We’re delighted to announce a new programme of seasonal and sustainable workshops for children and for adults, to give people the chance to get in touch with nature, recycle old furniture and decorate their homes. Take a look at our events page to see what’s on offer, and get in touch if you are a course provider looking for an inspiring eco venue to host your courses.
If this property’s share in a community-owned wind turbine were taken into account, it would have the lowest energy use and CO2 emissions of all properties in the recent Retrofit Revealedreport.
Two of HHP’s retrofit projects were included in a recent report by the Technology Strategy Board, and whilst the published results look good, they are not the full story due to the role played in our design by off-site renewable energy.
The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) funded the Retrofit for the Future competition to encourage innovation in the retrofit market and understand what actually works. 87 projects were awarded up to £150k each to retrofit social housing units, aiming to achieve an 80% reduction in CO2 levels compared to 1990 averages. HHP won funding for a project to retrofit 2 semi-detached houses in Newark, Notts, which have now been re-occupied for over 2 years.
The TSB has recently produced a report, Retrofit Revealed, providing the first analysis of data from the monitoring of 37 of the projects.
As we had split the (not inconsiderable) budget between two properties, we were pleased to see that one of our retrofitted houses (property number TSB023) still had the 8th lowest level of CO2/m2 (3rd best of the all-electric properties) whilst the other (property number TSB022) was a credible 26th. In terms of total energy use (per m2), our properties were 4th and 12th respectively. This shows the impact of being an all-electric property, as electricity has a much higher carbon intensity than gas; and the impact of resident behaviour, as the houses are built and retrofitted to identical specifications.
Our choice of going ‘all-electric’ was deliberate: it is not a finite resource like gas; and because our design off-set that electricity use through investment (from the project budget) in a local community-owned wind turbine.
The impact of this investment is not recognised by the TSB report but it has proven much more cost-effective and a lower maintenance approach than on-site renewables. Analysis of the energy data for Property TSB023, for which we have 2 years of meter readings, shows that if its share of SHOCK turbine generation were taken into account, it would have the lowest energy use and CO2 emissions of all properties. A £1,500 investment offset 43% of the annual energy use, and at the same time the social landlord has a regular income rather than a maintenance overhead.
This offsite offset would not be recognised in the properties’ Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) either. This matters because the Government said in their Energy Efficiency Strategy that it intends to make more policies conditional on energy efficiency. Onsite renewables would be recognised, but what about all those unable to install systems onsite due to property type, leasehold or planning restrictions? Or simply unable to afford an onsite system at higher upfront cost per kW?
Further key aspects of our design (passive solar gain, high thermal mass and buffer zones) are not fully recognised by SAP, the Government’s assessment tool, and so similarly the benefits would not be fully registered in the EPC.
Here’s hoping that TSB take a technology-neutral look at the results and feedback into SAP what really works for different properties, and their residents.
This week Kevin McCloud returned to the Hedgehog Project in Brighton on Grand Designs and showed how that housing co-operative has moved on from being an innovative self-build to building roots in the community – reflecting our experience here at Hockerton Housing Project.
We are hoping that the planners at Newark and Sherwood will have been watching, as a plan for a new self-build partnership in Hockerton is now under consideration. The plan is to demolish a redundant industrial building and replace it with five two-storey homes (up to 3 bedrooms) and two one-storey, one bed homes.
Hockerton Housing Project is supportive of the plans for a number of reasons:
The energy efficient design will deliver 80% less carbon and 60% lower running cost than homes built to today’s minimum standards.
Each dwelling will have a share in Hockerton’s community-owned wind turbine to ‘offset’ the carbon content of remaining energy use.
Rainwater harvesting and water efficient appliances will limit demand for mains water, and a reedbed will be used to avoid nasty odours from sewage.
Affordable housing allows people with a wider range of skills and expertise to live in rural areas.
The co-operative nature of the development, both in its build and its maintenance, means pride will be taken in the quality of the work on buildings and landscaping.
The more people resident in the village, the better for local businesses such as the farm shop, the pub, restaurant and ice-cream parlour.
Self-build partnerships are rare, but offer many benefits, so let’s hope the planning officials see the merit of putting brownfield land to better use as a site for new affordable homes in Hockerton, further strengthening the village’s reputation as a hub of innovative and affordable energy efficient homes.
If you are interested in understanding how we developed our self-build at Hockerton Housing Project, and how the co-operative works in practice, make a new year’s resolution to come on one of our Sustainable Living Tours – the next one is 19 January 2013.
Hockerton Housing Project has been hosting tours for over ten years, showing over 20,000 people around the Project and its homes to help them understand how homes and communities can meet the energy and environmental challenges of the 21st century.
The most frequent visitors come from our local universities in Nottingham, Derby, Sheffield, Loughborough and Lincoln but we’re keen to see more – both from other universities and from a greater range of courses. Our Project is not just about the housing or the technical infrastructure; it can be used to illustrate a range of studies including the politics of communities and the role of sustainability in health services.
Feedback suggests a visit to us can really inspire students…
Thanks again for a great day and for inspiring my students!
Reader in Environmental Geography, Geography Department,University of Leicester
It was a super experience and the students were buzzing all the way home.
Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham
Many thanks for another superb visit. It gives the students a real insight into the options for more sustainable living and really gives them something to think about.
Queen Elizabeth High School for Girls
I’d just like to thank you personally for inviting us in your homes and inspiring future generations with your amazing work. It was such a productive experience as we got to see everything we’ve been taught in our module in real life. I thought it was all just theory but to see it up and running and so successful gave me great joy.
Engineering student, Loughborough University
We’ve prepared a short guide to these visits for lecturers and teachers, and are keen to hear from lecturers how you think we could help you bring sustainability to life in your classroom or through a visit to Hockerton Housing Project.
Yesterday the Government launched its Energy Efficiency Strategy, and we were particularly interested to see if any mention was given to the role of SAP, the Government’s energy performance assessment tool.
Hockerton Housing Project takes pride in its low-tech, low-cost approach, and the homes consume 15-25% of the energy used by homes built today. But the Government’s energy efficiency measurement assessment tools (SAP and RdSAP) cannot compute the benefit of homes like ours:
SAP cannot cater for our use of passive solar gain as our main heating system
Use of thermal mass to reduce heat demand through the year is not recognised (the thermal mass in our homes essentially stores the summer heat and keeps our homes warm in winter)
SAP assumes that an element of mass thicker than 100mm has no additional thermal capacity is flawed (SAP2009 Table 1e: Heat capacities for some common constructions), contrary to evidence at HHP. As long as the mass is well insulated (externally) the full thickness of the mass will be effective as a heat sink.
RdSAP does not differentiate between internal and external solid wall insulation, so the benefits of external insulation to “lock in” the mass of the walls, which can then aid summer cooling and winter heating, are not recognised for existing dwellings.
SAP assumes that thermally separate conservatories are not present, ignoring two benefits:
The sunspace provides sheltering of the dwelling from the external environment, therefore reducing heat losses.
The sunspace can be used to harvest passive solar energy which can then be brought into the main dwelling to top-up the heat stored in the thermal mass as required.
All this matters because the Government tells us in the Strategy that it intends to make more policies conditional on energy efficiency. Access to feed-in tariffs and the renewable heat incentive are already affected, and RdSAP or EPC ratings could also be used to introduce differential council tax or stamp duty. All this will mean that energy efficiency improvements will be made to meet whatever measure of energy efficiency is applied. Whilst a policy to drive up the value of energy efficiency in the property market would be very welcome, as this is potentially the simplest way to drive investment in existing homes, this must not be so broad-brush as to drive out innovative approaches and a process for ‘exceptions-handling’ must be incorporated into future policies.
Seeing is believing
On the upside, whatever documents come out of Westminster, here at Hockerton we’re enjoying ‘zero’ energy bills as our investment in additional solar PV starts to pay off and the summer heat stored in our thermal mass continues to keep our homes warm.
If you are interested in homes that are comfortable yet consume only 15-25% of the energy used by homes built today, this time of year is the best time to visit to truly feel the difference. There are some spaces left on the tour this coming Saturday 17 November so book your place on a tour of Hockerton Housing Project here.
