Homes for Good Show 17th April 2009

Below is a press release for the excellent 'Homes for Good' show which I attended in February 2007. This was breaking new ground when launched some years ago now, but is annually put on by the Ecos Trust an excellent sustainable living organisation in the West of England. I had hoped to bring this exhibition to the South East & Kent but 'time' with a full time job & family prevented this although one of the people working with me at the time has gone on to launch an eco village section at the Kent County Show more of which nearer the time.

The Ecos Trust who organises the sustainable building, gardening and lifestyle exhibition is choosing Westpoint Arena, Exeter to host its sixth annual show. The ‘Homes for Good’ Exhibition 17th – 18th April 2009, will showcase new and revolutionary sustainable products that won’t cost the earth!

Charlie Luxton, Broadcaster and Designer known for presenting programmes such as BBC2 s ‘Restored to Glory’, will be supporting the event and says “Our homes are in the front line of our fight against climate change, making them more sustainable can not be left solely to government. All home owners and building professionals need to take responsibility for the planet and tackle the problem, thinking globally but acting locally. Homes for Good is educating and empowering people to do just that”. Charlie is visiting the show on Friday 17th April.

The show attracts Professionals enquiring about new sustainable building techniques and members of the public embarking on self -build and renovation or simply seeking advice about an eco-friendly lifestyle. Visitors will benefit from a range of free demonstrations and advice over the two days including trying their hand at lime rendering and mixing cob.

Homes for Good 2009 will offer practical solutions to becoming ‘green’ and promotes a mainstream market for sustainable materials, designs and services. Corina Reay, Ecos Trust Projects Manager says “ Homes for Good offers quality ‘green’ products to the building and gardening industry, and home owners and supports businesses with sound environmental practices. This year’s show will provide plenty of ideas for your home and garden. Whether you have a small field or just a window box, our example garden centre piece will provide ideas and inspiration on a range of sustainable gardening techniques”.

The event will be sponsored by Energy Saving Trust (EST), Devon County Council, Exeter City Council and the Forestry Commission.

For more information please visit Homes for Good

Below are some images from the show at weston Super mare in 2007 taken by my old Digital Works camera so not very good!

Green Building Bible

These books are the perfect starting place, your first port of call to help you ‘get to grips’ with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

We all have to learn to build and remodel our living environments in such a way as to drastically reduce our collective burden on the planet. As each year passes by, the opportunities to make a difference are decreasing, and most scientists are now agreed on this point. The time left to embrace a lower impact lifestyle is ticking away.

There are no easy answers and many different approaches, but in these books you will find encouraging, practical and immediately useful hands-on information from both the long-term green building professionals and enthusiastic newcomers to the movement. The trends’ chapter will provide you with a snapshot of where we are now and how things are likely to develop in the near future.

Volume 2 goes beyond the introductions and delves into the more in-depth design detailing of buildings. It also provides easy to understand explanations of how some of the new technologies actually work. The book covers areas such as site layout, building envelope and fabric, renewable technologies, environmental factors, lighting strategies, heating and cooling systems and lots more.

Both these excellent books are on offer at the moment at £17 for the two and post free in the UK! see Green Building Bible web site for more information.

Free Event !!! Ecobuild 2009

Conference programme summary:


Visited this event 2 years ago, the 'Eco'(common sense) section of the event is growing and its free to attend you just need to book up!

Seminars:

Tuesday 03 March
What price sustainability?
Turning red into green
How low can you go?
The future for house building
Green building on the world stage

Wednesday 04 March
The challenge for construction
Zero carbon for all: a new code for sustainable buildings
Searching for a sustainable Britain
Who’s got the plan?
Managing water in a changing climate
How to break the circle of blame: who pays for green property?

Thursday 05 March
Refurbishment rises to the top: a new focus on existing homes
Refurbished, re- purposed
Managing buildings: counting the carbon, counting the cost
Counting the codes: regulations roundup

Sessions hosted by the UK Green Building Council
What price sustainability?
How low can you go?
Green building on the world stage
Zero carbon for all: a new code for sustainable buildings
Refurbishment rises to the top: a new focus on existing homes
Refurbished, re- purposed

who exhibits?

Over 800 exhibitors will take part in Ecobuild 2009, showcasing the widest range of sustainable products and services for construction and the built environment, and representing the entire spectrum of suppliers, including:

renewable energy & micro generation, including solar-thermal, PV, wind, CHP, heat pumps
heating & ventilation
insulation
water management, including SUDs, green roofs, rainwater harvesting, permeable hard landscaping
natural materials
building structure
building envelopes
building substructure, foundations & groundworks
building systems
doors, windows & glazing
finishes, coatings & paints
interiors & fittings
lighting – interior & exterior
building management systems & intelligent building systems
mechanical & electrical services
recycling and waste management systems
architectural & design services
building performance services
refurbishment services
planning services

Finally got round to creating a Blog. I've got loads of interests but hopefully the stuff I put on here may be of use to people who access this blog in the uk & perhaps the world and are interested in living in a more sustainable way.

It is becoming obvious to more and more people that Climate Change is happening and that it is due to human activity, but not withstanding this fact is it not obvious that the earths resources are finite and the practice of worshiping the 'god' of consumerism to excess cannot go on for ever? More and more people are realising that normal everyday life can be lived sustainably and that this is rewarding in itself. Many still believe this is the realm of the eco activist or those following what is often term,ed a hippy lifestyle but no more we can all live a more sustainable way with a little effort to change our routines and set ways.

The page title displays a picture from a 'low energy' housing development at Bridport in Somerset. This was completed in 2006 by the Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development now called the Ecos Trust a groundbreaking Charity and Social Enterprise in the South West. They demonstrate sustainable coinstruction and living in the best possible way by acting as a practical developer and have an annual 'Homes are Good' sustainable construction/living show annualy in February each year. See their web site at http://www.ecostrust.org.uk/ for further info. Their latest project is to construct a 'Zero Carbon' housing developement of 5 properties in the small Somerset 'commuter' village of Stawell the picture below shows the foundations being dug in August this year