Read the Guardian article about our 5oth SuperHome in Welwyn village, and Old Home SuperHome’s relevance in light of the government’s ‘Green Deal’ and the ‘Pay as you Save’ (PAYS) scheme.

Building on previous SDC work on the built environment (Stock Take, Review of the Sustainable Communities Plan), The Future is Local began as the Delivering Neighbourhood Retrofit project in Autumn 2009. Its aim was to explore how retrofitting our existing neighbourhoods can reduce emissions and wider resources use, attract investment, and improve quality of place and life for residents.
Read the report.

Well done to the 37 SuperHomers who have indicated that they’ll be opening in September; 23 for Heritage Open Days – during 9th to 12th September,6 for Open House London during the weekend 18-19th September, and 8 further openings in September including 2 for Wales Open Doors, 1 on 14th Sept for the British Science Festival in Birmingham and also The Greenhouse in Norwich from 21 to 25 Sept. To find out what’s happening click here.

Green Build News visited Tony Almond’s house in Welwyn village, Hertfordshire on the occasion of his first opening on Sunday 27th June.
Read the report.

The Old Home SuperHome project is proud to announce the opening of its 50 SuperHome! Tony and Patricia Almond have achieved a reduction of 66% of their domestic carbon emissions in their Welwyn home. They have undertaken many energy saving measures from simple draught proofing to the more expensive double glazing. They have insulated their loft, floors and cavity walls, all of which act to retain heat and help them to use less energy. They have also installed two solar systems; solar thermal for heating hot water and photovoltaics which now provide all of their electricity. The Almonds also now harvest rainwater for domestic use and for watering the garden.

Tony and Patricia are opening their home to the public on Sunday 27th June. They will be taking visitors on tours of the property to showcase their wonderful achievement and to help educate and inspire others. These tours are an excellent way for other homeowners to see what is possible, but the also provide the perfect opportunity to quiz the Almonds on why they chose the measures they did and to ask those all important questions about how they are performing.

To book a tour go here

The Royal Institute of British Architects in London have announced 102 winners of this year’s RIBA awards and one of them went to our very own SuperHomer and the owner of the Zero Carbon House in Birmingham, John Christophers. Congratulations on your wonderful achievemant, John!

For more information on the awards, please check www.architecture.com article here or www.dezeen.com article here or www.designalog.com article here.

If you live in the Lewes or Brighton area, then put this weekend in your diaries. Do you want to save money, help protect the environment, reduce your carbon footprint or protect yourself against future fuel shortages? Visit houses in and around Lewes to find out what others are doing and what you can do to make your house more energy efficient and cheaper to run as well as reducing your impact on the environment. Come and meet the people who have first hand experience of the various techniques, the costs, the benefits and the difficulties.

This event is free and all are welcome. It is organised by the Transition Town Lewes Energy Group. Details of the open houses and opening times will be posted on their website – www.transitiontowns.org/Lewes/energy

The first online-only venture from Hamerville Magazines is now live. Providing built environment professionals with a source of news, features, expert comment and case studies on all aspects of sustainable building, Greenbuild News also offers a fortnightly newsletter.
The sustainability agenda affects everyone involved in the construction industry and the need for information, and inspiration, has never been greater. Greenbuild News aims to provide both.
Please visit www.greenbuildnews.co.uk and to let us know your views on how the industry can rise to the challenge of sustainability, drop us a line on lucy@greenbuildnews.co.uk.

Announcing a new SuperHomes event for 2010!

SuperHomes Spring Openings will take place for the very first time on Sunday 28 March 2010.  This is definitely a date for your diaries.  SuperHomes will be opening their doors to the public across the UK to demonstrate how they have each achieved 60% carbon savings or more.  Thirteen SuperHomes are already scheduled to be open on 28th March. Check the calendar or the upcoming events list to see if there is an open event near you!

Superhomer Donnachadh McCarthy refurbished his nineteenth century London home so efficiently that he now sells electricity back to the British national grid. How did he do it?    Click here to learn more.