Extracts from Guidebook

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. 

Well illustrated with easy to use layout.

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

·        Fun questionnaire to test your readiness for living in a sustainable community.

To order: Send a cheque for £8.50(£7.50 + £1 p&p) made payable to ‘HHP Trading Ltd’ to:

Hockerton Housing Project,

The Watershed,

Gables Drive,

Hockerton,

Southwell,

Notts NG25 0QU

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION AND OTHERS SUPPLIED BY HHP - CLICK HERE

Extracts

What attracts people to the idea of community living?

There are sound reasons for sharing common facilities such as:

·        Economic - joint purchasing to enable discounts on utilities, services and products. 

·        Social - peer support, social opportunities and the ability to speak collectively on issues. 

·        Environmental - reduced impact on natural resources through bulk purchasing, opportunities to organize collective action on energy efficiency and transport use.

The following tables are taken from the research survey and show the most popular reasons for being interested in being part of a community.

There are some drawbacks to being part of a community and vary according to the community set up, individual circumstances and other factors. The following table is again taken from our research and shows the most common reasons why people would not consider being part of a small community.

You will need to decide how much you are willing to commit and be sure that you understand what you are involving yourself in. At HHP we try and achieve a balance between individual private needs and communal ones. Each of the families has there own home separately financed and leased, but shares communal utilities, food growing and a business responsibilities. Some additionally share childcare and transport. This is overlayered with individual friendships, weekly social meetings and occasional social events. For us, this balance works and we would not want to take it much further. Other groups, however, prefer greater communal arrangements, such as cooking and dining facilities. Most people at HHP have experienced times when they have found the community commitment onerous or frustrating, but on the whole find the benefits outweigh this temporary feeling.

It must be appreciated that there are many people who have an interest in sustainable living but who are unable to make a commitment on the scale of moving to a community. This could be due to a number of reasons other than simply not wanting to be part of a community. They may have other members of the household that are not so committed, or it may be the wrong time of their lives where occupations or lifestyle make it hard to settle in one place for long.

The quotes below are taken from the research survey in response to a question about community living:

“It is a greater commitment than living on one’s own, but not necessarily a greater commitment than living with a spouse & offspring. It takes a lot of skill in getting along with others.”

“I think its an intensely personal thing that will be different for everyone depending on where they are at, and that it is affected by really deep personal emotional stuff. And it depends on people’s reasons for doing it. I have seen many people go into ecovillage projects with a great idealism that this is the way to change the world, and I did it myself once. Now I think a more sustainable approach is to say ‘this is how I want to live my life and it also fulfills my desire to make a difference’ that both complement each other and there is no element of sacrifice or compromising comforts. It has to come from the heart, not the head, the process is only sustainable if it grows from the heart.”

“This is a question for each person. Some will prefer to live alone or in nuclear families. This is their choice. There should however be an alternative option.”

“Though I think it is too much to expect many people to live together in terms of sharing living spaces etc like on communes. I think it is enough of a challenge for people to live together more loosely in an ecovillage structure where they have their own living spaces and then share land and some resources".

“Community living is only a question of degree. Before HHP I was part of a community through work leisure and location.”

Example of one of key Issues: Maximising Energy Efficiency (layout)

Planning a climatically orientated layout will maximise the benefit from fine weather and offer protection from adverse weather. Good layout will improve building performance by reducing energy consumption and improving durability of the fabric.

Early human settlements made use of their natural landscape, taking advantage of its topography and local bio-climate, to protect them from extremes of weather. Their home therefore became a place in which climate was naturally moderated, reducing impact of cold winds and excessive heat.

Maximizing Solar Heating

The layout of a site will have an impact on both passive solar gain as well as the opportunities for active solar gain. You will need to consider the following:

·         As far as possible the majority of the glazed area of a building should be orientated towards the south.  Glazing on north elevations should be reduced to a minimum.

·         Minimize winter shading of homes. This is particularly important if you are planning to install any active solar systems, such as photovoltaics. Deciduous trees lose leaves in winter and will let sunlight through. Coniferous trees will block out sunlight. Bear in mind the low angle of the winter sun!

Minimizing Heat loss

Using or adapting the local environment of the home can help to reduce exposure to the elements, in particular wind, and reduce heat loss from the fabric of the building. Consider the following:

·         Use of trees and other planting as windbreaks/shelterbelts. This can be through use of what is already available (such as mature trees) or by careful new planting. However care must be taken that this does not in time create unwanted shading.

·         Using buildings to shelter each other. This can either be by grouping buildings or by joining them, to avoid high speed uninterrupted airflow over them. Terraced homes are far more energy efficient than detached ones, since it reduces the surface area of exposed walls in relation to internal volume.

·         Use of novel building forms such as earth-sheltering and underground homes. These make use of the landscape and ready available materials to reduce exposure to the elements.

·         Avoid naturally cold sites, such as hill tops and frost pockets.