News for June 2000

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30^th June 2000 – Project goes over to ‘Green’ energy

Although the electricity used in the homes at Hockerton Housing Project use relatively very little energy (about 10-15% of a conventional home), the project members have always intended to receive this small amount from renewable energy sources. Until recently we have been receiving our electricity via the grid from our local supplier, Powergen, but not on a green scheme. This is partly due to our delay in receiving planning permission for a wind turbine from which we aim to receive much of the required energy - The aim is to produce as much energy as we use in a year. However at times we will have to draw off the grid and at other times send back surpluses to the grid. Even though our grid supply of electricity will be very small, we still wish to use our requirements to encourage renewable energy supply from other sources. We have therefore recently joined Powergen's 'Green Plan' which guarantees the purchase as much renewable energy as customers uses on the scheme.

For further details of the 'Green Plan', Tel 0800 0154244 or see website http://www.powergen.co.uk/.

The wind turbine is planned to be erected later this year.

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20^th June 2000 – HHP joins celebration of communities

At the beginning of July, community groups from all over the UK are coming together to celebrate their achievements at an event called 'Diversity 2000'. HHP were very pleased to accept an invitation to lead a workshop on sustainable lifestyle based on our direct experience titled 'Greener, Warmer & Cheaper. We are hoping to use the experience from this to develop workshops based at HHP later this year as part of 'The Sustainability Community' project we are working on over next two years.

Diversity 2000 has been organised by social housing consultants PEP and aims over three days to enthuse, excite and stimulate groups from all walks of life. The idea is to bring together groups who might not normally coincide to see what they could learn from each other. There are many workshops planned over the three days, including the one run by HHP. The conference has four basic themes: Tackling Poverty and Seeking Solutions, Celebrating Social and Cultural Diversity, Challenging the Image of Social Housing and Caring for and Improving the Environment.

Diversity 2000 will take place 5-7 July in Chester. For more information Tel - 0161 848 9200 or see website - http://www.diversity2000.org.uk/

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19^th June 2000 – Hockerton Housing Project subject of new government publication - TOP STORY

HHP has recently been the subject of a new Government publication (part of 'Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme'): -

New Practice Profile (119) -The Hockerton Housing Project - design lessons for developers and clients

In our opinion this is a useful report. It covers project features & house construction, energy consumption, monitoring the internal environment, and design lessons.

It concludes – "The houses at Hockerton are a successful experiment in low-energy design. They are attractive and pleasant to live in, although some occupants had some complaints. The design of the site enables a sustainable lifestyle with self-sufficiency in water and food while also providing a high level of amenity for the occupants. The houses were built at a comparable cost to conventional housing, although the self-build element of the work distorts comparisons. Many of the elements of the housing could be replicated in more mainstream developments…."

The complaints referred to were minor and in the context of the whole project insignificant.

This report is now one of three publications on the project. The key contents of the other two are: -

Information Pack - Key project principles, project history (including details on planning and legal issues), autonomous housing, earth sheltering, design methodology, choice of materials, construction, energy use (detailed, including wind turbine issues).

Cost = £13

Launch Brochure - Project history, project finance (including construction costs), detailed information on key construction materials and interior finish, energy use, water systems, sustainable trading. It also includes 25 colour images of project during development.

Cost = £3 or £2 if bought with ‘Information Pack’

We will include a copy when ordered with either of the other HHP publications. This also includes some comments we have made about the report in response to several errors/misunderstandings made by authors. For details of ordering these publications see ‘Contact Us’. Alternatively you can obtain copies of the report by calling BRESCU enquiries line on 01923 664258

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18^th June 2000 – Solar SunDay sparks hottest day of year!

Phew! What a scorcher. The hottest day of the new Millenium happily coincided with our involvement with solar ‘SunDay’. (See more details of this Europe wide event below – press release 23^rd May). We received over 40 visitors who enjoyed a tour of the project including one of the homes, the water systems and organics. To quote one of the visitors:-

"A lovely afternoon. Very informative, interesting, friendly and inspiring".

For details of other site visits planned for later this year, see ‘Site tous’- Of course we cannot guarantee the same good weather.

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16^th June 2000 – The ‘Sustainability Community’ project makes good start

HHP has now been working on this project for nearly three months. The key aim is to develop a toolkit of services to enable individuals and small groups to develop their own sustainable communities, based on the experience of HHP. We have spent the last couple of months collecting feedback from a wide range of individuals, groups and organisations about how to develop these services most effectively. Questionnaires have been sent out to hundreds of our contacts (mainly via email to reduce paper waste – how many questionnaires just get thrown in the bin!) from people already part of sustainable communities to people at the very beginning of finding out how to start. Many relevant organisations have also taken part in providing feedback – hopefully some of these will become partners and help develop these services. I have copied a couple of interesting quotes from the questionnaires below:-

"Well done – this has great possibilities. The potential ‘out there’ is enormous – The Henley Center reckon on 15 million people at any one time want to live in a ‘community’ in the UK.".

"Until reading this (questionnaire) – I didn’t realise just how many groups and organisations there were, actively involved with projects such as yours. It’s wonderful. Please keep in touch."

Not all the comments and feedback was positive reflecting a wide range of views. We will take all views into consideration, good and bad.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be analyzing the feedback and distilling the key findings. These will be used as a basis for developing all the proposed services, including new web pages, customized site visits, talks and workshops.

Many thanks to those that have helped us in this work – hopefully it will ensure we develop the most effective services to assist others.

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13^th June 2000 – Talk with a Common Purpose

We were very pleased to be invited to talk to a select audience attending a seminar run by ‘Common Purpose’, which brings together senior managers from a range of organizations such as police and NHS to try and give them a wider view of key issues that are less apparent from within vertical organisations. In other words it gives the delegates an opportunity to see things from other peoples perspectives, to create greater understanding and co-operation across sectors.

Nick Martin, one of HHP’s project members and one of our regular presenters, spoke about the drivers behind the Hockerton Housing Project. This was part of a session on sustainable housing and included speakers from other local projects. Nick discussed some of the key reasons for developing Hockerton Housing Project, including; the environment, community, health, security and sustainable economics. From the number of questions after, it certainly stimulated a lot of thought. If you would like to know more about HHP presenting to your group or organisation see ‘HHP Talks’.

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