Home

Wanted: eco homes

Fri, 29/05/2009 - 21:13 — Jessie
strawbale extensionWe are in the early stages of planning an exciting new event for Chesterfield, and we need your help! Inspired by a project in Oxfordshire, we'd like to hold an 'eco homes open day' this September. It's a bit like the 'open gardens' scheme, except this one is with eco buildings instead of gardens.
 
What happens is that ordinary people who have eco-renovated their houses (perhaps with solar panels or super insulation or grey water recycling systems) open their homes to the public for a weekend. Visitors get a fantastic opportunity to see real live solar panels etc, and they get to talk to real live people who can explain how these these technologies work, why they installed them, where they bought them, and so on. Hopefully, everyone feels inspired, informed and empowered, so they go home and start eco-renovating their own houses.
 
The first step is to find some people who live in eco-renovated houses who would like to take part in the open day. If your home has any of the following, we would be really pleased to hear from you:
  • extra good or unusual insulation – solid walls, lofts, floors, triple glazing etc
  • renewable energy technologies – solar panels, wood burners etc
  • low carbon technologies – heat pumps, CHP systems etc
  • natural or reclaimed materials – eco paints, reclaimed wood, lime plaster etc
  • passive heating, cooling or ventilation – passive solar conservatory etc
  • low impact construction – green roof, timber frame, strawbale walls etc
  • water conservation – grey water cycling, rainwater harvesting etc
  • any other energy-saving, eco features, systems or techniques you think might be of interest!
You don’t have to live in a perfect and complete eco home or have loads of exciting gadgets. You just need to be able to demonstrate a few features that make your home more sustainable than average - and be willing to open your doors to the public for a day.
 
If you are interested in taking part, or would like to know more about our plans, please get in touch. Call Jessie on 01246 234899 or send an email to homes[at]transitionchesterfield.org.uk. If you know any other eco-householders or eco-buildings (or ways of finding some) please pass on the message or tell us about them.

This event will be part of the national Heritage Open Days scheme, which runs over the weekend of 12th and 13th September this year.

For more on how the Eco Home Open Days work in Oxfordshire, click here.