Posts from — September 2005

Caroline Lucas: it could be you

The UK Green Party Autumn Conference kicked off today at St Martins College, Lancaster. It runs to 11th Sep and anyone can attend. Simply walk in. See the Green Party web site for more details.

Friday’s main theme is Green Energy Futures, a subject close to our hearts here at Off-Grid. More details on that below. We do hope that the conference makes one vital step — to agree that the Green Party needs a leader in order to be electable.

It has been sad to watch the party marginalise itself throgh idealistic principles about non-hierarchical leadership. The voters want leaders. So Off-Grid says – give them a leader. The Green vote will soar if there is a credible, dynamic leader who can mobilise the massive yearning to vote Green, especially among young people. The obvous choice is Green European Parliament member Caroline Lucas. If you support our position write to her and tell her so: carolinelucas@greenmeps.org.uk. (more…)

This is the first in a regular series about self-build.

Self builders need a lot of help

In a small town in Eastern England the Harrall family have recently moved into their self-built house. The 4-bed structure is packed into the earth, has a planted roof, vegetable garden and energy consumption a quarter of an ordinary house of the same size.

Jerry Harrall describes his single-storey, Teletubby-esque home as “earth-sheltered”. “This building is a response to global climate change,” he says. “Our whole lifestyle is a response to that.”

Unobtrusive to the point of invisibility from the road, there’s a big hedge, a gravel area, then the two buildings, which are the performance part of Harrall’s PhD at the University of Lincoln – his aim being to prove the long-term value of passive solar design, where buildings absorb and retain heat. Harrall’s buildings have no foundations – just concrete blocks placed on the floor, rooted by gravity. His home’s earth roof is covered by a woven membrane to keep it in place, and I notice that the periwinkles planted to cover it are slightly sparse, having succumbed to a disease. We enter via raised wooden walkways. For rest of story click “more” below.
The Self-Build Book: How to Enjoy Designing and Building Your Own Home – buy it from Amazon US (more…)

Cara Naden -taking Wessex off-grid

Community Choices for Sustainable Living aims to provide opportunities for individuals and communities to move towards more sustainable lives, writes its co-organiser, Cara Naden.

We have a grant from DEFR’s Environmental Action Fund to get the project on the road. Since that arrived, we’ve been identifying people and places that are able to inspire others to green up.

There is support from local authorities and other groups with initiatives such as composting and recycling, and there are many opportunities for communities to go off-grid. For example: Making your own solar water heater, a wormery, a wildlife garden, rain water collector or organising a car share scheme, a group delivery of organic vegetable boxes or alternative energy for your community.

We are looking for individuals or groups in the West Country who can take some inspiration from others and feed it back to members of their community. Any person who is interested in greening their community in some way is welcome to apply to become a volunteer. Click “more” to see rest of this story.
Fostering Sustainable Behaviour: An Introduction to Community-based Social Marketing – buy it from Amazon UK and 4% goes to Off-Grid
Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing – buy it from Amazon US
(more…)

Solarworld – not the only one going north

Alternative Energy companies across Europe are considering floating their shares in the coming months as the soaring price of oil makes solar and wind power ever more attractive than costly and polluting fossil fuels.

We see money going to solar and wind. Governments recognise the fact that those technologies have entered the business and see the necessity for further development to make them more efficient and cheaper. (more…)

Their future may be off grid

At Charity hospital in New Orleans, as the emergency generator ran out of fuel yesterday, nurses hand-pumped ventilators for patients who could not breathe and doctors used canoes to get supplies from neighbouring hospitals.

“It was like our tsunami,” said Vincent Creel, spokesman for the coastal city of Biloxi, one of the worst-hit areas. “The city’s power grid, water and sewage systems were destroyed.”

How can Off-Grid help the disenfranchised and dislocated people of New Orleans? This is not going to be a temporary phenomenon. Readers are invited to make comments at the end of this story for ways to use our know-how for their benefit. New Orleans looks set to be off the grid for the next year at least. The city may become a case study of a large-scale off-grid community, using renewable energy.

“The entire grid system in these areas is completely ruined,” said David Botkins, a spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power, which sent 200 workers to Louisiana and Mississippi. “They’re starting from scratch.” (more…)

Building a sustainable future

“From Rhetoric to Reality” is a short series of seminars studies in the UK, aimed at the growing numbers who are taking Sustainable Building from a quirky minority occupation or business into a mainstream activity. That process will take years, and these meetings bring together some key players with newbies coming into the fast-growing segment of the building industry.

The Good House Book: A Common-sense Guide to Alternative Homebuilding – buy it from Amazon UK

Sustainable Refurbishment

Thursday 22nd September

CREATE Centre, Bristol

A one-day conference on refurbishment for: housing associations, housing managers, property maintenance contractors, architects and designers, and HECA officers.

Covering:

• design issues
• techniques and materials to achieve practical sustainable refurbishment for public and private housing and offices buildings
• links to private sector renewal, fuel poverty and climate change

Cost 140 inc VAT

For further information about STSD or this seminar, please call 01458 259400 or email admin@sustainablehousing.org.uk

Energy Technologies in New Developments
Meeting New Policy Challenges in Today’s Market

Tuesday 27th September 2005

Xfi Conference Centre, University of Exeter

A one-day seminar for senior executives and professionals involved in the design, approval and construction of new developments, covering the latest issues in energy and climate change.
Covering:

• current and emerging policy
• case studies of developments that have successfully integrated policy requirements.
• strategies and use of new energy technologies

Cost: 190 inc VAT

For more information, go to: www.exeter.ac.uk/energyseminar

The Road to Genesis
Turning Vision into Reality

Friday 14th October

Somerset College for Arts and Technology, Taunton

A major conference about the nationally renowned Genesis project, a regional sustainable construction resource centre, scheduled to open in February 2006. An opportunity to meet the designers and constructors of a building which pushes the boundaries of sustainable design.

After a tour of the Genesis site, delegates will learn how important decisions, that have changed elements of the design, were made in an attempt to find a balance between the key project components of sustainable design, educational, buildability and budget. Delegates will discover how and why the idea for a regional centre based at Somerset College evolved, how it was funded and who the key regional partners are.

Cost 140 inc VAT

For more information or to book a place, please contact Sam Mclntyre at SCAT on 01823 366743