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News stories forDecember 2000 to January 2001 |
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HHP starts new project - Zero Emission Network We are very pleased to announce that Biffaward have awarded HHP funding of £26,292 towards the setting up and management of a new project, Zero Emission Network. To enable this award, ‘The Pilkington Energy Efficiency Trust’, provided the necessary 10% third party funding. The Zero Emission Network aims to assist designers and promoters of zero emission housing projects to identify and develop markets for their services. It will establish a working group of organisations interested in the development of zero emission housing and produce a directory for a zero emission network. Through this network, it is anticipated that there will be a significant increase in the number of houses built to higher levels of energy efficiency. This will reduce the output of harmful polluting emissions to the environment, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), which are responsible for global warming. In December 1997 Biffa Waste Services agreed to donate landfill tax credits to the Royal Society for Nature Conservation (RSNC) to administer under the fund name Biffaward. The aim of Biffaward is to support schemes and projects that will be of lasting environmental benefit by improving community facilities in areas where Biffa is operational and by accelerating sustainable waste management. To find out more about Biffaward visit the website www.biffaward.org. If you would like more information about funding provided by ‘The Pilkington Energy Efficiency Trust’ please contact the secretary, Rick Wilberforce on 01744 692914 or by email - rick.wilberforce@pilkington.com We are at the very early stages of the project. However we would welcome anyone contacting us if they would like to discuss, comment, or make suggestions about the Zero Emission Network.
Over the last year, HHP has been working closely with Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) on a sustainability educational pack for school children called ‘Wall to Wall Design’. "Wall to Wall Design is an exciting new pack to help you introduce your key stage 3 students to sustainability. It looks at how people in different parts of the world are designing and building homes to meet the needs of today and the future. With striking images, real-life stories, interesting facts and lively activities, this is a resource that can make a real difference in the classroom." The pack includes:
Copies cost £11.50 each (incl. p&p) and can be ordered from ITDG (Tel: +44 (0) 20 74369761 or email: orders@itpubs.org.uk ITDG specialises in helping people to use technology for practical answers to poverty. With ITDG, poor women and men can develop technology, which puts people first. It is technology, which draws on their experience, and feeds it. Which recognises their potential, and releases it. Which respects their environment, and nurtures it.
BBC Newsround links global warming to HHP kids BBC Newsround, the children’s news programme, recently filmed the project for a special ‘Newsround Extra’ on climate change & global warming. They spent the day filming the project on an extremely cold day with the lake frozen and ice on the trees. This contrasted well with the warm homes, (despite no dedicated heating system, but still at 18 degrees!!). Some of the children from the project (Luke, Rebecca, Jenny & Ricky) were interviewed about what the project meant to them in relation to environmental issues. The article for the programme is only a short piece of about 2 minutes, but hopefully will convey the essence of the project and help children relate to the big issue of climate change. We have been told that the programme will be broadcast on 9th February (5.25pm).
The Hockerton Housing Project has been recently included on the European electronic database, THEBIS: European Database of Building Energy Demonstration projects. The database promotes successful projects involving energy savings in buildings. It includes very detailed technical information of completed projects for wider dissemination at European level. The information used for the Hockerton Housing Project is based on the monitoring of the homes in their first year after completion by the Building Research Establishment, as part of the DETR’s Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme. The entry includes sections on:
The THEBIS database is accessible via Internet at http://thebis.jrc.it.
Green backdrop for BBC ‘Top Gear’ provided by HHP HHP was recently used as an appropriate setting by BBC ‘Top Gear’ programme to film two hybrid cars. The cars, a Toyota Prius and a Honda Insight, operate both using petrol and electric power. The programme will go out on BBC digital on the UK Horizons channel, apparently an audience of over a million.
A Plan for a better quality of life Nottinghamshire County Council, through their local agenda 21 team, has recently launched a new publication – ‘A Plan for a better quality of life’. This is a strategy document that intends to provide a framework at the county level for sustainable development. "It will hopefully provide a useful framework for the new duty that all local authorities now have, to prepare Community Strategies in support of the UK Strategy for Sustainable Development" HHP contributed to the development of this publication by taking part in discussions in steering groups for the Nottinghamshire Agenda 21 Forum, in particular on sub-groups for energy and housing. The report includes a case study entry about HHP. Contacts for copies: Tel – 0115 9774222 / 4623; Email – localagenda21@nottscc.gov.uk
Update – The Sustainable Community Project The following details cover progress over last three months. If you would like more details about the project go to Sustainable Community Project. Guide - The Beginners Guide to Setting up a Sustainable Community Based on the experience of the members of the Hockerton Housing Project, the 52-page guide aims to help others plan and set up their own sustainable projects. This guide is broken down into three key sections.
The guide should be available from HHP towards end of February. Please contact us if you would like to be informed when copies are available. Website The visitors to the website have more than doubled from a year ago, most notably since launching the new version. In the last three months the site has been visited by well over a thousand individuals. This has led to more enquiries including bookings for guided tours and purchase of project information. It has also attracted a number of international enquirers, including people from France, China, Italy, USA, Japan, Sweden and Ukraine. Guided Tours We have continued to offer one day a month for individuals and small groups to visit the project. On most occasions we have been fully booked, despite some poor weather during the tours this Autumn. However, the cold and wet weather experienced at this time of the year does provide the opportunity of demonstrating the warmth of the homes from passive solar and incidental gains, rather than from a heating system. On one recent visit we had snow falling on icy conditions whilst the home used for the visit was still at 18 degrees Celsius. During last three months we have also managed a number of additional guided tours to following groups:
To find out more about visiting the project, including booking, please see Guided Tours. Talks We have been involved in a number of talks in recent months to a wide range of audiences, although many of them were not directly related to the Sustainable Community Project. These included:
To find out more about HHP members coming to you or your organisation to talk about the project, please see Talks. Contact Database We have developed a database of individuals and organisations interested in living more sustainability. This is being increasingly used to direct enquirers to organisations/ companies that will hopefully be able to help them with specific issues. In the longer term it is planned that we will provide a service to put people in contact with each other with similar interests. For instance people looking to find vacancies in other projects or projects looking to find new people to set up a new community. People/projects would only be included if they are happy to have their details made available to others. Please let us know if you are interested in this service.
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