UK eco-villages

• Apr. 22 by Katie Graczyk (2)

I searched one of my social networks, Greenerpeople (environmental forum/community), and found some comments on a thread about an eco-village in Cornwall/eco-villages in general.  What is an eco-village?  According to eco-village network UK,

Ecovillage - Sustainable, low-impact community with some shared ownership/management of land.

Percy, a Greenerpeople junior member, says:

“I have a friend who has just moved into an eco-village in Cornwall, very funky designed houses but they also include state of art eco products for greener living. Lots of information on their website about what products they have use have a look at uk green building design. My friend will soon be getting paid for the surplus electricity she will make from the local electricity company as long as the sun comes out!”

Some goals of eco villages are: (click on Microsoft Word Eco-towns prospectus)

(i) places with a separate and distinct identity but good links to surrounding towns and cities in terms of jobs, transport and services;

(ii) the development as a whole to achieve zero carbon and to be an exemplar in at least one area of environment technology;

(iii) a good range of facilities within the town including a secondary school, shopping, business space and leisure;

(iv) between 30 and 50 per cent affordable housing with a good mix of tenures and size of homes in mixed communities; and

(v) a delivery organisation to manage the town and its development and provide support for people, businesses and community services.

The eco town prospectus is free for those interested in living in/learning more about these communities from the communities and local government site.  It gives strategies, action plans, reports and summaries.

Well known house builder Barratt was the first to sign on for building eco-villages in the UK.  They were commissioned to build on the old Hanham Hall hospital site near Bristol.  It finished before 2016 which was before the government’s time line for making all new homes zero carbon standard.

Mark Clare, who is Barratt Developments’ chief executive, says,

“We are delighted to be asked to deliver this ground-breaking project, which will be the first large-scale zero-carbon community in the country. It will enable a family occupying one of these homes to reduce their entire carbon footprint by 60%.”

Additional information on alternative energy appliances supplied to one of the villages by Gledhill Water Storage and other eco-village specifics can be found here.

Unlike some trends in design or architecture this one should be sticking around.  There is much buzz around these communities and more to be created in the future…