April 2000 - Special news item

HHP Guides to Sustainable Living

Sustainable Housing Schemes in the UK – A guide with details of access

Summary

Following on from ‘The Sustainable Community - A practical Guide’, this new publication by Hockerton Housing Project is a practical resource guide for people looking for more information about examples of sustainable housing.

In a densely packed, A4 magazine format, the Hockerton Housing Project have consolidated a great deal of information about over 80 sustainable housing schemes and eco-centres in the UK. The main section is essentially a set of individual fact sheets on 31 key case studies ranging from single eco-homes to large sustainable developments; low impact settlements to green construction schemes. Each page contains a descriptive summary of the scheme, key details & sustainability features, details of access and further information, and a supporting image. A secondary section covers a further 50 projects in less detail. Also included are details of further resources to identify over 300 other examples.

It will hopefully prove an indispensable resource for people planning sustainable development at any level.

To order: Send a cheque for £10 made payable to ‘HHP Trading Ltd’ to:

Hockerton Housing Project,

The Watershed,

Gables Drive,

Hockerton,

Southwell,

Notts NG25 0QU

For trade orders or further details:

Either email hhp@hockerton.demon.co.uk or call 01636 816902

Background

Since April 2000, the Hockerton Housing Project (HHP) has been managing a project called 'The Sustainable Community’. This has been partly funded for a two-year period through the Government's Environmental Action Fund (managed initially by DETR, and more recently by DEFRA). The key aim has been to develop a toolkit of services to enable individuals and small groups to develop their own sustainable communities, based on the experience of HHP. To date HHP has developed customized tours of the project itself, workshops, and talks, as well as launching the Eco Matchmaking Service and producing a publication, ‘The Sustainable Community – A Practical Guide’ (see ‘Notes’ for more details).

During an early phase of the project, over 100 individuals, small groups and organisations were asked the following question as part of a wider survey:

"What services would you find most useful in developing your ideas of developing a sustainable community?"

The service that scored the highest was "A guide to other sustainable projects with details of access."

This publication is the result of that request. It has been designed as an easy to use guide taking the reader through a broad range of sustainable development projects from all over the UK, covering many aspects of sustainability. In the main section of key case studies a page is devoted per project with quick reference to a whole range of criteria, such as access arrangements and vacant positions (if relevant). A secondary section covers other projects, but in far less detail, where there is less information available or a similar example has already been covered as one of the key case studies. The examples show the wide diversity of options available and the different ways others are attempting to lead more sustainable lives.

We would like to acknowledge and thank everyone who helped in compiling this publication for their support and assistance, including all the schemes that completed case study forms and sent us their information and images. We would also like to particularly thank Charlotte Cosserat and David Zammit from the Centre for Alternative Technology (Information Department), and Paul Eccleshare from the Building and Social Housing Foundation, who helped identify potential case studies and collect and check information on our behalf.

How information was collected

All of the information for the key case studies was obtained directly from the sustainable project occupants/ representatives. The details, even for the case studies, are only a brief introduction to each of the schemes. For many schemes there is much more to learn by either obtaining further information or directly visiting the schemes. This guide will hopefully help readers decide which schemes are likely to be most relevant for their plans in developing ideas.

For each case study standard forms were used to collect information and to present them in a consistent fashion, making it easier for the reader to distinguish more clearly between different schemes. The ‘Sustainability Features’ section includes following areas: type of housing designs, environmental features incorporated into buildings, type of renewable energy available in buildings or on site, water systems that are available in buildings or on site, recycling facilities that are available, other site facilities that are available, sustainable transport facilities that are available, economics/ Financial arrangements of scheme.

How case studies were chosen

The aim was to give readers access to as many aspects of sustainable lifestyles and design as possible. A wide variety of schemes have therefore been included, from single eco-homes such as The Autonomous House in Southwell, to large sustainable developments like BedZED in London; from low impact settlements such as Tinkers Bubble and Brithdir Mawr, to green construction schemes such as Millennium Green in Nottinghamshire; from single family homes to large community projects. Some bias was given to schemes that allowed some level of access to visitors, so that people can get a real feel for what it is like living in sustainable developments.

We have also included a number of demonstration projects/ eco-centres, since they provide particularly good access to environmental technologies and different environmental building designs.

The schemes included are well distributed around the UK, although with a higher proportion based in the South West and lower proportion in Eastern England. In total we have identified over 400 schemes in our research. This guide provides a selection of the best examples. Most of the additional schemes can be found by using the 'Key Resources' and other sources for further information.

NOTES

1. The Hockerton Housing Project is the UK's first earth sheltered, self-sufficient ecological housing development. The residents of the five houses generate their own clean energy, harvest their own water and recycle waste materials, causing minimal pollution or CO² emissions. The houses are amongst the most energy efficient, purpose built dwellings in Europe.

For further information about this story or more generally about Hockerton Housing project, please contact Nick White by email, hhp@hockerton.demon.co.uk, or by telephone on 01636 816902.

Also see website, www.hockerton.demon.co.uk .

2. HHP provides opportunities for people to visit the scheme through guided tours. Individuals and small groups can join others on tours held one Saturday every month. Otherwise groups of 10 or more can arrange their own date by contacting HHP. Also see ‘Guided Tour’ section on HHP website, www.hockerton.demon.co.uk.

3. The Sustainable Community – A Practical Guide (Hockerton Housing Project)

Based on the experience of the Hockerton Housing Project (HHP), this 52-page guide aims to help others plan and set up their own sustainable projects.

The main sections are:

Key Issues - The guide identifies 28 key issues that are likely to need consideration, including community, legal, financial, planning, and design subjects. For each issue an explanation is provided of the main considerations, tips provided and details of how HHP managed the issue. It should help decide which issues are important to a particular project and whether to investigate them further.
Directory of contacts of organisations linked to key issues
Directory of useful sources of information linked to key issues
General information about sustainable communities, details on what attracts people to community living, and what are the key blockages to developing a sustainable community

To order send a cheque for £8.50 made payable to ‘HHP Trading Ltd’ and send to address show at top of this press release.

ENDS

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