Open house visits in September

Several local homes which have been built or refurbished to use less energy will be opening their doors during September to interested visitors. Visit and ask any questions you like.

Keep an eye on the website as additional houses and other details may be added in the next few days:

1st September
• 1950's ultra-low energy refurbishment (passivhaus) in Derby.
There will be a tour from 10.30am to noon and a later one from 1pm if numbers require a second tour.
(Child-friendly arrangements are possible here - just ask for details).

8th September
• Penney and Gil's 1890's house (now very low energy indeed) in West Bridgford
There will be a tour from 11.30am and 1.30pm,

• Edwardian home in Carlton - book your visit on 8th or 9th September via the Superhomes website: (http://www.superhomes.org.uk/superhomes/nottingham-carlton-mayfield-road/)

15th September
• David Hill's zero carbon barn conversion in East Leake (superinsulated, renewable technologies and now an electric car)
There will be a tour from 2pm,

16th September (10 mins walk between these two)
• 1950's ultra-low energy refurbishment (passivhaus) in West Bridgford
• Website (http://www.eco-retrofit.blogspot.co.uk/)
There will be a tour from 2pm and a later one from 3.30pm,

• 2000's house with cutting edge renewable technologies in West Bridgford, and a ultra-insulated extension under construction
• Website  (http://chargingtheearth.blogspot.com)
There will be a tour from 2pm and a later one from 3.30pm.

Unless indicated otherwise, contact wbecohouses@gmail.com 

for more details or to book your place.

The Lower Energy Terraced House

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

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

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

Architect Mike Siebert (of Ecologic Homes Ltd.) explained how and why a range of insulation materials were used. These included a wood fibre sarking board for the roof, load-bearing polystyrene beneath the entire building and outer walls and blown recycled newspaper in the timber frame walls, 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-bearing plinth 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 lime mortar, including its “self-healing” characteristics. There was also a discussion of various ways to use hempcrete (although not used on this project).

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

Michael Siebert, architect – Ecologic Homes Ltd 07508 161333

Tony Saunders – Lime Technology  Ltd. 0845 603 1143

Clinton Parker – 07904 084234 (the plasterer who did the lime 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.

Three contrasting eco-houses

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)

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.

Recycled building materials and furniture

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!