Oxfordshire Eco-Homes Open Days
Across Oxfordshire, 11-14 Sept 2008 |
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On the back of their successful 'Ideal Green Homes Show' at Oxford's Town Hall in April 2008, Coin and Climate-X once again invite the public to come and take a look at real eco-renovations in practice. If you've been wondering just how possible it would be to convert your heating system to solar, or if insulating your house really will slash your energy bills, come along and find out from the experts: the homeowners, boat-owners and self-builders who have done exactly that, and more.
19 properties across the county open their doors between Thursday and Saturday this week (click here to download the PDF of full details), ranging from a canal boat to an 18th century villa and a straw bale garden office. As if peeking into other people's homes wasn't interesting enough, visitors get to experience and share knowledge about a variety of hi- and low-tech techniques for future-proofing against life in 'the climate change century'. Not installed the solar panel you always dreamed of because you fear the substantial upfront cost will take too long to recoup through lower energy bills alone? Why not pop in and ask the owners of 45 Trinity St, Oxford or 18 Fernham Rd, Faringdon how long it took them. Strapped for the cash you need to even think about starting to ecovate? The UK government currently gives grants of up to £2,500 for energy-saving home improvements (as do several other bodies - including NPower); why not ask real-life ecovators what they had access to, and follow up your leads on the 'Resources' page of www.ecovation.org.uk (which also details local materials suppliers, useful books and other practical advice). This is just Oxfordshire's second Eco-Homes Open Day (the first was in November 2007), but the idea is going from strength to strength, and the event's organisers hope that it could soon be the biggest of its kind. Given that Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute has found 'plenty of room for improvement' in UK housing in terms of energy efficiency, it's exciting that Oxfordshire homeowners are getting involved and leading by example at the dawning of the new UK ecovation era. Go along and be inspired! Su Jordan, 08/09/08 |
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