Simon Tilley (M Eng, C Eng, M I Mech E)

Simon joined the project in 1995, with a background in Mechanical Engineering. This included spending two years in Namibia working for Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). His engineering skills have been put to good use in the project - He manages the HHP water & energy systems and a number of key HHP projects, including a DTI Domestic PV field trial (2002 to 2005) and Sustainable Hockerton’s 225kW community owned wind turbine. (2002 to 2010)

His main contributions to the on site business are:

•                       Managing Renewable Energy projects
•                       Technical tour guide
•                       Technical workshop facilitator
•                       Technical consultancy (Water and renewable energy systems)
•                       Main external speaker for the group.
•                       Leads and facilitates HHP's developments with schools educational work.

Previous outside environmental work includes Open University Associate Lecturer for the “Energy for a Sustainable Future” and “Renewable Energy” courses, VSO Course facilitator for technical volunteers and contributions towards Nottinghamshire Agenda 21's review of energy & construction. He is currently a director of Sustainable Hockerton Limited.

Nick Martin (BEd)

Nick Martin, a founding Project member, has a unique experience and knowledge of energy efficient housing. He first became interested in the early 1990’s after acquiring a 25-acre site just outside the village envelope of Hockerton, in rural Nottinghamshire. Combining his interests in renewable energy and low impact developments he set to work on various concepts leading him to the earth-sheltered option. In the meantime he won the tender in 1993 to build the home of Prof. Brenda and Dr. Robert Vale, the UK’s first sustainable town house - an autonomous house with ‘net zero CO2’ emissions, of low embodied energy, deriving power from photovoltaic arrays and passive solar heating. Nick Martin was so convinced by many of the construction principles that he commissioned Dr. Robert Vale to design a rural hamlet of 5 earth sheltered sustainable dwellings, Hockerton Housing Project, to similar energy and environmental performance standards - autonomous and with ‘net zero CO2’ emissions. Nick supervised this self-build project from August 1996 to Sept 1998.

 
Nick Martin is now one of the most experienced eco-builders in the UK. He leads the project consultancy work, including new designs for ultra low energy housing, as well as being directly involved in new eco-building projects. More recently he has been involved with the design and build of HHP’s new eco-community building (the Sustainable Resource Centre) a pair of earth-sheltered homes in Hockerton, a single eco-home, an eco-barn conversion and many eco-retrofits (including involvement in the Nottingham Eco-House).  He is currently developing a proposal for a 11 home ultra low energy scheme in Hockerton.

Liz Lainé (BCom MSc)

Liz has a Masters in Corporate Governance and Ethics, is currently extending this with a PG Dip in Environmental Decision-making, and works full-time from home for Consumer Focus as an advocate of sustainable consumption. As part of this work she leads their response to the Feed-in Tariff.
Liz joined the Project with Rob in 2009, drawn from central London by the opportunity to live a lower carbon lifestyle.  She’s passionate about community action: whilst in Camden she coordinated the local Friends of the Earth group, ran ‘Energy Zones’ at Green Fairs in Camden and Brixton, coordinated volunteers for an award-winning EcoHouse and set up a Carbon Reduction Action Group.  Since arriving in Hockerton, she’s got involved as a Director of Sustainable Hockerton during the implementation of the community-owned wind turbine.