Open Homes in September

Two homes in Nottinghamshire will open their doors this month to people who are interested in low energy new build and refurbishment.

On Saturday 28th September at 2pm, there are still spaces available to visit an ultra low energy home near Newark. See the previous post for more about the house and email wbecohouses.co.uk if you would like the chance to join the tour.

On Sunday 29th September, an ultra low energy refurbishment in West Bridgford will open to visitors. All spaces have now been taken for September so a second date will be arranged. Just email wbecohouses.co.uk to join the waiting list if you are interested.

SuperHome Spring Opening 2011

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.

Green DIY and eco-friendly materials

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.

Earthborn claypaint

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.

Eco-friendly DIY - What are the greener options?

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