David Bellamy Opens One of UK's Oldest Refurbished 'Green' Homes
November 22 2007
A house built in 1929 has been refurbished by a social housing association to now contain over fifty eco-friendly features. The concentrated mix of environmentally friendly features includes a sedum roof and ground source heat pump. Conservationist David Bellamy officially opened the house in Bournville, Birmingham for public viewing before it is let to tenants mid December.
264 Selly Oak Road which has been designed to be environmentally friendly by Bournville Village Trust is one of the very first homes of its age to receive the Government's Eco Homes Excellent accreditation.
The two storey mid-terraced house of traditional construction belongs to the housing association which was established over one hundred years ago by George Cadbury of chocolate fame. His ethos of creating sustainable communities and encouraging tenants to be self sufficient by promoting such initiatives as growing their own vegetables was novel in the early 1900s, but is now a Government requirement with the launch of the Housing Green Paper.
The property at Selly Oak Road required substantial improvement and upgrading before it could be re-let so it was chosen to pilot a 'green' initiative to discover what environmentally friendly features worked and which didn't. The day to day living in the innovative environment will be monitored against a 'control' home. The features that 'work' will be included in future maintenance programmes by Bournville Village Trust.
David Bellamy said: "Bournville does it again; state of the art homes now as green as they can be, ready for the lucky tenants."
The project is being supported by a number of suppliers and manufacturers, such as Chamois Kitchens, Lecico which is supplying low water consumption bathroom fittings, and Bosch which is supplying the solar panels. British Gas is supplying 'green' energy. Local Year 9 schoolchildren from Kings Norton Girls School helped design the garden and made suggestions as to what features should be included in the house.
Roger Cadbury, Trustee of Bournville Village Trust said: "It is just as important for older existing housing stock to be as well maintained and energy efficient as new build. It is up to all of us to reduce our carbon footprint.
"My grandfather established his sustainable village in Bournville over one hundred years ago. This was followed by our sunshine homes built to attract the maximum sunlight, in the 1930s. More recently we built the largest solar village of its time in Rowheath. I am sure George Cadbury would have approved this latest 'green' initiative."
The objectives of refurbishing 264 Selly Oak Road are to:
- Reduce the energy requirement of the home by improving it's thermal performance
- Reduce the dependency of the home on non-sustainable energy sources
- Minimise the environmental impact of the home as it is upgraded and its future usage
Tenants, Ann and Jared Smith with their two children say they already live a lifestyle of recycling and will continue to do so when they move into the home in mid-December.
The house will be open for public viewing from 23rd November until 14th December (2.00 - 7.00pm except Sundays).
The eco demonstration house has over fifty environmentally friendly features, which include: Interior, Exterior, Garden and Services. Click Here to view eco home brochure (1.1MB)
