At the Grove Development Forum last night, we had a presentation from Faber Maunsell consultants entitled 'Grove Airfield - Sustainability Overview'. The word 'sustainable' is a subject in itself, and indeed someone last night asked the question 'what does sustainable mean?'.
Well, the overview covered landscape, ecology, urban design, energy, transport, water use and drainage, and waste. We were told that the homes would be built to a particular 'level' using targets under a government 'Code for Sustainable Homes' - that translates into what we would describe as 'eco-homes'. To be truly energy efficient, we would be looking at solar panels on roofs, biomass communal heating and potential wind energy. We would also be investigating water use including rainwater harvesting and also having a site waste strategy including local recycling.
So how would all this look and work in practice? I said that we needed to see some sort of feasiblity study showing what would work and evidence of some good practice elsewhere. With the planning application expected in the Spring of 2008, we would need to look at some of these ideas in advance of that - perhaps by holding a public exhibition. We are hoping to explore this in the New Year. Meanwhile, anyone who wishes to see the latest news on the airfield development, click on this link to find out more. Also, any comments and feedback on the potential for the housing to be eco-friendly would be welcome.
Well, the overview covered landscape, ecology, urban design, energy, transport, water use and drainage, and waste. We were told that the homes would be built to a particular 'level' using targets under a government 'Code for Sustainable Homes' - that translates into what we would describe as 'eco-homes'. To be truly energy efficient, we would be looking at solar panels on roofs, biomass communal heating and potential wind energy. We would also be investigating water use including rainwater harvesting and also having a site waste strategy including local recycling.
So how would all this look and work in practice? I said that we needed to see some sort of feasiblity study showing what would work and evidence of some good practice elsewhere. With the planning application expected in the Spring of 2008, we would need to look at some of these ideas in advance of that - perhaps by holding a public exhibition. We are hoping to explore this in the New Year. Meanwhile, anyone who wishes to see the latest news on the airfield development, click on this link to find out more. Also, any comments and feedback on the potential for the housing to be eco-friendly would be welcome.
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