Today BBC Breakfast used Hockerton Housing Project (HHP) as the backdrop to their coverage of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report.
The IPCC has found that climate change is having a bigger impact than previously expected, and that temperature rises continue though they are slower than expected.
Science aside, HHP was delighted to be asked to show why sustainable living makes sense whatever your views on carbon and the climate.
The live broadcasts featured the zero carbon homes and renewable energy systems to show how action on carbon helps reduce energy bills, aids energy security, and galvanizes community spirit.
Simon Tilley talked through life at Hockerton Housing Project, “Our mission at HHP is to bring sustainability to life and what better platform than BBC Breakfast with its 7 million viewers? We were probably chosen because our homes look and feel different but the reality is that every home can become more sustainable: our approach to energy efficiency works in a townhouse, as seen in Southwell’s autonomous house; renewable energy is now more accessible thanks to the feed-in tariff and local community schemes; and it has been fantastic to see the resurgence of food-growing and the allotment movement.”
His daughter Naomi gave the most powerful line though. When asked by the presenter if she felt confident about the future, she replied “I’m not confident, I’m scared”. She later admitted that part of the fear was down to being interviewed live on national TV, but the line helped the coverage look beyond the current ‘debates’ to what we need to focus on – the legacy we leave for our children.
South Brent’s community-owned Vestas V27 started production last week and 10th September sees 2355kWh on the clock.
It is great to this project go live, as it is very similar to our local Sustainable Hockerton turbine, which is also fully community owned, and we have close links to one of the Directors who is also a member of our scheme! We wish them every luck and success as the commissioning process gets under way.
Is it possible that we will now we start to catch up with the Danes where back in 2001 over 100,000 families belonged to wind farm cooperatives installing over 86% of the countries wind turbines? In Germany the national figure is 50% but in some regions 90% of installed wind capacity (700MW) is community owned1.
Power to the people!
1 Renewable Energy Focus Volume 14 issue 4
Following the example of Hockerton’s community wind turbine, which was project managed by HHP, residents of Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire have installed a single 33m diameter wind turbine just outside their village.
This is a local project delivered by the community, for the community, that will significantly offset the village’s carbon footprint. Part of the profit will be used to provide a regular income to the village, as our own SHOCK turbine does, to be spent on local charities and community projects, hence the title ‘Community Turbine’.
We are particularly delighted to see their success as Gamlingay residents attended one of Hockerton Housing Project’s renewable energy masterclasses as part of their initial investigations, and used us as a model of how to deliver a community energy project.
If you are part of a community group looking to deliver a sizeable community renewable energy project in a rural area we would be pleased to assist with your feasibility study, using the support of the Rural Community Energy Fund, or sign up for our next renewable energy masterclass.
Think Shakespeare is boring? Think again!
The Royal Shakespeare Company believes that in order to understand Shakespeare you have to do it! This two day workshop for students in Year 8 and over lets you explore the Romeo & Juliet as actors do – on your feet – in the beautiful setting of Hockerton Housing Project.
Techniques used to explore the story may include:
- Using the natural environment to set the scene
- Use of music and sound effects
- Exploring the use of everyday objects as props
- Script-writing
- Developing back stories
The two day course runs from 10:00 to 14:30 each day. Attendees are asked to bring a packed lunch. Drinks and light refreshments will be provided.
Course leaders
Laura Field and Debbie Yates studied with the RSC as part of their postgraduate studies in the Teaching of Shakespeare. They trained at Stratford and now apply the techniques across various settings including a regional Shakespeare festival and a performance at The Swan Theatre in Stratford. As alumni of the RSC they continue to train and have the facilities of the company’s expertise.
Laura is a drama teacher in various schools, providing tuition for all ages up to GCSE English. Laura owns the Spoken Word studio which specialises in developing people’s confidence in speaking publically, LAMDA tuition and tuition for people who need to improve their spoken English. Laura is also a LAMDA examiner.
Debbie was head teacher of a school in Nottinghamshire until 2 years ago. She now lives at Hockerton Housing Project and is developing these courses in this wonderful setting. She is also LAMDA trained and has a Grade 7 in the Speaking of English from the RCM.
Most importantly they both enjoy engaging with children of all ages and seeing them gain in confidence.
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 Revealed report.
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.
