Original article by Nick White, Editor, ‘Sustainable Housing Schemes in the UK’ Read about a guide to real ‘ecohome’ projects in the UK, written by the Hockerton Housing Project, a sustainable housing project in Nottinghamshire.

Introduction

The Hockerton Housing Project has published a new guide to over 80 sustainable housing schemes open to visitors. There are 31 key case studies ranging from single eco-homes to large sustainable developments; low impact settlements to green construction schemes. It will hopefully prove an indispensable resource for people planning sustainable development at any level.

Sections in this article

• Background

• How case studies were chosen

• Where next?

Background

Since April 2000, the Hockerton Housing Project (HHP) has been managing a project called 'The Sustainable Community'. This has been partly funded for a two-year period through the Government's Environmental Action Fund (managed initially by DETR, and more recently by DEFRA). The key aim has been to develop a toolkit of services to enable individuals and small groups to develop their own sustainable communities, based on the experience of HHP. To date HHP has developed customized tours of the project itself, workshops, and talks, as well as launching the Eco Matchmaking Service and producing a publication, ‘The Sustainable Community - A Practical Guide'.

During an early phase of the project, over 100 individuals, small groups and organisations were asked the following question as part of a wider survey:

"What services would you find most useful in developing your ideas of developing a sustainable community?"

The service that scored the highest was "A guide to other sustainable projects with details of access." 

This publication is the result of that request. It has been designed as an easy to use guide taking the reader through a broad range of sustainable development projects from all over the UK, covering many aspects of sustainability. In the main section of key case studies a page is devoted per project with quick reference to a whole range of criteria, such as access arrangements and vacant positions (if relevant). A secondary section covers other projects, but in far less detail, where there is less information available or a similar example has already been covered as one of the key case studies. The examples show the wide diversity of options available and the different ways others are attempting to lead more sustainable lives.

How case studies were chosen

Hockerton Housing Project

The aim was to give readers access to as many aspects of sustainable lifestyles and design as possible. A wide variety of schemes have therefore been included, from single eco-homes such as The Autonomous House in Southwell, to large sustainable developments like BedZED in London; from low impact settlements such as Tinkers Bubble and Brithdir Mawr, to green construction schemes such as Millennium Green in Nottinghamshire; from single family homes to large community projects. Some bias was given to schemes that allowed some level of access to visitors, so that people can get a real feel for what it is like living in sustainable developments.

We have also included a number of demonstration projects/ eco-centres, since they provide particularly good access to environmental technologies and different environmental building designs.

The schemes included are well distributed around the UK, although with a higher proportion based in the South West and lower proportion in Eastern England. In total we have identified over 400 schemes in our research. This guide provides a selection of the best examples. Most of the additional schemes can be found by using the 'Key Resources' and other sources for further information.

The guide can be bought from the Hockerton Housing project for £10- see ‘Where next' section below.

Where Next?

On ClimateX.org

Another article well worth reading if you are interested in reducing your own ecological footprint by looking closely at your domestic lifestyle is ‘Footprints on the Carpet' by Robin Roy.

External Links

For more details of the Hockerton Housing Project, to find out about taking a tour, and to view their publications see their website: hockertonhousingproject .

If you want a copy of the guide you can order it, (cost ten pounds sterling) from: Hockerton Housing Project, The Watershed, Gables Drive, Hockerton, Southwell, Notts NG25 OQU. You can also order it from the website, link given above.