Notes from Eco House Knowledge Share Event (1st December 2010)

Despite the best efforts from our rather extreme winter weather we where still able to hold our knowledge share event.  Below are the notes from the event.


Comments during the various discussions have been grouped into topics.


Insulation

• Rolled up newspapers up chimney
• Newspaper under carpet
• Insulate one room to demonstrate the benefits?
• Sausages at door- 2 hr workshop
• Fill gaps in floorboards (PVA glue and sawdust, newspaper)
• Thick Curtains (old blankets- ex hospital blankets?)
• Film for windows (£10.00)/ secondary glazing glass or Perspex, also Bubble wrap on windows that do not need to be seen out of- toilet?
• Rags for loft insulation
• City Warm Zone provides 200mm loft insulation to everybody for £45.00
• TRV’s radiators on internal walls
• Paper liner on walls- now we just use paint
• Problem with empty house each side, loose heat- council could put thick insulation inside vacant properties (polystyrene) ?
• Aspley Project
• Insulation boards cost £12.00 each without plaster
• Can treat recycled newspapers with Boron [“Cellulose insulation is made from recycled newspaper and treated with fire retardants and insect protection. Borates, derived from the mineral Boron, are natural materials that can be used as fire retardants and insect repellents in cellulose insulation.”]

Heating / Damp

• Cover bath with  sheet to keep moisture in  (Re-use water for toilet or waterbutt)
• External wall- leaky taps and gutters show people how to clear gutters
• Keep lids on pans when cooking to reduce damp
• Paying on meter people pay double
• Taking gas fire out – inefficient as loose lots of heat through the chimney
• Showers & Baths major cause of damp- need ventilation
• Curtains over doors
• Wet rooms- heat reclaiming ventilation
• Ventilation fans £150/ £80
• LED lighting warms the room- cost???  but harsh lighting (could put behind opaque screen/ lantern?. Need GIO fitting for LED –Problematic , £5-10 a bulb WE COULD BULK BUY AND SELL ON CHEAPER
• Reflective radiator- foil
• If Boiler is bad cant run a house properly- GRANTS
• Air Bricks- DIY, run a course to give confidence to people so they do it alone.
• DAMP causes health issues

Energy/ Money Saving

• Owl Monitor- can borrow  from libraries to monitor energy/ cost, will encourage people to save money
• 17% of annual bill spent on lighting
• X Box biggest user of energy in house
• Kettle- not filling if not needed, costs 30p to boil
• TV off standby
• Switch lights off (Behavioural Change
• Draft strips- cheapest and most efficient
• Boiler: build a box around it and fill with fibre glass or covered in jackets or foam
• Shower- remove electric shower, re-jig using a rubber cone system and connect to taps
• Ground source pumps: if have gas not worthwhile but electric source may work
• Test being on a water metre and go back for one year

Other Projects and Houses 

·         £35,000 cost of initial house (Leicester Eco House) students were living in the house during time of retrofit

·         Phase 10- 13 yrs old, Nottingham City Council

·         NCC- Victorian, solid wall, small house

·         Aspley Project- £6000 of insulation in each house.

·         NCHA: new build, highly adapted to be environmental by Mike Read (one off project) built by Nectar, Hyson Green

Benefits for council/ housing associations

• Getting residents to be green without realizing it
• Better health of residents
• Residents financially more secure
• People take pride in environment- knowing neighbours, active streets
• The council keen to learn cheap and efficient ways of doing things

Set Up

• Must have disabled access
• Cameras upstairs and in loft

Grants/ Finances

• For cavity wall
• Lofts
• Gray water
• Boiler
• Council could potentially attribute debt to house not owner (energy saving measures)
• Aspley Project ( energy companies paying 2/3 of insulation)
• Energy Saving Trust aims to saving £250 a year on bills; computer programme

Uses for House

• Office for energy squad
• Workshops ( house audit to see what workshops required)  not just energy saving workshops: cooking, making crafts, conversion to vegetable oil cars? (Christmas time) growing vegetables in small spaces/ making own cleaning products etc (Post on you tube for those who cannot make the workshop)
• Recycle point
• Freecycle
• Society/ hub – mediate between existing projects and communities
• Open most days
• Comfortable environment
• Rent useful things to people who are in the house for a temporary amount of time – Refugees, asylum seekers, students
• House atypical, but monitor neighbours houses
• Demonstrate standards needed to be achieved by 2012
• Tool library

Set Up/ Preparation

• Take before and after pictures
• Plan what needs to be done first- to avoid unpicking
• Video blogging
• House should progress with new schemes
• Document progress
• Residents should do audits on their own homes before applying energy saving measures
• 5 yr time scale

Other Points

• Using historical methods there is no need to refurb, gather information from the elderly/ war veterans- empowering/ therapy- sharing memories and collective genius
• Broxtowe houses were built with enough room to grow vegetables and keep livestock.
• A perception that you cant get anything for nothing
• Elderly cant access grants, and also cant deal with disruption and have mistrust in youth- break trust issues through intergenerational activities
• Food Purchasing groups, during miners strike women distributed and shared food.
• Not just energy saving but saving money in general- food prices rising, fuel etc (money saving workshops, grow your own,etc) Tip: Rosewater can be used for conjunctivitis- have a workshop to demonstrate, fun and a group activity

  

MAIN FOCUS TO PROMOTE SAVING MONEY BUT AS A VEHICLE FOR A GREEN AGENDA

NEED A NEW NAME FOR ECO HOUSE !!