News for August 2003

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Costing the Earth

On Thursday 14th August, HHP featured in a Radio 4 programme, 'Dream Homes' as part of the series 'Costing the Earth'. Costing the Earth tells stories which touch all our lives, looking at man's effect on the environment and at how the environment reacts. It questions accepted truths, challenges the people in charge and reports on progress towards improving the world we live in.

The details below are taken from the Radio 4 website programme summary.

On a hill-side above Cheltenham, Ben and Wendy Tuxworth are building a family home, a house that should set new standards for environmental friendliness. They’re part of a growing army of self-builders eager to do their bit for the planet. All over Britain they’re installing solar water heaters, wind turbines, underground heat exchangers and enough insulation to lag a small planet.

In this week’s Costing the Earth Miriam O’Reilly meets the pioneers to hear their tales of stiff-upper lips in the face of adversity. She hears of the council planning departments who would much rather you went away and bought a Wimpey home. She uncovers the terrible truth about solar-powered showers- they’re fine if you don’t mind a cold shower for six months of the year- and there’s a visit to Hockerton where fish and children happily swim in the waters that flow out of their reed-bed sewage system.

If you don’t fancy building your own eco-home you may not have to wait too long. Miriam meets Steph Wright of Gusto Homes, one of the first commercial house builders in the country to be convinced that the mainstream market might appreciate radical reductions to its energy bills. He’s already built twenty-five homes near Newark and he’s on the look out for more land. The only problem is that he was forced to install unnecessary gas central heating in all of the super-insulated homes. As one potential buyer told him, "If I don’t see a radiator I won’t feel warm".

You can see more about the programme and series by going to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/costingtheearth.shtml

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