UK’s first earth-sheltered, self-sufficient ecological housing development

Contribution to sustainable development and people’s quality of life: Provision of homes and lifestyle that reduce resident’s impact on the environment through primarily dramatically reducing CO2 emissions, not just from homes, but also from food and transport.

The Project also offers a healthier quality of life with social provision, home-grown organic food, inspiring environment and healthy homes.

Organisation: Hockerton Housing Project Ltd and Hockerton Housing Project Trading Ltd

Sector: Environmental: advice/demonstration/education

Location: Hockerton, Nottinghamshire

Start Date: 1994 (concept)

Duration: 1996-8 build/development, trading from 1996

Summary: HHP is the UK’s first earth-sheltered, self-sufficient ecological housing development, being amongst the most energy efficient dwellings in Europe. The scheme generates energy from renewable sources and manages its own water services.

It has established itself as an exemplar of sustainable development, locally and nationally developing a range of services through the creation of a small business; including guided tours, workshops, and publications.

Background:

Members of the Hockerton Housing Project came together in 1993 to draft a proposal for five earth-sheltered houses to be built on a 25-acre site outside the village of Hockerton. The houses were to be the centre of a sustainable development using minimal energy and with little environmental impact.

The dwellings were seen as the focus of a holistic way of living, with the production of organic foods, development of lakes where fish could be farmed, planting of trees and encouragement of wildlife. Employment would be generated in ecologically sound businesses.

Project results:

From the very outset the Project has been recognized as a possible model for sustainable living. The massive interest that it has attracted indicates that there is a desire to seek new ways of living that reduces impact on the environment.

The Hockerton Project has identified a number of low-energy design features, such as high levels of insulation and thermal mass in new designs. These have been shown to be replicable in more conventional housing.

It has been very encouraging to see the interest from developers, housing associationsand district councils, architects and planners, who are eager to learn more.

HHP opened the doors of its new ‘Sustainable Resource Centre’ (SRC) for visitors at the beginning of 2005, after 18 months of construction and kitting out. The building was designed, work supervised and most of the labour contributed by project members themselves. The ‘eco-community building’ is low profile situated near and complimenting the houses, including an earth covered roof. This building has been designed to meet the same high standards as the homes, ‘Zero CO2’, ‘Zero heated’, and ‘Autonomous’ standards.

The new facilities include a dedicated audio-visual room, toilets (including disabled access) and permanent exhibitions. As well as being used by visitors on regular guided tours of the project and workshops, the new building can also be hired as a venue, offering a wonderfully tranquil setting with the backdrop of environmentally friendly housing and ‘green’ landscape. It has already been used successfully for all these purposes, including a training day for the ScienceMuseum.

To meet the ‘Zero CO2’ requirements of the new community building, HHP installed a second wind turbine in Jan 2005. The 5kW rated turbine was supplied by a new and locally based manufacturer, Iskra.  

HHP now provides full day technical workshops or ‘Master Classes’ - The ultimate in-depth understanding of HHP and related sustainable issues.These events will be of particular interest to developers, self-builders, landowners, planners, architects, buildings services engineers, and other building professionals.

"The best seminar/workshop I've attended this year" (Martyn Gamble, Energy Efficient Design Consultancy)

HHP has been running for the last two years a successful schools educational programme, ‘Sustainability in Practice – an educational experience for young people’, for years 5 and 6 children. Children take part in a programme of activities that give hands on experience of sustainability.

These take place in school and at HHP. They not only provide a fun learning environment but also meet National Curriculum requirements. HHP is now expandingits educational activities to include secondary schools.

Other new HHP activities include:

• ·New technical workshop (since Sept 07) – The Practicalities of Delivering Zero Carbon Homes
• Working with village of Hockerton to install a community wind turbine to offset the energy use of all the homes in the village.

Keywords: Sustainable, Development, Environmental, Renewable energy, Autonomous, Ecological, Energy-efficiency, Zero Carbon

Contact Details:

Nick White

The Watershed

Gables Drive

Hockerton

Southwel

Nottinghamshire,

NG25 0QU

Tel: 01636 816902

E-mail: hhp@hockerton.demon.co.uk

Web: www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk