, I guess that this is one house that will be warm this winter, however bad the weather gets!
This is about the most comprehensive retrofit that anybody could do. Here's a list of the main features:

60mm Phenolic foam external insulation
20mm Spacetherm (Aerogel) + Fermaboard panels internal insulation
120mm Celotex floor insulation and 250mm Celotex loft insulation
TITON MVHR system
Hi-performance ALPHA gas boiler
2.4 SqM solar thermal panel
10x245W Photovoltaic panels 2.45 KWp
(in the photo, nine are visible, the tenth one cropped from the photo)
Low energy lighting throughout
Low energy appliances

Thinking of a Heat Pump? Act soon....

2011-10-20T00:35:00.000+01:00

19 Oct 2011: DNC writes: When we had our Heat Pump installed in 2007, we did get a small support grant to help with the cost. There are more funds available since August 2011. The Renewable Heat Premium is a new scheme, mainly for people whose primary living property (i.e. not a second home) is off the Gas grid or who elect not to use Gas. This is additional to the Renewable Heat Incentive.

In a nutshell, its:
• £300 for Solar Thermal HW
• £850 for Air Source Heat Pump
• £1250 for Earth or Water source Heat Pump
• £950 for Biomass boiler
The scheme runs until March 2012. Better get your skates on!

It's explained on the Energy Saving Trust website:
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Financial-incentives/Renewable-Heat-Premium-Payment

It's also explained on the Ice Energy website, for would-be buyers of Heat Pumps, for whom there is little alternative if they live off the Gas grid unless they want to lose a fortune on Oil, or have a large supply of wood for their wood burner:
http://www.iceenergyecodan.co.uk/cert-grant/

Eco Houses Under Construction - Event 5

2011-10-10T22:20:00.000+01:00

The 5th event in the series will take place on Saturday 12th November, 2-5pm.

This is a rare opportunity to visit the UK's first Zero Carbon Barn Conversion, just down the road in East Leake. The developer (and owner) of this home is David Hill, who previously developed the UK's first Code 6 new build Zero Carbon homes in Upton, Northampton. He is now director of Carbon Legacy Ltd.

Although not still "under construction", this house has the advantage of 3 years' energy data post completion, showing that the approach taken has worked.

(For anyone who attended the series of Eco House Seminars which we ran this time last year, you may remember that David presented a talk on low energy refurbishment, and also contributed to the seminar on renewable energy for homes.)

For more information or to book your place on this free event, email Tina on info@wbecohouses.co.uk

Here is David's summary of the house:

·         Superinsulated 9” solid brick walls
·         Factory madeInsulated roof panels (SIPS)
·         Superinsulated floor slab with wet under floor heating (ground and first floor)
·         Extensive useof thermal mass in floors, internal walls and ceiling
·         Whole houseventilation with heat recovery 90% efficiency
·         Triple glazedtimber windows with aluminium outer skin (Rationel)
·         Draft lobbywith highly insulated doors (Rationel)
·         Air tightconstruction with measured value of 2.3m3/m2@50Pa pressure
·         Thermal storefed by oversized Solar Hot water panels and heat pump for space heating anddomestic hot water

· 10kwp Solar PV system installed in December which should make us carbon neutral in energy use. Half of the system also feeds a new type of inverter (Nedap Powerrouter). This will do 5 important tasks: Send power to the house as it is required, when the house does not need the power divert it to a large battery store, in the evening when the house is calling for electricity turn the battery power into AC and send it to the house, during the day if the house does not need power and the batteries are fully charged then export power to the grid, should the Mains Grid supply fail then the unit will continue to feed converted power from the batteries into the house independently.

·         Ground sourcedheat Pump (GSHP) providing space heating and some of the domestic hot water
·         ExperimentalSunbox providing Earth charging energy from solar and ambient air to improvethe efficiency of the GSHP
·         Rain waterrecycling from underground tank to provide water for toilet flushing and gardenirrigation
·         Presence anddaylight sensor light control in common areas of the house
·         100% lowenergy lighting and low energy appliances
·         Planningpermission and foundation pad for a 10-15kw VAWT wind turbine for when I findone that works!
·         Reserve woodpellet 5kw stove in case of power failure

Interestingfacts/results:

·         It works!
·         It has met itstarget energy consumption with 3 years’ worth of all power consumption (electricity)10,500kwh/year
·         If we had the10kw wind turbine (long story) or when we install the 10kw or bigger Solar PVinstallation then the house will generate as much or more power than itconsumes.
·         It may alsoprovide free electricity to charge 2 electric cars the first of which is due toarrive in 2012
·         The familyloves it because it is comfortable and pleasant to live in all year round

Eco House Visits coming up

2011-10-04T21:11:00.000+01:00

In addition to the "Eco Houses Under Construction" events coming up in the next month or two, here are some additional visits being planned to low energy building projects that have been completed.

1. Green Street in the Meadows - a tour of the show home and a chance to find out more about the fabric and technologies in this Code 4 development. http://www.igloo.uk.net/projects/nottingham-green-street-meadows

There is already a lot of interest in this free visit, which will be held on the morning of either 22nd October or 29th October, TBC. If you would like to join this event, just email info@wbecohouses.co.uk indicating which date(s) you can make.

2. FarmEco straw bale building - a tour of the recently completed Ecocentre near Bingham, led by a member of the Eco House Group who assisted in its construction. Details of the centre's key features can be seen here: http://www.farmeco.co.uk/ecocentre/

This visit is free, and will take place at 11am on Sunday 30th October if there is sufficient interest. So if you want to see it, email info@wbecohouses.co.uk.

3. Hill Holt Wood - a tour of this inspiring site will be arranged in November/December if enough people register interest. To get an idea of the place and the eco buildings, click here: http://hillholtwood.com/the-community-village/

This visit will cost something (less than £10 probably), and we can arrange to share transport for those who wish to go. Email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you are interested.

Eco Houses Under Construction - Event 4

2011-10-04T15:05:00.000+01:00

The Coach House, a whole house refurbishment usingpassivhaus principles

On Sunday 2^nd October, a total of 17 visitorstook part in a tour around a Victorian coach house which is now an advanced lowenergy home. Gil Schalom, who provided advice and architectural services on theproject, gave a presentation explaining how this was achieved. He introducedthe passivhaus modelling techniques used at the design stage, and includedphotos of the insulation and air tightness products as they were installed.

For more details about this refurbishment project, click here

To receive an invitation to other events like this, contact Tinaon info@wbecohouses.co.uk and askto join the Eco House Group email list.

The Eco Houses UnderConstruction projectis funded by ClimateEast Midlands, East Midlands Improvementand Efficiency Partnership and Communities and LocalGovernment witha Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. It is delivered by the charity Groundwork East Midlands.

Twitter Q&A with Greg Barker

2011-10-04T12:13:00.000+01:00

Twitter Q&A with Greg Barker, Thursday 6 October 11.30am - 12.30pm

Climate Change and Energy Minister Greg Barker is taking part in TwitterUK's Question & Answer series, answering your questions on rising energy prices and household energy bills.

We are taking questions in advance as well as during the session using the DECC (@deccgovuk) twitter account. The live session is on Thursday 6th October at 11.30am - 12.30pm.

Tweet us your questions using the hashtag #AskEnergy.

If you do not use Twitter but would like to ask a question then you can email decc.ecomms@decc.gsi.gov.uk by midnight on 5th October.

We will capture the answers and publish them on the DECC website following the session.

Here are questions that one member of the Eco House Group has emailed so far:

Given that the generation of small scale electricity by private homes is collectively a very inefficient method of generating energy, would more not be achieved by providing financial incentive to promote the significant use of insulation (eg. externally, particularly on the vast numbers of solid walled houses) to reduce the amount of energy needed in the first place and amending the planning system to enable this to be done, rather than blocking it?

Again, given the collective inefficiency of small scale generation and the relatively significant proportion of household energy consumption used on heating and hot water, would it not be more effective to provide highly efficient district heating systems, as have been pursued for many years in other major European countries?

Go for it - send in your questions to the Energy Minister!!

September Heatwave

2011-10-02T10:48:00.001+01:00

2 Oct 2011: DNC writes: The heat wave at the end of September 2011 produced 3 successive PV-Maximum days in a row. As it is after the Equinox, these averaged 13.5 kWh only per day on my east facing 4KW array, but it is still nice to have them. The lower daily harvest is due to lower sun angles and short hours of daylight. It's distressing how quickly it gets dark in the early evenings!
It says something about the summer we have had (a lot of cloudy bright conditions) that that last day that PV was close to a maximum was 14th June, and previous to that it was May 1st and 2nd!
For those who installed in early 2011, the good news is that 2011 has so far been sunnier than 2010, July and September being notably better.
dnicholsoncole@gmail.com

AECB annual conference

2011-09-26T22:23:00.000+01:00

The annual conference for the Sustainable Builders Association (AECB) took place on 16th and 17th September this year in Nottingham, and I went along to it for the first time. As a home-owner rather than a building professional, I thought I might be out of my depth, but I had a wonderful time and can highly recommend it!

A large part of this year's focus was on retrofit, but talks and workshops covered a wide range of topics, including:
- The launch of the AECB's "Less is More - Energy Security after Oil" discussion paper by David Olivier
- Renovating existing homes and creating new buildings to Passive House standard
- Embodied carbon and sustainability of buildings and materials

There was also a talk on "a community network promoting energy efficient buildings" - by me, about Transition West Bridgford's Eco House Group, the events organised over the last 18 months, and this blog!

If you are thinking about starting a major low-energy or sustainable refurbishment (or new build), it is worth joining the AECB as a supporter member (for about £40+), just for the useful documents that you can then download. But there is much more on the website - a forum, articles, courses, the chance to find out who's who and what some of the UK's leading sustainable builders and architects (etc.) are working on, and events for local groups.

http://www.aecb.net/

Green Street eco housing

2011-09-26T21:26:00.000+01:00

Eco Houses are attracting a lot of interest, judging by the speed at which the new homes on Green Street in the Meadows sold. Here are a few paragraphs about this development:

The development, which is a mixture of three andfour bed contemporary town houses, comprises 38 homes in total. Designed byNottingham based award winning architects, Marsh Grochowski, it is positionednext to the picturesque Victoria Gardens on the Trent Embankment.

The scheme builds on Blueprint’s core values of designdriven quality and sustainability. Features include solar photovoltaicsupplemented electricity, whole-house heat recovery, super insulation and airtightness way above new building standards.

The homes were priced from around £175,000 to£235,000 and were sold nationally by Savills via their Nottingham officeand locally by Royston & Lund in West Bridgford.

The Lower Energy Terraced House

2011-09-17T21:58:00.000+01:00

I'm just back from 2 wonderful and inspiring days at the Association of Sustainable Builders' (AECB) annual conference. Of which more anon....

There were many interesting people to meet there and so much to learn.

Here is just one example of an ongoing refurbishment being carried out in Manchester by Andrew Gill, one of many people I met at the conference:

https://sites.google.com/site/lowerenergyterracedhouse/home

It is well worth a read! There is a lot to digest!

Eco Houses Under Construction - Event 3

2011-09-17T21:36:00.000+01:00

Event 3 – the second visit to the timber frame new build

We were again lucky to have fine weather, and 35 visitorsgathered on site to learn more about the insulation strategy for the house, andthe reasons for choosing lime render as part of the outer shell.

Architect Mike Siebert (of Ecologic Homes Ltd.) explainedhow and why a range of insulation materials were used. These included a woodfibre sarking board for the roof, load-bearing polystyrene beneath the entirebuilding and outer walls and blown recycled newspaper in the timber framewalls, plus some extra additions to reduce cold bridging at key locations (see on photo with brickwork).

Further roof insulation will be added between the rafters as well. Another interesting product used was foamglass in the form of a load-bearingplinth block, which is also highly insulating, to complete the thermal barrier.

Tony Saunders (of Lime Technology Ltd) and Clinton Parker(the plasterer) talked about the benefits and uses of lime render and limemortar, including its “self-healing” characteristics. There was also adiscussion of various ways to use hempcrete (although not used on thisproject).

Clinton, who is an experienced plasterer (but using limerender for the first time) explained how he found it very easy to use andapply.

Michael Siebert, architect – Ecologic Homes Ltd 07508 161333

Tony Saunders – Lime Technology Ltd. 0845 603 1143

Clinton Parker – 07904 084234 (the plasterer who did thelime render work)

The Eco Houses Under Construction project is funded by Climate East Midlands, East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and Communities and Local Government with a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. It is delivered by the charity Groundwork East Midlands.

Low energy users pay more per unit

2011-09-11T21:52:00.000+01:00

Many people who are interested in low energy homes are in fact less profligate in their use of energy than most just because they are aware of the cost to pocket and planet.

But the way that the energy companies organise their pricing structures means that the first units used cost more, while energy used above a certain threshold becomes cheaper. This is rather unfair if you are a very low user, so it is worth shopping around to see if you would pay less with a different energy company.

I understand (but have not fully checked the details) that the Co-op has a flat rate deal that may work out cheaper for those who use less energy. You can also check on the website for details of the energy mix to get an idea of how "green" their energy is.

Other companies who focus on renewable energy over fossil fuels are Good Energy and Ecotricity

Nottingham's growing group of Superhomes

2011-09-11T21:29:00.000+01:00

The number of homes undergoing energy-efficiency retrofits is growing!

The Superhomes network showcases homes that have reduced their carbon emissions by at least 60%, and they have just celebrated the opening of the one hundredth superhome to join the network.

You can view details at http://www.superhomes.org.uk/, and using the "Find a Superhome near you" feature you will see that Nottingham now has 2 Superhomes and one aspiring superhome. (And there are more in the pipeline - including people who have been attending our local Eco House Group events).

This autumn, Superhomes all over the UK are open to the public - for example, Nottingham's newest Superhome, the one in Mapperley Park. This home is open on 2nd October and you can register to visit through the Superhomes website or via info@wbecohouses.co.uk (it is a combined event).

Three contrasting eco-houses

2011-09-11T20:54:00.000+01:00

Local architect Julian Marsh has passed me details of an ultra-low energy refurbishment in Nottingham city centre - converting a lacemaker's house into an up-to-date eco home. Click Lacemaker's house to view.

If you are looking for more modest refurbishment ideas (including low cost improvements), have a look at LowEhouses.

And if you'd like to read more about the very interesting eco home that Julian Marsh made for himself (below) on the site of an old meat factory, click here.

If you are familiar with the Passive House methodology, this offers a different approach to achieving a sustainable home which Julian calls the Active House approach.

(The text has kindly been made available to us by the Architect's Journal from this article in their March 2011 issue. www.architectsjournal.co.uk)

24 Hours of Reality

2011-09-08T16:37:00.000+01:00

For an update on climate change and how it is affecting us already.....

Al Gore’s follow up to An Inconvenient Truth is here. "24 Hours of Reality" is a global event to get people all over the world watching the live transmission, together.

Book a night in or watch it with friends - the date for your diary is 15th September at 7pm

Click here to watch it: http://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/24-hours-reality-watch-it-live

For all sorts of other inspiring stuff, have a look at the rest of Global Action Plan's website. You may have heard of the EcoTeams programme that they have run across Nottinghamshire, but they do a lot more besides: http://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/

Low E refurb design

2011-09-08T12:01:00.000+01:00

If you are wondering how much money you can save by using different energy saving measures, here is a 2 page document which may help - sent to me by architect Julian Marsh.

This is a design proposed for a refurbishment of a typical terraced house in the Meadows area of Nottingham, but it is broadly applicable to many solid wall homes. It includes both low cost measures and higher cost measures to create a predicted 88% reduction in CO2 emissions with a comparatively modest outlay.

This house, when refurbished, will be used as a show home to illustrate the technologies, their costs and benefits to the public. To view, go to:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2fTJ8MNPf4tM2I3NmM4YTUtMDVlYi00MmI2LTk3NTQtYzU2YjEwNTI1ZTNi&hl=en_US

It is not the only interesting projects running in the Meadows. For more information about MOSES (Meadows Ozone Energy Services, a community owned energy company, go to http://www.meadowspartnershiptrust.org.uk/energy/mozes.aspx)

Considering PVs for your roof?

2011-09-06T21:53:00.002+01:00

If you are fairly local to West Bridgford and are considering PV panels for your roof, why not join a group of would-be PV owners who are getting together to research, and possibly buy, PVs as a group?

This first meeting is for buyers (not for companies who install PV) to get together. Independent expert David Nicholson-Cole of Rushcliffe Solar will be there to provide independent advice on whether your roof is suitable for PV, and how much electricity it might be able to generate.

Just come along to Belle and Jerome in West Bridgford at 7.30pm on Monday 12th September 2011 (we'll be upstairs).

If you are interested but can't make this date, or have any other questions, just email info@wbecohouses.co.uk for more information.

Michael and Mo’s low energy home – Part 5

2011-09-01T21:20:00.000+01:00

Heating and hot water

On moving in, the 6 year old Worcester combi boiler wasfound to be a bit leaky, so was replaced in early 2011 with an ALPHA condensingboiler with gas saver unit (a tank that pre-heats the incoming mains water).

These are linked to a 90 Litre solar thermal tank, heated by a flat solarthermal panel on the lower extension roof. When it is sunny, the solar thermal panel on the extensionroof rapidly heats the water in the tank, cutting off if it exceeds 65^oC.

The condensing boiler has good controls, and each radiatorhas adjustable (TVR) controls.

The boiler, tank + solar thermal panel were installed by ISRplumbing.

PVs

The 2.46 kW PV system with 10 panels was installed in June2011. The inverter is in the loft space, where it needs to be to keepcool. This was installed by TEAM UKRenewables of West Bridgford.

Still to do:

MVHR

Much draught-proofing has been done, but there is some moreto do before the MVHR is installed. The MVHR will be a partial (rather thanwhole house) system, supplied by Titon. A very low energy unit has just come onto the market and is due be installed in September 2011.The main focus is toextract stale & damp air from the kitchen and bathrooms, and deliver freshair to the ground floor dining room.

Other outstanding tasks are the fitting of new floor withunder-floor heating, to the dining room.

Investigation of ground water levels & consideration ofextra rainwater storage for garden use only.

Michael and Mo’s low energy home – Part 4

2011-09-01T21:18:00.000+01:00

Floor

Some floors have been replaced & insulated on a room byroom basis.

In the study, 150 mm Celotex was fixed between the joists byremoving the floorboards, attaching battens beneath the joists, and resting theinsulation boards on top. Above that, Michael and Mo put down a bamboo flooringover a 15mm chipboard subfloor.

The lounge floor was a bigger job, because of the need toadjust the levels to make space for under-floor heating. First the floor andjoists were removed. Then the new joists were put in, but at a lower level.150mm of Celotex (supplied by Westville)was put down between the joists and held up by battens. Above that is 18mmchipboard and then 15mm of thermaboard. This thermaboard has tracks cut into itfor the under-floor heating pipes, and it also acts as a heat store. On top ofthat is 16mm of engineered oak flooring.

The old fireplace was replaced at the same time, and is usedvery occasionally. Most of the time only the under-floor heating is used andMichael and Mo are very pleased with it.

The dining room awaits similartreatment.

Lighting

Most of the original lighting has been replaced with LEDsand compact fluorescent lights. The old halogen lights caused problems in thebathroom and kitchen by sucking the moist air up through the fittings in theceiling and creating a damp problem in the spaces above. In the loft above themain bathroom the excess moisture rising from the bathroom resulted in ice onthe joists in the recent extreme winters. Additional ventilation vents to the loft space have been now fitted inorder to reduce this effect.

Michael and Mo’s low energy home – Part 3

2011-09-01T21:15:00.000+01:00

Walls – internal insulation

Those areas of the house without external insulation have mostlybeen insulated internally.

At the front (the hall, the downstairs loo, the pantry andthe first floor landing), Michael has used a product called “Spacetherm”. Thisproduct is a flexible aerogel blanket supplied by the Proctor group as alaminated plywood/Fermacel board, but they have stopped supplying it in thisform.

Thermally, aerogel is an excellent material with a very high u value evenat thicknesses of 10mm or 20mm. However, it is not user-friendly! It “unravels”if you try to drill through it, so fixing curtain rails or picture hooksthrough it is a problem. It is difficult to install and plaster due to theuneven fixing using an explosive Hilti gun to nail the boards in position. Thatsaid, with perseverance, the results are impressive, both visually andthermally.

Single storey extension and window reveals

The extension at the back already existed when Michael andMo moved in, but required reroofing, and the addition of 270 mm mineral woolinsulation. In this area, the extensionwas internally insulated using the 20mm “Spacetherm-F” panels on the walls, andfinally plastered. Around the window reveals, 10mm of Spacetherm blanket wasused. The plasterer did a remarkable job and the end result looks great – butit was extremely tricky and time-consuming to achieve.

Michael and Mo’s low energy home – Part 2

2011-09-01T21:10:00.000+01:00

Windows

Existing UPVC double glazed windows have been left as theyare. However, there were some failing single glazed leaded windows, with gaps!It was very draughty. These have been replaced with triple glazed windows(sandwiching the original leaded lights inside the new windows to retain thestyle). The draughts have been eliminated, making a huge difference to comfort.

Walls – external insulation

The majority of the wall area (9 inch solid brick) has beenexternally insulated and rendered by Westville Insulation. They used thePermarock system, with 60mm of Phenolic foam and a K render to form a weather-proofouter surface. Phenolic foam is more highly insulating than most other options,including mineral fibre and polystyrene, for the same thickness. The thicknessof 60mm Phenolic is commonly used as this would bring a solid wall house up tothe same level of insulation as a new build at 2011 building regulations.

As soon as the external insulation boards were in place, thehouse felt noticeably warmer and much more comfortable. Not only that, but thehouse started to dry out! This means that there has been some cracking of paintand plaster in the main bathroom and other areas.

The external insulation does not surround the entire housefor a number of reasons. The centre of the front elevation has been leftun-insulated for aesthetic reasons, as has the chimney breast. With just 60mmof insulation, the overhang at the eaves is not reduced greatly and there is nodetrimental impact on the appearance of the house. If anything, the whole houselooks more attractive than it did originally.

Michael and Mo’s low energy home – Part 1

2011-09-01T21:01:00.000+01:00

Michael and Mo live in a 3 bed detached house built in 1935.With a floor area of 160m², solid brick walls and almost no loftinsulation or insulation beneath the ground floor, it was neither warm nor cheapto heat when they first moved in.

Three years on and a long list of improvements has made asignificant difference. Further work is planned, but here is a summary of thechanges so far (Part 1 to Part 4)

The loft

On moving in, the loft had a thin layer of glass fibre insulation,completely squashed by dust and rubble on top. This was no good at all, so itall had to be removed and replaced with a combination of 50mm thickness ofCelotex boards (highly insulating PIR, or Polyisocyanurate) and 150 mm Knauf“SpaceBlanket” (protected glass - fibre insulation). Recycled laminate floorboards were placed on top of the Celotex boards to allow access and storageabove the insulation.

Another neat feature of this loft is the insulated lofthatch. Michael did this himself. First he put draught-excluding tape around thehatch, then put an insulation board on top of the hatch. Over that he attacheda “blanket” of “Thinsulex” quilt onto the top of hatch, extending beyond thehatch by about 50cm all the way around. When the hatch is closed, theinsulation covers the hatch and the surrounding area. The draught-proofing tapewithin the hatch opening stops air flow between house and loft.

Things you need to know about Insulation and Electrics

2011-09-01T17:36:00.000+01:00

With many people thinking about insulating the loft, under the floor and so on, it is perhaps a very good time to draw to your attention to the issues around electric cables.

If, like me, you start to glaze over at the first mention of electricity, don’t worry – there are some very basic facts you need to know, and from there on in you just need to ask a competent electrician.

First thing – don’t just leave your cables going through, within or adjacent to insulation, close to underfloor heating, and so on. They may get too hot and become a fire risk. That’s not to say you can’t put your cables there, it just means….

Second thing - a competent electrician can do the calculations you need, to check what size cable is needed for the particular situation, in case it needs increasing to dissipate the necessary amount of heat.

In addition to your electric cables, watch out for downlighters, which also need to dissipate heat. Some electrical installers just pull your loft insulation out of the way, solving one problem but creating another. (Most downlighters should have fire hoods over them as well, while we’re on the subject.)Again, the solution is a good electrician (with something called a Part P qualification and the relevant experience).

And while we’re here, a reminder that the Wiring Regulations call for the installer of any new circuit to affix a label to the Consumer Unit (old version is a Fuse Box) which indicates when the next inspection is due. If you don’t have one of these, chances are you have not had your wiring checked in 10 years, which is definitely not a good idea.

The process is called a Periodic Inspection and Testing Report (PIR), and there has just been an Amendment to the 17th Edition of the Wiring Regulations released, coming into force on January 1st 2012, when it will then be called the Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). Unless you have been advised differently (because an inspection has found deterioration in your installation), the Wiring Regulations require there to be a PIR done every 10 years, or on change of ownership.

This information has been provided by Helen Hill, who is a member of the Eco House Group, and a qualified electrician.

If you are looking to find a competent, qualified electrician, Helen makes the following suggestions:

1) Trustmark has a website where you can look for a local tradesperson. It is the government’s approved operator scheme which ensures standards, processes and complaints procedures are maintained. Info at http://www.trustmark.org.uk/key-benefits .

2) The equivalent to Trustmark, if a company is installing renewable energy, is the Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL) scheme, info athttp://www.realassurance.org.uk/ , and a company does not need to be in both Trustmark and REAL if they do both types of installations. REAL also has a database where you can look up companies to see if they are members of the scheme. They, and Trustmark, also have Deposit protection schemes.

3) Qualifications – some people calling themselves electricians have just done a very short course (which can be as short as 5 days, costing £795) to get the Part P qualification, usually for domestic installations only. For example, kitchen fitters can get a Part P limited scope qualification this way, so they should not do other types of installation. On the other hand, some people spend two years at college getting City & Guilds Electrotechnical qualifications, followed by further qualifications including the C&G 2391 Inspection & Testing. There should be someone in each company who has sufficient knowledge and experience to pass the 2391 in my view, as it is supposed to assess the skills and knowledge necessary to fill in the Electrical Installation Certificate correctly.

4) The Part P qualification means that the electrical company should work to the current Edition of the Wiring Regulations (17th , and an amendment will take effect on Jan 1st 2012), they should issue Electrical Installation Certificates or Minor Works Certificates (needed when selling your house), and they should notify the Local Authority Building Control that work has been done to the standards set out in Part P of the Building Regulations, if the work done is notifiable (such as a new circuit). If the work is done “cash-in-hand” they are working the black market, avoiding VAT administration, and you probably have no guarantees of workmanship, warranties, or safety, as they will not want records of transactions.

5) Trade Associations – most electrical contractors will be members of a Trade Association, so that they can notify Building Control directly through their Trade Association. This is easier and cheaper, as going it alone costs about £150 per notification. Examples of electrical Trade Associations, in no particular order are NAPIT, NICEIC, ELECSA (with SELECT in Scotland) and so on. Another advantage of using one of their members is that they have Work Guarantee Schemes, should the company go out of business.

Eco Houses Under Construction – Event 3

2011-09-01T16:32:00.000+01:00

After the first 2 events in July attracting over 80 visitors between them, the date for the 3rd event has now been set.

This event will be held on Saturday 10th September at 12.30pm on site at the timber frame new build.

Since the first event held at this site, a roof, triple glazed windows and lime plaster have been added. One very important development that you can’t see is the blown insulation within the timber frame walls (a recycled cellulose fibre which results in high airtightness and thermal mass but low u values and cost). To find out more about this phase of the build and the products and methodologies used, please email info@wbecohouses.co.uk and I will reserve your free place at this event.

If you missed the first two events, there are summaries on this blog.

The Eco Houses Under Construction project is funded by Climate East Midlands, East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and Communities and Local Government with a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. It is delivered by the charity Groundwork East Midlands.

DIY insulation in action

2011-09-01T16:24:00.000+01:00

If you are considering some DIY insulation, here is an update from Ian which may be of interest..."The dining room was made from half the integral garage but there was no insulation in the new wall - just 165mm of blockwork. I spoke to one of the professionals at an Eco House Group seminar in 2010 and he advised insulating it. I bought some 1.2m x 2.4m x 50mm Kingspan foam boards from secondsandco and have put most of them up. I was going to use coving adhesive but Wickes only had 25Kg bags so I used dabs of plaster on the wall and aluminium tape round the edges. I had already lined the metal door with polystyrene to keep a bit of heat in the garage. Also there was a large gap at the bottom of the door so I put 25mm strip of 6mm plywood inside an old bike inner tube and bolted it to the edge of the door."

Climate change progress in Australia

2011-09-01T16:00:00.001+01:00

If you are on this blog because climate change is a concern, there is interesting progress on the horizon in Australia, potentially..... Follow this link to read about it or sign the petitionhttp://www.avaaz.org/en/australian_carbon_price/?cl=1243707019&v=10108

Introduction to Permaculture Design

2011-09-01T13:44:00.000+01:00

Our local Straw Bale education centre at Farmeco in Screveton is running courses in introduction to Permaculture Design.While we might focus on eco houses here, our gardens are really important too, whether we focus on our carbon footprints, using water wisely, or making the most of our gardens for herbs, vegetables and wildlife.If you may be interested in a 2 day course at Farmeco Community Care Farm (14-15 September or 12-13 November), contact David Birrell at office@farmeco.co.uk

Under floor insulation and heating

2011-08-21T21:46:00.004+01:00

I've got some lovely photos from John showing how he insulated between the joists and then added underfloor heating on top.

For anyone who is considering just insulating between the floor joists, maybe with underfloor heating as well, take a look!

This is just one system - another case study to follow soon will show a slightly different approach.

Electric cables may be higher in the joists than 70mm, so cut the battens at that point. A groove may need to be cut in the underside of the foilboard in some cases.

A little wooden jig (by nail tub) ensures battens are fixed at a uniform depth of 70mm (i.e. 50mm for the board, 15mm for the barrier pipe and 5mm tolerance).

The battens are being cut ready by nailing along joists.

The foilboard has been cut and laid leaving 15mm of the joists above it ready to receive the spreader plates.

The spreader plate sits neatly on the joists ready to receive the barrier pipe. One side will go "away" and the other "back". Though not cheap, the spreaders will ensure a nice even heat and increase efficiency by at least 20% compared with overlay board. This is also useful when thicker flooring is used (say 22mm rather than 18mm).

Eco Houses Under Construction - event 2 summary

2011-08-04T11:30:00.004+01:00

On Saturday 30th July, over 35 people attended a very different event – to see a house that 2 weeks ago did not exist! Fortunately the weather was glorious so we could sit in the back garden, looking at the timber structure of the ground floor and first floor levels.

Architect Mike Siebert started by talking about the method used to insulate beneath the house before pouring the slab, using load-bearing insulation to form a “trough” around the perimeter of the house, and beneath the entire footprint of the house (onto which the slab was poured).
The central block-work pillar and the ground floor slab will provide thermal mass to absorb excess heat from the house in hot weather and release the warmth into the house when the temperature falls.

Mike went on to explain his innovative wall construction, the practicalities of working with timber in this way and the u-value of the walls (which will be 0.15W/mK once insulated). There was discussion over methods of achieving air tightness and avoiding cold bridging, particularly around the junction of the outer wall and the first floor – tapes, expanding foam, and insulation between the floor and ceiling will all play their part.

Kris Taylor of EcoFrames Ltd went into more detail about how to get the best value for money with highly insulated timber frames, and also answered questions on another important topic – the source and quality of the timber and distance travelled.

For more about this and other Eco House Group projects, go to www.wbecohouses.co.uk. To see what other projects Transition West Bridgford has to offer, go to www.transitionwb.co.uk.

The Eco Houses Under Construction project is funded by Climate East Midlands, East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and Communities and Local Government with a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. It is delivered by the charity Groundwork East Midlands.

Eco Houses Under Construction - event 1 summary

2011-08-04T11:07:00.004+01:00

Transition West Bridgford’s Eco Houses Under Construction project is off to a flying start, with 2 free events in July attracting over 80 visitors between them. Subsequent events will follow the fortunes of these two building projects (a low-energy refurbishment and a timber frame new build to Code 5) as they progress. The next event is due in late August or early September - to receive details, email info@wbecohouses.co.uk.

On Saturday 16th July, over 45 people braved the rain to attend a talk about one way of turning an ordinary 1950’s brick house into a super-insulated eco house. The speakers were Gil Schalom, a local green architect with longstanding experience in designing ultra-low energy homes, and Alan Budden, architect and expert in the passive house energy model.
Taking a local house that is about to be refurbished as an example, Gil and Alan described the steps that will be needed to bring the heating bill almost to zero. In this example, it is all about super-insulation, air-tightness, and ventilation with heat recovery.
In other words, this refurbishment follows the many of the principles applied in designing state-of-the-art passive houses and the new breed of refurbishments to a standard called “EnerPHit”.

Visions of a Zero Carbon Britain

2011-07-21T21:26:00.005+01:00

Saturday 16th July was Zero Carbon Britain Day, and 50 people braved the rain to take part in the first event in our Eco Houses Under Construction series. However, there is a lot more to a zero carbon lifestyle than an ultra-low energy house. For an entertaining glimpse into what a Zero Carbon lifestyle might look like....

A play based on Zero Carbon Britain is available to BBC iPlayer. The play "Getting to Zero" features Paul Allen and Peter Harper (Centre for Alternative Technology) and also George Monbiot. The play was originally broadcast as one of Radio 4's Afternoon plays. To hear it click here

Houses to visit and useful info

2011-07-21T10:50:00.005+01:00

As well as our next "Eco Houses Under Construction" event on Saturday 30th July (email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you want to come along), here are some other projects that may be of interest...

Here is a little summary of some useful information and visits that have been sent to me by other members of the Eco House Group.

Jerome sent me this link - it is something that Nottingham Energy Partnership has developed to support domestic refurb:

http://www.superwarmzone.com/interactiveecohouse

Ian has sent a link about some other low carbon houses to visit. If you don't mind travelling a bit, then the BRE open days may be for you:

http://www.bre.co.uk/eventdetails.jsp?id=5158

To get a view of a high-tec future, look out for this development in the Derby area which is in the final stages of completion now. Once finished, the show home will be open to visitors:

http://www.zerocarbonhub.org/examplepdfs/Shine_ZC_Derby_2011414_12126875.pdf

Update on our local Eco School's bid for funding

2011-07-13T20:50:00.003+01:00

Hi All

We have been invited to apply for the next round. With your support Edwalton Primary is in the top 100 groups out of 939 registered. At 46th we are in the top 5% for number of supporters, well done!

The next round requires a written application detailing why the school should be included in the last 10. The application will be assessed by River Cottage, Friends of the Earth and British Gas.

The final round is a 2nd vote, only open to British Gas Energyshare tariff customers. I will not recommend that anyone switches to the Energyshare tariff, just to vote for Edwalton! The tariff may, or may not be the cheapest or greenest availiable, that is up to you to decide. If you are however an Energyshare customer should we make it to that stage your vote would be welcome :-)

With rising energy costs, if you are looking to cut your energy bills, the Nottingham Energy Partnership (the environmental charity I work for in my day job) has a totally free and independent online tariff switch tool, to help you find the lowest rate. www.nottenergy.com.

for round 2, with the panel of judges interests in food, energy and sustainability in general, the longstanding ethos of sustainablility and environmental education under the headship of Brian Owens, and the commitment of the staff students and wider school community; I think Edwalton stands a great chance!

I will keep you informed as to how we are doing and thanks again for your support so far.

Jerome Baddley
Parent Governor

To reply to this message, follow the link below:
http://www.energyshare.com/inmail/reply/60043

Eco Houses Under Construction – events 1 and 2

2011-07-02T15:22:00.004+01:00

Interest in the first Eco Houses Under Construction event on 16th July is growing steadily, with over 30 places booked already. More places are available, and the events are free, so get in touch if you would like to take part. For the date and details of the second event, read on.

Event 1 reminder - Saturday 16th July at 12.30pm
This will give the architect’s perspective when designing an ultra-low energy refurbishment for a 1950’s brick house of solid wall construction.

Event 2 - Saturday 23rd July at 12.30pm DATE CHANGED TO 30th JULY
Architect Mike Siebert of Ecologic Homes Ltd. will talk about designing a low cost, high code new build using a timber frame construction. The frame arrives in early July and should be up by the date of the event! An expert from the building company, EcoFrames Ltd., will be on hand to demonstrate how this timber frame construction will provide insulation, air tightness and thermal mass while minimising cold bridging. The windows should also be in place and a representative of Benlowe Windows will talk about the properties of triple glazed windows suitable for use in Code 5+ homes. If the roof is on as well, there will be the chance to learn about wood fibre sarking boards and Sandtoft 20/20 sustainable tiles. To receive full details of this or any future event, email wbecohouses@gmail.com or info@wbecohouses.co.uk.

The Eco Houses Under Construction project is supported by Groundwork East Midlands with funding from Climate East Midlands, East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and Communities and Local Government with a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant.

Community Climate Action Network - news

2011-06-27T21:23:00.004+01:00

Marches Energy Agency (MEA) have two exciting pieces of news for anyone interested in local community renewable projects

1) Low Carbon Planning Events - NEW DATE ADDED IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

***NEW*** Friday 7th October – Bowbridge Primary School, Newark, Nottinghamshire. Flier attached.
Saturday 8th October – County Hall, Matlock, Derbyshire. Flier attached.
Friday 28th October, Corby, Northamptonshire
Saturday 29th October, The Queens Building, DeMontfort University, Leicester

Pre-booking essential, email kirsty.mitchell@cse.org.uk.

FREE to anyone living in the East Midlands

MEA is very excited to be working with the Centre for Sustainable Energy to run these free events. They will help community groups, individuals and councillors engage with local planning and low-carbon development – and help you understand how you can generate local, renewable energy. If you or your group is interested in community-owned renewables then this is the workshop for you!

It will feature the PlanLoCaL model, a large-scale model of a town demonstrating how renewable energy technologies work, and the PlanLoCaL films, which include case studies and information on how to set up community-owned renewable energy projects. There will be a local keynote speaker at each event to provide a local context.

Interactive, practical sessions will focus on how communities can get involved in local plan making, different kinds of renewable energy technologies, climate change adaptation, community engagement, and funding issues. All community groups represented will receive a comprehensive handout pack, including DVDs.

Email ccan@mea.org.uk for a flier or details.

Funded by Groundwork East Midlands.

Email kirsty.mitchell@cse.org.uk to book your free place.

2) Support Local Groups on Energy Share - JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT

Have you supported your local Energy Share project(s) yet?

Edwalton Primary School is the closest to us here in West Bridgford - and one of the team leading this project is Jerome, a member of the West Bridgford Eco House Group. Just go to http://www.energyshare.com/edwalton-primary-school and click on the red button to support this project.

Or are you near Beeston and would like to support their Energy Share bid? http://www.energyshare.com/greening-beeston/

Search by postcode for other local projects you might like to support - there are more than 100 in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area!

Eco Houses Under Construction - First Event

2011-06-19T09:59:00.003+01:00

The first in the series of at least 8 free events will be held on Zero Carbon Britain Day:

Saturday 16th July, 12.30pm
West Bridgford, Nottingham
Talk by Steve Day, Fabric Architects

Steve is in charge of the eco-refurbishment design and will give an overview of the key aspects of this ultra-low energy refurbishment. His talk will include the “fabric first” approach and an introduction to the kind of work needed to achieve or move towards Passive House standard. From 1.30pm onwards there will be the opportunity to visit the house in its “pre-refurbishment” state for those who wish to do so. To reserve your place(s) and to receive details of the venue, email info@wbecohouses.co.uk.

The second event will be held the following weekend when architect Mike Siebert of Ecologic Homes Ltd. will talk about achieving a low cost, high code new build using timber frame. The frame arrives in early July and should be up by the date of the event! To receive full details of this or any future event, email info@wbecohouses.co.uk.

To see what other projects Transition West Bridgford has to offer, go to www.transitionwb.co.uk.

The Eco Houses Under Construction project is funded by Climate East Midlands, East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and Communities and Local Government with a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. It is delivered by the charity Groundwork East Midlands.

The Eco House Group is also supported by Rushcliffe Borough Council.

Eco Houses Under Construction

2011-06-09T14:30:00.005+01:00

This summer’s project, Eco Houses Under Construction, is now underway!

Following the interest in Eco House Open Days here and across the UK, Tina Holt and Julie Lygo decided to organise a series of open house days with a difference.

In July 2011, Julie’s eco house is due to “arrive” on site, in the form of timber frame panels ready to assemble. Tina’s 1950’s brick house with no cavity walls or insulation of any sort is already firmly on site, but essential maintenance and extension work is due to start in July as well. In the next few months, both houses will become well-insulated and highly energy efficient – the aim is to achieve at least Code 5 for the new build and to come close to EnerPHit (Passive House retrofit standard) for the refurbishment.

We will arrange a series of open days when the eco features of these houses can be seen and discussed before they disappear for ever beneath a tidy surface of cladding or plaster. Experts will be brought in to talk and answer questions about the products installed and the methods used as the work progresses. Julie and Tina will be on hand to give the “home owner’s view” of the pros and cons.

Email info@wbecohouses.co.uk to be added to the Eco House Group email list and to be first to receive details of the events as they are organised.

A project like this could not easily be undertaken without funding, to bring in experts at weekends and for the Public Liability Insurance needed to allow members of the public into the houses once the work is underway. We were very fortunate to be successful in our bid for a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant, and are very grateful to Groundwork East Midlands for their support.

The Eco Houses Under Construction project is funded by Climate East Midlands, East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and Communities and Local Government with a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. It is delivered by the charity Groundwork East Midlands.

The Eco House Group has been supported by Rushcliffe Borough Council since it started in 2010.

Help our local eco-school!

2011-06-07T20:53:00.005+01:00

One member of the Eco House Group has just sent me this invitation to help a local eco-school win a bid to get some solar panels. It's only a case of following the link below and clicking a button. If you can spare a minute, please do!

Edwalton school, 3 times green flag eco-school has just been shortlisted for the winner of the Times Educational Supplement sustainable school of the year award. The school has also just become the First Primary School in Britain to be awarded with interim accredithation by 'Specialist Schools and Academies Trust' for Rural Dimension - March 2011. Edwalton has a long and proud tradition of environmental awareness and the children reflect these values in their caring attitudes towards nature, animals and others.

None of these wonderful green accolades however come with funding, Edwalton like most other schools has had to absorb significant cuts in it’s budget this year. To help fund the school farm and the schools continued commitment to environmental suitability the school is bidding to win funding for solar panels from the energyshare fund.

You can help! To get through to the next round of the funding application the school has to collect supporters, all you need to do is visit the schools energyshare page and click the red ‘support this group’ button. The deadline is the 30th of June.

Eco House Open Day 2011

2011-05-19T13:38:00.008+01:00

Our second Eco House Open Day took place on Sunday 15th May 2011. Six houses with eco-features were open to the public and about 70 visits took place during the day.

Some houses showed renewable technologies installed: solar PV, solar hot water, and a ground source heat pump (with charging using sun boxes).

Some houses demonstrated the benefits of insulation, either because of the original construction, or due to the addition of insulation by the home owners in roofs, walls and floors. The two solid wall houses with significant internal or external insulation attracted a lot of interest this year after the recent cold winter and rising fuel prices!

Other features included draught proofing, water saving options and changing habits with a smart meter. Home owners talked about what worked, and what didn't!

If you missed the open day there will be more events in the summer as part of the newest project "Eco Houses Under Construction". This project is funded by Groundwork with a Growing Climate Friendly Communities grant. During the summer, there will be talks and demonstrations led by experts in aspects of building and refurbishing to create low energy houses.

Just email info@wbecohouses.co.uk to get your name on the list if you want to be invited to these events.

The Eco House Group becomes a case study

2011-05-12T16:48:00.000+01:00

The charity "Marches Energy Agency" has just sent out the following invitation to all who receive its newsletter, featuring our very own Eco House Group. If you like to know what other projects and events happen across the Midlands, do have a look at their website or sign up for their newsletter.

First Community Climate Action Case Study Now Online

Many of the people who receive monthly Community Climate Action e-newsletters are involved in inspiring projects to tackle climate change. So when we ran a survey earlier this year and lots of you said that you would like to see case studies of local projects which are tackling climate change, we jumped at the chance to tell some of your inspiring stories!

The first case study – of the EcoHouse Group project in West Bridgford – is now online and can be read here: www.everybodys-talking.org/communities-area/community-projects-case-studies/ecohouse-group.

We’re hoping this will the first of many case studies showcased on the website and that they will inspire further action to tackle climate change around Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. If you have a project you’d like to share with others please email us brief details: ccan@mea.org.uk. Please include a telephone number if possible and we’ll be in touch.

The EcoHouse Group was organised by Transition West Bridgford. This weekend they are involved in two exciting events.

West Bridgford Summer Gathering
14th May, 10am-4pm

A celebration of sustainable and community living in West Bridgford with lots of stalls, food and entertainment : www.wbsummergathering.co.uk

Eco House Open Day
15th May

It was this event last year which kick-started the Eco House Group. People can sign up by attending the Summer Gathering.

Contact: info@wbecohouses.co.uk

1980's Detached House

2011-05-07T19:27:00.005+01:00

• It is a 4 bedroom, detached house. We have two green energy features.
1. Solar Thermal [for hot water] Supplier Solar Home Energy Ltd
2. Solar PV [for electricity production] - Supplier MG Renewables
Insulation and Heating System
• Cavity wall
• Loft insulation
• Double glazed windows and doors
• Central heating system
• Effective insulation makes a big impact on the efficiency of the energy. Energy input can be lowered as less energy is being lost in other forms; consequently it lowers cost and is more environmentally friendly.
• We also had the 1980s radiators replaced with new ones with more efficient convection fins, and surfaced the wall behind each one with reflective insulation to reduce heating the wall excessively. (luckily we did this just before the cold snap of Nov and Dec 2010).
Solar panels energy production
• In 2008 we fitted a solar water heating system which produces on average 40% of our hot water per year.
• Last year, we fitted 16 solar PV panels,
• With a total production capacity of approximately 3070 KWH of electricity per year.
Advantages
• Production of green energy.
• Reduced energy bills.
Disadvantages
• Expensive initial investment.
Our reasoning behind the solar panels
• The initial idea came because of the environmental impact and after some research into the actual cost and payback period we decided to get them on the environmental basis and because of the financial benefits that come with them

Solar House, West Bridgford 2007

2011-05-06T09:02:00.002+01:00

The Peveril Solar house is powered by sunshine, heated by sunshine! For power, it has the largest practical area of Photovoltaic roof panels for a single house (4 kW). For heating and HW, it has a Ground Source heat pump that gets heat from the ground under the house, warmed by solar heat on the black tarmac, and also gets direct heat from large solar Sunboxes on the south wall. A Sunpipe in the roof brings sunshine to the centre of the house.

It was built in 2006-7, as a developer house, so we were not able to influence the external design - apart from steepening the roof pitch to 40º. During the building, we were able to improve the internal layout, door positions etc, and have a say in the heating system, disabled elevator, kitchen, bathroom, lighting design, and other features. We needed a house with an elevator in it, and it was impossible to find an existing house with space for this. So adapting a house already under construction was perfect.

For our part, it was a chance to experiment with Eco Design ideas, within the limits of an already-designed house. So we went for a ground source heat pump with underfloor heating on both floors. Due to the tiny site and the bordering trees, we could not use pipes under the lawn, so we had to go to the cost of having two deep drilled boreholes. Over successive years, a ground source heat pump tends to chill the ground permanently. After two years occupation, we looked for ways to prevent this chilling effect - hence the design and building of the Sunboxes for 'charging the earth'.

The idea of Charging the Earth is to recycle sunshine! The practical method is to have solar collectors on the wall in large glassy boxes whose sole purpose is to pump solar heat deep down into the ground. The building's heat pump gets much of this back immediately, finds a bit more during the evenings, and hopes for residual summer heat later in the winter. Our storage boreholes go 48 metres below the house, reaching directly to about 8,000 tons of clay and rock, with an infinite mass beyond that.
The sunboxes are on target to put down 3,000 kWh of solar heat, annually. As the heatpump needs to pull 9,000 kWh up annually, we are sure that all of the solar heat is used in the house. How much electricity will it save annually? The first year of operation of the PV and Sunboxes have saved 2,450 kWh in a single year. The heatpump's coefficient of performance is greatly improved, This is what we are quantifying in the next couple of years, with datalogger readings and daily tuning. Sunboxes will not actually raise the soil temperature, as there is just too much of it - the heat injection is equivalent to only 1 kW/hr, so this heat will prevent soil chilling, and will be reclaimed by the heatpump, daily.

The panels, sunboxes, plumbing and electrics are entirely invented and built by the house owner. This is, in effect a new and unique technology, so the Surya Sunbox system is being presented at the global conference of Sustainable Energy Technologies, Shanghai, August 2010.

What else? The house has good insulation specification in the walls, floor and roof, thermal-break windows, and energy efficient lighting throughout. It has a compact minimal surface area, and an airlock lobby at the entrance. The kitchen is optimised for disabled access, and has an Induction hob. Most of the appliances in the house are A-rated for energy efficiency.

Rainwater collection was intended, but due to the complexity of the borehole pipes and RW pipes in the driveway and 'eco-mutiny' by the builder, the underground rainwater tank was returned to the supplier. We now have 200 litres of waterbutt storage for all garden water needs.

Normal houses of this size consume about 25,000 kWh annually:- about 3,500 of electricity for lighting and appliances, and 21,500 of gas for cooking and heating, mostly emitted as CO2. As an 'all electric' house, supplemented by sunshine, we managed 2007 and 2008 on 8,500 kWh/annum, which is only a third. During 2009-10, we are on target to cut our total electricity import to about 6,200 kWhrs, all from renewable sources, and next year will be under 6000. Our roof will export over 3,000 kWhrs. The photovoltaic roof is linked to the internet. Energy use and energy generation are metered daily, and water use metered weekly, and the results are also published on the internet.

For more detailed information, a glossary and who installed what in this eco house click the links.
PV by EvoEnergy. Heatpump by Ice Energy.

1920’s classic West Bridgford solid brick detached house

2011-05-05T21:44:00.000+01:00

Still with many of the old features but incorporating many very new features too.

As the house is fairly large (6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms) the heating and electricity bills were shocking. We put into place as many measures, from basic to more expensive to reduce the bills in a more sustainable way.

Vital Statistics
The house was built in the early 1920’s on a corner plot, giving us a clear south facing wall.

Annual energy use
Annual Electricity usage 3231.90kWh
Annual Gas 34832.55 kWh
(This should change now that the new technologies have been installed.)

Micro generation:
To find info how much electricity we have generated from the sun since November 2009, click here:

About us and why we did it
We are a middle aged couple with two teenage boys. Since the boys were born, we have been very concerned for their future and started with growing our own organic food, educated them in the Iona School (based on Rudolf Steiner’s principles) which then led to a much more aware way of living. Ever since we have tried to reduce our waste, energy and water to reduce our impact on the planet to as much as we can. Reduction of waste is mainly done through growing our own food and making food from scratch. For some suggestions on recipes click here:
Heating and Power

South Facing side of the house:
Top floor Solar Hotwater panels.
Between bay windows and conservatory: Solar Venti panel
PV solar, Solar Hot water, Wood-burning Stove, Solar Venti dehumidifier, Energy smart meter.

Insulation
Our house is built in solid brick, which made insulation a little difficult. We have insulated underneath most of our floor boards, the whole of the loft up to 30cm, one room has internal insulation boarding put up 2 years ago. Some double glazed units but mostly secondary glazing (Storm windows) in front of the existing original windows.

Other green features
Vegetable garden; there will be vegetable and fruit plants/bushes for sale on the day.
Livestock (chickens!)
Information and display about the West Bridgford Skills Exchange

Advantages
It feels good that we are trying to reduce our impact on the living environment as much as we can. Some features were so good that they paid back within a year (electricity monitor) others over the next few years will no doubt pay off, we are expecting to be self-sufficient in our heating and electricity needs in 5-8 years time.

Disadvantages
The plumbing of the Solar hot water and putting in the stove did take a few days of mess. Having said that, Paul and Chris and his team tried to accommodate as much as they could. The upfront prices are fairly steep.

Who did you go to for advice and info?
All these people were recommended to me by others who had the technologies installed:
PV by David Nicolson Cole, Solar hot water I went to see their shop, spoke with them and then had some feedback from Emma who had one installed before me. Smart meters I tried and tested some for website I write for; www.thecolist.co.uk and found that they were brilliant. I therefore ‘invested’ in one and have reduced my energy use enormously.

Who did each part of the work?

Task
Solar Hot Water by Solar Heat UK contact: Chris
Woodburning Stove from The Fireplace centre contact Paul at enquiries@nottinghamfireplacecentre.co.uk

PV panel (electricity) Nicola Waters Evo Energy
Energy Smart Meter Southern and electric Better plan
Secondary Glazing Storm Windows
Ifo Cera Low flush toilet
Solarventi solar dehumidifier

1890s Extensively renovated West Bridgford semi

2011-05-05T21:33:00.000+01:00

This was the UK's first radical retrofit of a hard-to-treat home - an 1890s Victorian semi in West Bridgford. Nottingham Ecohome has been running 11 years. Owners Penney Poyzer and Gil Schalom are acknowledged as pioneers of domestic radical eco retrofit. Both Penney and Gill have presented lectures on eco-retrofit and had students writing dissertations on their story, and have occasional Open Days. See the Nottingham Ecohome Website for more info.

Heating and Power
Heat exchange, Solar Hot water, Energy smart meter
House central heating and hot water system runs on waste wood biomass boiler
Solar thermal is used for summer heating
Single room Heat recovery devices.

Insulation
There is external insulation to side and back of house. Internal insulation to the front.
The external and internal insulation overlap relative to each other, to reduce cold bridging.
Floors and attic conversion are highly insulated.

Other green features
Vegetable garden, Water Harvesting, Water saving devices, Lexin Panels
A sewage catchment and composting system was tried, but abandoned in 2006.

A fuller list of features is on the website of the house:
List of Features: http://www.msarch.co.uk/ecohome/feature.html
Details of the renovation: http://www.msarch.co.uk/ecohome/tour.html

Traditional 1920's 4-bed detached Westbridgford house.

2011-05-05T12:29:00.000+01:00

When we bought the house five years ago in early autumn we were thrilled with the lovely big rooms and high ceilings. We were much less thrilled when we moved in and we almost moved out again straight-away as it was REALLY freezing in winter, very draughty and we had to have the heating on round the clock. We would not have bought this house if we had viewed it during the winter months or seen their fuel bills!

Since then it has improved, we have double glazed french doors at the front and back and nearly all windows now have either secondary or double glazing. We have put in very thick loft insulation and installed solar panels which provide hot water and water for the central heating system.

The house is much better now and we are no longer scraping the ice of the windows every morning and we can take three duvets off the children's beds. However, although now a comfortable house it is still very expensive to run in the winter months as the solar panels only work May through October. We are planning to install a multi-fuel stove in the hope it will cut down on our fuel bills in the most severe winter months.

We are saving up for photovoltaics but that may take some time but we do love our electricity meter (OWL) as it's really provided an incentive to turn off our TVs/computers on stand-by and reminds the children to turn off lights and computers left on upstairs.

Vital Statistics

Built in 1929, four bedroom solid brick built detached house with larger south facing rear garden

• About us and why we did it
There are four in our family (2 young children), we try to live in a sustainable way as we are worried about the world’s resources, and how it will be for future generations as oil gets more difficult to find and extract. We also had a large draughty house which was difficult to keep warm and expensive to run in the winter.

• Heating and Power
On the south facing side of the house: Solar heating and hot water panels.
We have gas central heating which is supported by the solar hot water panels in the summer and we are shortly installing a multi-fuel stove which will support our central heating in the winter.
We are replacing our G-rated boiler with an A-rated boiler, and we have an Energy Smart Meter.

• Insulation
We do not have cavity wall insulation as it is a solid brick built construction. We do have either double or secondary glazing on all our windows except the bathroom which is south facing. We do have loft insulation and are currently investigating cladding for our walls and underfloor insulation.

• Other green features

In an attempt to be more sustainable we try to grow a lot of our own fruit and vegetables and have set up a raised bed with 10 cordon apple and pear trees to maximize our yield. Watering is a bit of an issue as the raised beds dry out quickly so we harvest rain water and have one of those bath suction hoses so we can water our beds with bath water on the hot days in summer which the kids love to do.

• Advantages
The upfront costs of installing solar panels are quite high but hopefully it will pay for itself in the next five years. I would not put the boiler on in the day when it was just me at home but am now getting warm water in the taps for free which is an added bonus.

• Disadvantages
Having the solar panels installed for hot water was not messy but having it hooked up to the central heating system is a week’s worth of mess and inconvenience. Do consider this if you have a young family at home. However, the team we used worked well together and were very pleasant and would tidy up after themselves.

• Who did you go to for advice and info?
Would have loved to go on an eco-house tour but asked Solar-UK who they had just worked for and asked if we could visit a house in Bridgford that had just had their solar panels installed.

• Who did each part of the work?

Solar Hot Water
Woodburning Stove (hot water)
Chris at Solar Heat UK enquiries@nottinghamfireplacecentre.co.uk
Paul at enquiries@nottinghamfireplacecentre.co.uk

1930’s West Bridgford detached house

2011-05-05T08:30:00.000+01:00

1930’s West Bridgford detached house

The house was built in the late 1930’s on a straight road. We have a long west facing back garden.

About us and why we did it
We have always grown vegetables and fruit. When finances allowed we had the underside of roof tiles foam insulated, then got the solar panel and solid fuel fire. We view it as an investment in the future.

Heating and Power
Solar Hot water; a Solid fuel Stove and/or the gas boiler heats the water and central heating. These are handled through a neutraliser.

Insulation
In common with many in WB we have solid walls. The roof void had no insulation and the wind whistled through the tiles distributing dust. We insulated the loft in the traditional fashion and had the underside of the tiles sprayed by in Insulation Firm. There is now no dust.

Other green features
Vegetable garden. Used to have chickens and bees.

Who did you go to for advice and info?
Sheila Hood, Rushcliffe Borough Council
Notts Energy Partnership

Who did the work?
Solar Hot Water installed by Dr Gary Wood of Solar Horizons (01283 529019) Garywood2008@hotmail.com
MR Heating (0783 752 0950)

West Bridgford Summer Gathering

2011-04-10T21:47:00.000+01:00

There is all sorts lined up for this year's Summer Gathering on Saturday 14th May (10am-4pm) in West Bridgford park, including the Eco House Group stall and other eco-information.

What will be there for me?
Food
Welbeck Farm Shop, Vegetarian, Cakes, Organic Vegetables,Tea, Coffee,
Olive Oil from Kalamata, Ice Cream, Curry Lounge.
Activities
Laser Tagging for the whole Family, Segway Slalom, Face Painting,
Maypole Dancing, Jo Jingles, Bits & Babs, Games Workshop,
Stone Bridge Farm & Things To Do In Nottingham.
Crafts
Jewellery by Helen Domleo, Eco Cards, Bags,
Moo Moos Clothing, T-Shirts, Trace the Rose, Iguazu, West Art & Glass.
Eco Information
Eco House Group, Renewable Energy, Bee Keepers, NCT, Gil Schalom Design,
Real Cycle, Carbon Legacy, Green Party, Solar Heat UK, Transition West Bridgford.
Health
Service Tree, The Healing Path, Body Talk, Reiki & Massage.
Charities
Women Of Influence.
Please walk / cycle or use public transport as parking spaces are limited
Help build a strong and sustainable community. Invite your
friends.

Keeping your solar panels clean

2011-04-08T16:47:00.005+01:00

Brian comes to the rescue!

I have been trying to find someone who could wash and clean my solar panels but to no avail.
Then yesterday it struck me that we have a fantastic steeple jack in our group. I asked him if he would be willing to give it a go. Armed with very long ladders, a HA-RA window washer and cleaning product (all totally Eco friendly) he set off to tackle a job no one else wanted to do.

Within an hour the job was done and the sun could shine again. The dirt that came off it was amazing and the difference between the panels washed and those that were not made me realize how important it was to do. Thank you so much Brian you have now got another string to your bow.

Probably the best PV solar panel cleaner in town!
To contact Brian call him on 07974550118
or email : coopez@hotmail.co.uk

Eco Architects

2011-04-06T22:44:00.004+01:00

We are fortunate in West Bridgford to have a number of architects with an interest in low-energy and sustainable refurbishment and new build projects.

For our own project (see Tina and Richard's eco-retrofit on the case studies page), we are benefitting from the expertise of Steve Day of Fabric Architects and Gil Schalom of Gil Schalom Design.

If you are thinking about an extension, new build or eco-refurb project, why not come along to the West Bridgford Summer Gathering and have a chat to Gil. On the same day (and just a 5 minute walk down the road) Steve Day is running a monthly open studio session - here is his invitation:

"It’s easy to think that the only solution to needing more living space is to move house, but with the help of an architect you could find new, fresh and exciting ways to live in your home rather than move.

Steve Day of Fabric Architects understands that everyone has a dream project for their home, so if you are thinking of altering or extending your home whether it be a grand design or something smaller we can help you make the most out of your home. We are holding our first monthly ‘Open Studio’ session on Saturday 16th April and 14th May the following month at our offices in West Bridgford between 10am-3pm, providing a chance for homeowners to get some expert advice to help make their home development dreams a reality. Many people don’t realise the benefit of using an architect to get the most from their project, so come along and have a chat and see what can be achieved.

To take advantage of this opportunity to ‘ask the architect’ contact Steve Day on 0115 977 5020 to pre-book your appointment."

Make your own furniture!

2011-04-06T22:08:00.003+01:00

You may have seen "John's Rustic Furniture" at the West Bridgford farmer's market (every 2nd and 4th Saturday in the month).

John makes all sorts of interesting pieces, and if you'd like to get skilled up yourself, he also runs workshops:

"Enjoy 2 days creating your own bentwood chair to take home. Made from coppiced willow and hazel using traditional methods. Join a small group at Yew Tree Cottage garden in the hidden village of Thrumpton. £195 for 2 days tuition, all materials and tools supplied, homemade cake, tea and refreshments throughout the day.

1st and 3rd weekends in the spring and summer months.
Contact John for further details: 0115 9830186, info@johnsrusticfurniture.co.uk
Or have a look at the website: www.johnsrusticfurniture.co.uk"

SuperHome Spring Opening 2011

2011-03-24T11:48:00.004Z

The Sustainable Energy Academy presents: SuperHome Spring Opening 2011

The nearest SuperHome for residents of Nottingham is right here in West Bridgford, and it's open to visitors on 3rd April. Find out more about the house and reserve your place via the SuperHome website or email penney.poyzer@gmail.com for open house details.

Between Sunday 27th March and Sunday 3rd April 2011, SuperHomes across the country are opening their doors this spring.
Go to www.superhomes.org.uk to find out which homes are opening near you!

All of our houses are part of a network of older properties transformed to be low-energy exemplars and opened to the public through the Old Home SuperHome Project from the Sustainable Energy Academy in partnership with The National Energy Foundation.

For more information about open days, please visit our website click on “Get Inspired”. To view a home near you, click on the SuperHome locator map.

Eco-friendly Windows

2011-03-15T20:49:00.003Z

Here a few facts about windows that I’ve come across on the quest to replace the 59 year old single glazed windows in my house.

Starting with glazing…

Single glazed windows have a u value of around 4-6 W/m2K

If you have good quality double glazed windows already, they may have a u value of around 2.1 W/m2K. (This is pretty similar to the u value of the walls in a house of solid brick construction)

Current building regulations vary for new build and retrofit so be sure to check what u value you require depending on your situation.

For really high spec windows, look for u values below 1 W/m2K. This makes sense in a well-insulated house where the walls have much lower u values than even the best windows.

I’ve got my eye on some windows with a u value of 0.6 for the glazing and about 0.75 for the whole window (EcoPassiv from the Green Building Store). A good window company should be able to tell you both u values.

And then the frames…

UPVC may be widespread, but it has its disadvantages.

The production of UPVC is highly toxic, and leads to toxic by-products. So far, UPVC windows are rarely recycled at the end of their 10-30 year life, and incineration is not an option. In the event of a fire, the toxic fumes are highly dangerous.

Timber framed windows can be far more environmentally friendly if the wood is from a sustainable source. Some come with very natural treatments to protect the outer frame from weather and the UV in sunlight, others are treated more heavily to delay the need for maintenance.

Aluminium cladding is a popular low-maintenance choice for some, but of course aluminium has a higher embodied energy which means a greater carbon footprint.
[Please see comment below]

The best windows now have a layer of insulation sandwiched between the outer and inner part of the frame. And there is an emerging range of ways to fix the windows in position to minimise cold bridging. But that’s a topic for another day.

Left out in the cold.

2011-03-15T20:35:00.005Z

After the very cold weather in November and December 2010, it is worth sharing a few thoughts that might help with being prepared for future cold winters.

I've recently heard about one person who insulated the loft. This, however, meant that the water tank and pipework in the loft were no longer warmed by the heat lost from the house. They froze in the cold weather and burst when the thaw came, doing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

In a similar fashion, gas boilers inside the house with a condensate pipe draining on the outside may suffer when the condensate in the pipe freezes. This pipe could be insulated or even drain internally so that freezing is no longer likely.

So as an addition to the mantra "insulate walls, floors and lofts", please add insulation to "pipework, tanks or other equipment" because these can often be left, quite literally "out in the cold".

Tanks in the loft should also be insulated, but in such a way that the loft insulation wraps up the side and over the top - leaving the bottom of the tank with an uninsulated surface to the house below - if the insulation is good enough it will keep the water at nearly room temperature - meaning you don't get a cold shock when you run the cold tap!

Green DIY and eco-friendly materials

2011-03-15T20:32:00.001Z

The 5th in a series of events held at South Notts College in Ruddington focused on green DIY in the home. Here is a short summary of the talks, and some useful facts are listed below. It’s a big topic so just a small selection included here.

Helen Hill introduced the complex topic of embodied energy, showing how hard it can be to compare the energy involved in the whole life cycle of one material against another. More details from her presentation will be included here soon.

Peter Padun talked about the advantages of eco-friendly paints for people and planet. These days it is easier to find “low VOC” paints than it used to be – but watch out for the other chemicals in the pot! Peter brought along examples and spoke about the paints that he’s found to be best from personal experience as a painter and decorator (see his website for more information: http://www.eco-decorator.co.uk).

Tina Holt gave a short introduction into eco-friendly windows, furniture and finding recycled building materials. Some of the details are already or will be on the Home page of this site.

Retrofit with GSHP

2011-03-07T19:00:00.005Z

EcoBuild note: DNC writes: There were also other good lectures and seminars including Retrofit topics. One that I liked was one from Robin Curtis of Earth Energy with advice on retrofitting with ground source heat pumps. I have always thought this would be too difficult, due to the need for a borehole and the need for underfloor heating, and the bulkiness of the GSHP - difficult to fit to an existing house. But it is not as tough as I thought, and the Penwith Housing association has done it on a huge scale in Devon and Cornwall, with social housing. (this talk is due to be on the EcoBuild site as a PDF and I will download it when possible).

Borehole or horizontal?: Certainly, ground based horizontals are difficult to fit because it is unusual to have enough space in the garden to bring in a JCB and churn it up to the required depth. A vertical borehole is a very quick and tidy solution, and yes it is expensive - a bit like root canal therapy in dentistry, painful, but once it's done it's done. And then provides several hundred years of free heat.... I have never regretted getting the borehole at the Peveril Solar house. If there is no access to the rear of the house, it can be done in the front driveway!
Underfloor or Radiators?: Underfloor has always been more efficient at distributing heat from a Heat pump because they work more efficiently if they don't have to heat above 35-40 degrees. But for those contemplating retrofit, there is an answer, and it doesn't have to be gigantic wide aluminium radiators as is often thought.
If you are replacing night storage heaters, you already have electric points but need to add water pipes. If replacing water radiators, you already have the pipes and the circulating pump, but need to add nearby electric points.
The space may be limited to the size of the previous radiator. With the circulating temperature at only 35-40 degs, you can put in a fan assisted of nearly the same size as your existing high temperature one. The huge annual savings in overall energy cost justifies the consumption fan assisted radiator, one of the same width and height as the previous, but with a very quiet low wattage fan which comes on when the thermostat deems it necessary.
Space for the GSHP?: We are familiar with Air source heat pumps being placed externally, but GSHPs need better protection, so usually go indoors. If they will not fit indoors, the Penwith HA have retrofitted many houses with GSHPs using a small lockable prefab garden store from B and Q, just large enough to hold the pump, and this can be close to the external wall in a suitable place. It can be insulated to reduce heat loss from the connecting pipes etc.

EcoBuild Note: Dr Wolfgang Feist

2011-03-07T18:45:00.001Z

EcoBuild note
DNC writes 7 Mar '11: During my three days in EcoBuild, London, I spent much time with Dr Wolfgang Feist, the creator of the Passivhaus standard, and went to two of his lectures. He was judging the Tall Building work of my students, for the Isover Multi-comfort house competition, and my students came 1st, 2nd and 3rd! You can see their posters and movies on this site:
http://www.multicomforthouse.co.uk/student-competition-2011/shortlist/winner.php

The winning students are representing the UK against the World in a global eco-sckyscraper shoot-out in Prague in May 18-21 2011. Let's hope they win the world title!

First Passivhaus retrofit in UK

2011-03-07T18:42:00.000Z

7 Mar '11: Building Design on line carries this report of a passivhaus retrofit for a georgian house in Holland Park, London. It claims to be the first officially certified retrofit to PH standards.
Terrace houses are easier to do as they have party walls, and this example also has a basement, which also helps. The air for the heat recovery system is drawn through the basement which provides some pre-warming in Winter.
http://www.bdonline.co.uk/5014407.article

Recycled building materials and furniture

2011-03-03T15:03:00.006Z

If you are looking for traditional building materials, or trying to find a new home for old floorboards, tiles, bricks and the like, it's worth having a look on Salvo

Or if sustainable furniture is on the shopping list, there are a few options depending on your budget.
EatSleepLive is a Nottingham based company that sources an interesting range of furniture made from reclaimed wood (not necessarily very local). If local is important, the pine shop on London road (a short distance south of the BBC roundabout) has some pieces made from reclaimed wood.

If you have a more modest budget in mind, it's worth a look for second hand furniture in the Danish Homestore on Derby Rd or at the auction house. And of course there is Ebay, GumTree, ads in the local papers or the post office window…

And for no money at all, you can join Realcycle to give away things you no longer need or to request items for free - Happy Recycling!

Earthborn claypaint

2011-02-16T20:42:00.003Z

Thanks to Jon (an Eco House Group regular) who has written a summary of his experiences with eco-friendly paint. Jon says...

I used some Earthborn claypaint recently, and was pleasantly surprised. I was a bit sceptical about trying out a new type of paint, and it was expensive compared with standard emulsion. I was painting new gypsum plaster (board finish) with a certain amount of white polyfilla spots where imperfections had been smoothed over.

I started with a 'mist coat' of 4 parts paint to 1 part water, as per the directions on the tin. The opacity was something else - it covered all of the polyfilla perfectly, unlike a normal emulsion mist coat. After overnight drying, I started to apply a second coat. I did some of the room but after lunch, when the second coat was mostly dry, it was almost impossible to see the difference between the walls with one coat and those with two. At that point I decided not to finish the second coat and it's definitely not noticeable (a few other people have looked at it and agreed).

I reckon that if you can get away with one coat then it probably works out much cheaper than conventional emulsion, and certainly so if the cost of labour is included. I haven't worked out what coverage I acheived, but I did a fairly large room, including ceiling, with 5 litres (plus 1.25l water) for the first coat. The finish is very matt and the colour very nice.

Application is just the same as emulsion - brush and roller - and washing equipment is done in water and probably marginally more easily than emulsion. Also the paint doesn't seem to suffer from the same problem of drying onto the sides of the roller tray.

All in all, I'd recommend it and would use it again. It's not readily available over the counter locally as far as I know, but I have contacts in Bourne, Lincs and bought it from a family-run decorators supplier there called Stringers. It can be purchased mail order. The website is www.earthbornpaints.co.uk.

Hockerton note about Green Deal

2011-02-16T00:28:00.001Z

I have had this newsletter from the Hockerton Housing Project, with some important advice about the Green Deal:

Some of you may have read about the Green Deal, the Coalition Government's proposal to remove the upfront cost barrier to making homes more energy efficient. This is due to be introduced in late 2012, but details are starting to emerge.
Property-owners (both domestic and commercial) will be able to pay the costs of measures against savings on their energy bill, and when they sell up, the charge will stay with the property so you only have to pay for what you benefit from. It is also hoped that this mechanism will result in uptake of energy efficiency measures in the rental sector, where there is the highest proportion of dangerously cold homes. If not, we could see the introduction of minimum standards in that sector.
This will mean the end of grants for loft and cavity wall insulation, although support will continue for fuel poor households and there will also be some form of subsidy for solid wall insulation.

What if you want to act now? Here are our recommendations:

- If you have uninsulated cavity walls or lofts, seek out deals from energy suppliers or potentially your local authority. These offers may not be around in future.
- If you are considering solid wall insulation, there will be some form of subsidy from late 2012 but the application process is as yet unknown. There may be an annual limit on applications so if you see an opportunity to register your interest through an energy company, local authority or other potential Green Deal provider, do so.
- The Government will shortly announce its plans for the Renewable Heat Incentive that will be introduced in June 2011to support low carbon heating systems such as heat pumps and biomass boilers. Payment of the incentive may be dependent on the installation of energy efficiency measures - so you may want to wait for the details of the Green Deal to help manage the upfront costs of these.

-If you are thinking of starting a project from scratch you may find it helpful to look at Hockerton Housing Project Fact Sheets. click here
See more about the Green Deal from the DECC website

Charging the Earth - Lecture 15 Feb

2011-02-14T23:32:00.002Z

If you have been aware of the 'Charging the Earth' project, there is an evening Lecture 15 Feb 6pm in the Trent Building of Nottingham University - in the Graduate Centre. Arrive at 5.30pm and there are some eats. Parking may be better down by the Djanogly Lakeside theatre and walk up.

This is about adapting the idea of Solar Cookers to collect Solar heat and pump it 48 metres below the house for retrieval by the Ground Source Heat pump. The combination of this and a good PV roof have made the house Carbon Zero for heating.

PostScript: Well I gave the lecture. Thanks to all who attended. Thanks to Heba Al-Sharkawy who organised it. And thanks to Chris Wood who helped me out on a few confusions of kiloJoules and Watts etc, while I was at the dentist having my teeth drilled, so that I could finally get my head around some of the issues of thermal capacity. It completely distracted me from the drilling! I can save a copy as a low-res PDF if anybody is interested

Mark Brinkley's Blog - Denby Dale

2011-02-11T11:35:00.000Z

1102-2011 : Mark Brinkley is author of Housebuilder's Bible, and writes a lively blog on house construction and energy issues, Home 2.0. I advise readers to view this occasionally.
He has earlier promoted the Denby Dale passivhaus, and recently wrote an article on how Denby Dale had weathered the Dec 2010 month. They have done well, although it draws two things to my attention.

1. They have an efficient gas boiler, but also use gas for cooking and DHW, so they have difficulty knowing exactly what gas is used specifically for heating. This could be solved by getting a gas plumber to fit a meter to the pipe that feeds the boiler, so they can at least remove the variable of Cooking. It is also possible to fit a water meter on the Hot water pipe so that it can be measured, as we do at Peveril.

2. There is a different calorific value for Gas and Electricity - what really matters in the end is the amount of CO2 this is equivalent to. Electricity means burning fuel in a power station somewhere else, and transmitting 30 miles, whereas gas is piped to your house and burnt at home. Hence the difference in Cost of the two fuels and the difference in CO2 equivalent. I wrote more about this in December in the Charging Blog:
http://chargingtheearth.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-much-co2-is-this-saving.html

I am glad to see that the Govt redefined the 2016 standard in kilograms of CO2, not in kWh, as that makes it easier to calculate the real energy cost.

House in the Meadows is a cheerfully good example!

2011-02-10T22:40:00.000Z

8 Feb '11: DNC writes: I met Julian Marsh, one of my architect friends today, who was visiting the Dept of Arch and Built Environment. He has a self designed house in Nottingham and is the architect of the highly excellent Green St houses in the Meadows. He promotes the idea of the 'Active house' as better than Passive house, a sort of cheerful British interpretation of the slightly joyless German ideal.

That idea is more like the Peveril solar house, where you don't have to live in a airtight box, dependent on a fan for breathing. You make sensible use of the PV and a heat pump, open the windows in summer for ventilation, have a sunspace with openable shutters, allow the occupants to make sensible energy saving decisions such as solar shading by day or closing curtains at night. Architecturally, it is quite unique, a great way to use a corner site.

Like me, he has been monitoring his energy figures, to try to get below carbon zero. I will invite him as a speaker to one of our West Bridgford Ecohouses meetings in the future.
I gather that Julian's house is about as carbon zero as the Peveril house, i.e. is covering the heating, and more than that, but with the 4kW limit on PV panels in the British Feed in tariff, he doesn't have enough PV to cover the entire electrical consumption. With being on a corner site, he has two party walls, so has fewer external wall surfaces to lose heat - and doing a big favour to the adjoining neighbours!

He does have a small amount of MVHR, but not on the whole house - uses it on the most lived-in zones of the house. He also has rainwater collection and a host of eco-materials, recycled timber beams, bottle walls and much more. The articles in the links below provide additional information.

In 10 March 2011, the Architects Journal devoted a long feature article to Julian's house. (Unfortunately there's a paywall on the AJ website, but if you are a subscriber it is visible)
also visible are these links:

http://timgarrattnottingham.co.uk/2010/09/28/nottingham-grand-designs/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2009/10/05/trent_meadows_feature.shtml
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Green-vision-starts-home/article-960505-detail/article.html

Low-energy retrofit websites

2011-02-08T11:27:00.004Z

There is a growing selection of websites where you can read about different Retrofit projects. Here are a few that I have found so far:

Retrofit for the Future

This database shows the performance of different building in both figures and graphs, so that design intention can be compared with built reality, and projects can be compared with each other. There is also a document you can download for each house which gives its retrofit details.

Old Home Super Home Project

Another website showing details of existing homes which have been refurbished to cut their energy requirements by at least 60%. You can visit some of these homes too.

There's also the Great British Refurb Campaign

You can sign their petition (calling on the UK government to provide cash rewards to people who refurbish their homes to reduce energy use) and find useful info and links on the site.

There is an interesting article on Retrofit in Mark Brinkley's blogsite: sometimes, retrofit can be so expensive that to achieve a full Passivhaus standard, you might have to spend as much as building a better designed house on the same site.

Eco-friendly DIY - What are the greener options?

2011-02-08T11:14:00.003Z

Monday 21st February 2011
7pm for refreshments, prompt start at 7.30pm

SNC Training, South Notts College
Mere Way, Ruddington Fields Business Park, NG11 6JZ

The talks will cover:
 The embodied energy of common building materials
 Which wood is good?
 Eco flooring and furniture
 Greener, healthier paints and varnishes
 Recycled and eco DIY products
 Materials you might want to avoid

Short talks include: Helen Hill – eco electrician and sustainable buildings expert. Peter Padun – eco painter. Share your experiences and bring your questions.

Please email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you are likely to be attending.

Directions: Follow Mere Way through Ruddington Fields Business Park. Pass the first SNC building on the left, and take the next turning to the second SNC Training building. It has a distinctive suspended curved wall with car parking beneath it. Park here or on the roadside.

Buses to Ruddington village: Ruddington Connection (Trent Barton) & No. 10 (Nott City Transport)

The Eco House Group is a project inspired by Transition West Bridgford

Free energy advice for Community Groups - a message from MEA

2011-01-21T20:03:00.002Z

We have some good news. Marches Energy Agency (MEA) has been appointed as an Expert Consultant for the Energy Saving Trust’s Green Communities program. There is no charge to community groups for any of the services which are available, which includes support with:

Carbon saving in a community building- identifying opportunities for ‘easy wins’ and energy efficiency improvements.
Community-scale renewables- pre-feasibility studies for larger renewable energy systems which could be owned and operated by a whole community.
Long term carbon reduction action planning- shaping your groups ideas into a credible and effective long term action plan which can be monitored while it is achieved.

Business planning for carbon saving projects- developing opportunities for self-sustaining businesses associated with community-scale climate-change projects
This is a great opportunity to secure additional support to expand upon what has gone before, or to address any new issues.

Working through Green Communities, MEA can assist you to develop and improve your community energy project, build partnerships and access funding. Following a consultation (which may include a site visit) you will receive a review of your proposed project and a short report outlining clear recommendations for further action.

To receive this free support, you will need to complete and return the Green Communities application form. I have attached a copy of the form, although the Energy Saving Trust strongly recommends that you refer to their helpline for guidance with completion. The application process is relatively informal and Green Communities allow you to indicate a preference in the application for the consultant you want to provide the support you are requesting – there isn’t a specific section for this but we suggest you add it at the bottom of section 2 or at the bottom of the form – please do refer to previous work with MEA, and request further impartial support from one of MEA’s Expert Consultants for your current project.

To find out more about Green Communities please visit http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/cafe/Green-Communities/Project-Support/Green-Communities-Expert-Support or call the helpline on 0844 848 0077.

Kind Regards

Caroline Harmon

Low-flush toilets

2011-01-21T10:52:00.007Z

There are many low-flush toilets now available, but watch out - some suffer from the problem of leaky drop valves.

At Monday’s event on saving water, Jon mentioned the 'interflush' water saving device for toilets with a traditional siphon flushing cistern. There's a lot of information about it on the website, including pictures, diagrams etc.:

Since postage is free when ordering more than one, Jon would be interested in putting in a shared order if anyone else is thinking of getting one. If you might be, just email info@wbecohouses.co.uk for more info.

Alternatively, if you are thinking of getting a new toilet, there are leak-free low flush toilets available - try the ES4 (a 4 litre single flush available from the Green Building Store.

Ways to Save Water

2011-01-20T22:44:00.002Z

The 4th in a series of events held at South Notts College in Ruddington focused on saving water in the home. Here is a short summary of the talks, and some useful facts are listed below. It’s a big topic so just a small selection included here.

Tina Holt gave an overview. In summary, water-saving habits really make a huge difference in the amount of water consumed in the home. Hot water has a much higher carbon footprint than cold water (about 5 times higher), so cut your heating bills and save carbon by insulating taps and pipes and using hot water carefully.

David Roe explained his home-made rainwater harvesting system, which supplies water to toilets, washing machine and dishwasher. To buy such a system new would be very expensive and is not as eco-friendly as it seems. However, using reused tanks and some basic pipework, this home-made approach has a very low carbon footprint.

Ian Mumford showed how to avoid paying the surface drainage charge by re-directing all the water from his roof into water-butts, and from there via pipes across his garden. There would be a big environmental benefit if every house with a garden could do this, because after heavy rain, water falling on the house and driveway normally flows rapidly into the drains and rivers and can cause flooding. However, when this water is diverted into the garden, instead of adding to the flooding problem, it feeds the local soil and sub-soil. From here it can make its way gradually into rivers, lakes and groundwater – which are all sources of our mains water supply.

Gil Shalom shared 10 years’ experience of saving water in a retrofit eco-home. Surprisingly, simple water saving habits and low flush toilets were his top tips, along with shorter showers.

Watch out – many types of low flush toilets leak from the cistern into the loo and waste huge amounts of water. If you are looking for a leak-free low flush loo, try the ES4 (a 4 litre single flush available from the Green Building Store).

If you are careful with water, being on a water meter may be cheaper than the rate-based water bill. (Try to estimate your water use accurately for a week and estimate your likely bill from the pricing information on the Severn Trent website). Or instead, try this simple water calculator: http://www.ccwater.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.388 All you need to do is download the excel document and go to the “Severn Trent” tab.

Where does your electricity come from?

2011-01-14T11:06:00.000Z

13 Jan '11: Electricity companies are obliged to reveal their sources of power, but not all of them are keen to make it too obvious. Ecotricity, for example make a big fuss about this, even in the choice of their name, yet they are using a proportion of Nuclear power, presumably because by some definition the lack of burning coal makes it green, somehow.
This website, electricityinfo.org is useful because it does show an up to date breakdown of the sources for each company. The only one that I can find that is 100% renewable based (Wind farms, home microgeneration etc) is Good Energy.
There is a click link from this site to a 'Green Energy selector' which compares tariffs from companies who have sizeable proportions of renewable energy as their course.
http://www.electricityinfo.org/suppliers.php List of Suppliers and their green component.
http://www.greenelectricity.org/ Another site that enables you to compare green tariffs and make the switch. Good Energy are more expensive than others, but they are the only 100% renewable.

Ways to Save Water in the home

2011-01-12T21:10:00.000Z

Monday 17th January 2011
7pm for refreshments, prompt start at 7.30pm

SNC Training, South Notts College
Mere Way, Ruddington Fields Business Park, NG11 6JZ

The fourth in a series of free events.

Including:
 It’s always raining – surely we have plenty of water?
 Would a water meter save me money?
 Low flow taps, showers and low flush loos
 Saving hot water
 Greywater and rainwater systems
 Water diversion
 What’s eco and what’s not? What saves money and what doesn’t?

Talks by: Members of the Eco House Group and others who have saved water in their own homes by different methods, plus a chance to ask your questions.

On a water meter already? Can you bring along your average monthly water use in cubic metres or in litres, and what that costs? Just a bit of fun – we want to compare the numbers with standard water rates, not to embarrass anyone.

Please email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you are likely to be attending.

Directions: Follow Mere Way through Ruddington Fields Business Park. Pass the first SNC building on the left, and take the next turning to the second SNC Training building. It has a distinctive suspended curved wall with car parking beneath it. Park here or on the roadside.
Buses to Ruddington village: Ruddington Connection (Trent Barton) & No. 10 (Nott City Transport)
The Eco House Group is a project inspired by Transition West Bridgford