RICS East Midlands members recently took part in a technical tour of Hockerton Housing Project and were amazed at how comfortable and appealing self-sufficient ecological housing can be.
The scheme based near Southwell in Nottinghamshire, is a self-build of five terraced carbon neutral houses, each with glazed conservatories at the front and sheltered by earth banks at the rear and sides.
The technical tour of the site was organised by RICS Nottinghamshire and hosted by John Templeman, chairman of RICS Lincolnshire. Nick Martin, one of the project members, who commissioned the rural hamlet of five earth sheltered dwellings at Hockerton, led the informative tour and even took members inside one of the homes to show them the key environmental features and ultra low energy building design.
Nick explained that insulation was a high priority when it came to designing the homes. Each has triple glazed windows, which lead into the double glazed conservatories and as a result temperatures within the homes only fluctuate between an impressive two degrees (19 and 21 degrees).
Each home's ventilation system with heat exchange has made it possible to have no heating except for a wood stove in the conservatory and most of the electricity is supplied through photo voltaic panels on the roof, installed flat and then tilted to catch the sun and through two wind turbines.
The group were also given a presentation in the project’s new Sustainable Resource Centre.
This explained how the community is self-sufficient in its water requirements. These are met by a reservoir on the site and there is no mains drainage as all surface and foul drainage water is processed through a reed bed and settling lake. Potable water is collected from the roof through a copper guttering system.
The presentation also included the history of the development and an explanation of how the homes work. This was followed by light refreshments and an opportunity to view a small exhibition.
Anthea Rawlence, of RICS Nottinghamshire, who took part in the tour, said: “With allotments, sheep and chickens, conservatories that are 18 metres long, low running costs and a boating lake, members were quite envious of those living in the houses. However, I understand there is a waiting list for anyone wishing to move in.”
Due to the success of the visit, RICS Nottinghamshire plan to run the tour again on 12 September 2008. To book your place please contact hbettison@rics.org.
