I did not imagine I would be writing to you about a small piece of irreplaceable Fenland habitat near York and the threat from property developers to destroy it. Understanding the value of our natural environment is key to a sustainable healthy future.
Globally our whole planet is under threat from Covid 19 and climate collapse. Could the former be a turning point to help solve the latter? A cool-headed assessment is required. Thankfully, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has just produced a report titled ‘The Global Climate 2015 to 2019’ to help us understand where we are. The New Scientist interviewed the author Petteri Taalas who had some very interesting things to say.
During the past 20 years we have seen the 19 warmest years on record.
We have observed concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of 415 parts per million (400 was once regarded as critical.)
During the past century sea level rise was typically 1 to 2 millimetres per year, during recent years we have seen the rise of between 4 and 5 millimetres per year.
20 years ago we had 20 million people exposed to heat waves on an annual basis, during the past 3 years we have exceeded 200 million a year. We have seen casualties from this in Europe at over 75,000 people in a single year.
With these sobering conditions in mind as we invest in the recovery from COVID-19 it is imperative that we tackle climate change as part of the recovery. This is perfect opportunity to start solving the problem.
The IPCC report found last year that emissions must fall by 7.6% every year this decade to meet the Paris agreements goal of checking warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
We cannot assume the climate catastrophe is solved by Covid -19. We must not head back to burning coal, oil and gas. If we allow the climate catastrophe to continue the health and economic impacts will be much higher than the ones that we are facing with this “short term” COVID-19 crisis. If you compare casualties from hunger the numbers are already much higher than the COVID-19 casualties.
What about the little scrap of fenland bog in Askham near York? Well I am pleased to say you made the right decision and stopped the development. I wholeheartedly congratulate you for this. Please focus your mind on solving the much bigger yet more important problem of the climate crisis with similar resolve. You would be very welcome to visit Hockerton Housing Project to see our attempt at a solution for low cost low impact eco housing with a holistic approach while still meeting very high environmental, social and financial standards.
If you have read to here congratulations. If you have read to here and you are not Robert Jenrick please consider sending this or a similar letter to your MP. If you are an MP please consider acting upon this information.
Othrwise…..
If you want to come to see Hockerton Housing Project for real book a place here for the 12th September.
May be of interest….a webinar run by The Concrete Centre provides an introduction to thermal mass and its energy/carbon saving benefits. It will cover: What is thermal mass? How is it used? How is it measured and how much do you need? General rules of thumb are provided throughout the talk, including the upfront carbon savings that can be achieved through avoided internal finishes and M&E plant. Book now
We
hope this finds you safe and well in these challenging times. We have been reviewing what the foreseeable
future may be like for us and have some exciting news to share.
Live Zoom tours:
You can book a LIVE zoom tour of the project by one of the founding members. Ideal for people interested in a more sustainable life and want to see how others have done it. We live in a sustainable community and can show you our response to the Climate Emergency. You can book by contacting us.
View of the five eco homes at Hockerton Housing Project
We hope this finds you safe and well in these challenging times. We have been reviewing what the foreseeable future may be like for us and have some exciting news to share.
We hope once we have tested the waters we hope to repeat these depending on the demand and also add some more technical tours.
Please share this with your friends and family.
New eco home emerges from the ground.
A new eco bungalow starts to take shape here in Hockerton. As usual built far beyond the building regs…. at little to no extra cost! Similar onsite buildings have had net positive energy figures meaning they make more than they consume.
If you have an Eco house to sell and would like us to advertise it on our site please contact us at contact@hockertonhousingproject.org.uk for our terms and conditions.
Social media- Please follow us on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter at HockertonHP.
Global CO2
emissions are expected to decline by 8%, or almost 2.6 gigatonnes (Gt),
to levels of 10 years ago….. six times larger than the previous record
reduction of 0.4 Gt in 2009 – caused by the global financial crisis – As
after previous crises, however, the rebound in emissions may be larger
than the decline, unless the wave of investment to restart the economy
is dedicated to cleaner and more resilient energy infrastructure.
Just to update you on what is happening or not happening at
Hockerton at the moment! Our tours are cancelled now until the beginning
of June(we hope). We have added in an extra date on Saturday July 4th
which is obviously a provisional date.
These can be all booked via our website with this link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sustainable-living-tickets-15018178777?ref=estw
New live offers
We know that nothing is quite like visiting Hockerton for
yourself and experiencing the site and the homes. We have been thinking for some time of
alternative ways people can ‘visit’ so that more people can enjoy the
experience and learn from the innovation that is Hockerton HP. The recent challenge of Covid 19 has
clarified our thinking on this but we hope it is something that many schools
and students can use in their future learning as well.
We are offering a live tour of the project for groups followed and if they wish, with a zoom session. If you are interested contact us via email at contact@hockertonhousingproject.org.uk .
Resources for Schools and Universities
For
schools or universities unable to make a visit or travel to Hockerton Housing
Project, we are now offering a new Remote Educational Package. This package
includes:
A Skype tour with a HHP resident, covering areas
within Wi-Fi range i.e. resident homes and solar panels.
A DVD or USB stick with video explanations
covering of all of the site’s design features and footage from the BBC’s
‘Inside Out’ programme. Please see our example Wind Energy summary video below.
A package of infographics covering HHP’s design
features and further processes.
Worksheets aimed at GCSE students to be
completed whilst watching the explanation videos.
We are also encouraging students who are interested in
sustainability in any way to access our videos these can be found on the
website. For primary aged children years 5 and 6 we would suggest they
follow the link http://hockertonhousingproject.org.uk/sustainable-living/co-housing/
and look at The Green Pioneers Open University video. If anyone wanted to
then have a zoom meeting to talk to us about climate change or what it is like
to live here we could set that up afterwards. They would need to express
their interest in this by following this link: mailto:contact@hockertonhousingproject.org.uk.
