Good report by Ben Ross about national housing delivery relating to sustainable issues.

See the forum for the future website.

Ecomotive provides support, guidance and consultancy on creating sustainable communities 

Ecomotive is actively supporting a change in thinking in how housing in the UK is delivered.  There is a need for more sustainable homes, which are not only low carbon, but more sustainable in a broader sense.  Stronger communities, local horticultural space to grow your own veg, good play space and social space.  Ecomotive is supporting people into affordable and sustainable housing through self build and self finish methods of construction. Ecomotive has assisted in the set up of the National Self Build Association (NaSBA), which is supporting central Government to create more opportunities for self build.

If you would like to be involved in the creation of your own sustainable community or would like to self build your own home and would like to find other people or further information, please check out the forum on the ecomotive website. 

There are some great community construction projects to whet your appetite which can be found on the Links page.  Some are completed and some still in progress.

Thanks to Unltd and Business West for their support in creating this resource.

The Ecomotive Team

The buildings of the old chocolate factory had been planned to be demolished by Persimmon Homes, but through the hard work and perseverance of the local community and the chocbox group , it looks like these building have been saved.  Various people gave evidence at the public inquiry including George Ferguson (Acanthus Ferguson Mann Artchitects) in relation to the architecture, Jackson Moulding (Ecomotive) on sustainability, Peter Lipman (Sustrans) on transport, Jari Moate (BEST) on employment, and Barry Pearce (Planning Aid) on consultation. 

The Bristol based property regeneration company, Squarepeg has now bought the Elizabeth Shaw Chocolate Factory site at Greenbank, Easton, and has publicly declared its intention to undertake a comprehensive consultation with the local community, before submitting a planning application to Bristol City Council.

There could be opportunities for self finish homes on the site, but at this early stage in the consultation process there are lots of variables which need resolving.  If you would like to feed into the consultation process have a look at the site set up by Squarepeg.

Friday and Saturday March 28th and 29th   10 - 4pm 

Homes for Good is already well known for showing ways to create sustainable buildings: from constructing buildings using local, natural materials, energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technology, to promoting lifestyles that help reduce consumption, save energy and make sustainable living easy.

This year’s exhibition is taking place in the Showering Pavilion at the Bath and West’s royal county showground.

Homes for Good Website

The mission: to build an eco-home. The budget: laughable. The secret weapon: straw. The Independent finds out how one man got back to nature – and how you can build a den the same way.  Go to Independent site to see the article. Click below to take you there.

Check it out 

The office block in St Werburghs, the final piece to the Ashley Vale site in Bristol, has received planning permission for six flats and the ground floor to house workspace and a community facility. Progress is underway to get the renovation rolling.

Ashley Vale Action Group (AVAG) in conjunction with the 'occupants to be' are setting up a common-hold company which will own the building. The six sets of occupants will then own their own flat as a leasehold to the commonhold.  This way the commonhold can take ownership of the renovation, ensuring the development meets the standards it sets and keeps the overal costs down.

The current plan is to provide communal heating using a wood pellet boiler system, supported by solar hot water panels and some PV.  Funding is being looked into, and hopefully the Low Carbon Building Programme is able to support community projects!

The whole of the building will also of course be externally insulated, and triple glazing is currently being budgeted in. 

BBC1 News showed some images of the Ashley Vale Action Group site in Bristol on the national news in relation to the European Commission's announcement of 'historic' plans to make europe the first economy of the low-carbon age.

See the footage  

The plan of action against climate change aims is for a 20% cut in the EU's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, which could rise to 30% with a global deal.

 Also, each country has been given a target for renewable energy. The UK has a target of 15%, whereas Swedan which has a thriving renewables industry has been given a tougher figure  of 49%.

See rest of the BBC Story