Solo long-distance yachtswoman, Dame Ellen MacArthur, paid a visit to 150 local school children at Birmingham’s first eco village, in a hydrogen fuelled canal barge as part of the city’s climate change festival celebrations on Thursday 5th June.
Ellen MacArthur was welcomed by the children at Edgbaston Reservoir and presented them with certificates for their contribution in raising awareness of energy issues to Birmingham’s citizens.
The visit then included a tour of a new eco show home and eco office located in the Summerfield area of Edgbaston, which has been part of a £2.3 million renewable energy project, the largest of its kind in the UK and has involved over 300 homes being fitted with solar panels and other energy efficient measures, including super insulation and energy efficient heating and lighting. These installations were fitted completely free of charge for owner occupiers and private rented tenants in the area, with the aim of reducing fuel poverty for people on low income.
The project has been managed and implemented by Family Housing Association (Birmingham) Ltd with funding provided by Birmingham City Council and Urban Living, the Birmingham/Sandwell Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder and contractors, New World Solar, delivering the ground breaking scheme.
The eco project also opened up the opportunity for Family to work with primary school children on promoting energy efficiency and by working with the city council’s housing education initiative, Family has invested £20k helping over 500 young people from the local schools develop an Eco website, Eco radio station and energy advice DVD. Latest news can be found at www.eco-radio.co.uk and www.tntnews.co.uk.
In addition to the solar panel installations, in partnership with Urban Living and the Housing Corporation, Family Housing has refurbished five Victorian properties in the area into large family eco show homes. This adds to their first eco show home which opened in June 2006 and includes fitting a number of environmentally features so they achieve the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Sustainable Homes Standard Code level 3 and level 4.
Environmentally friendly improvements include solar panels, solar photovoltaic panels, sunpipes, air source heat pumps, energy efficient lighting, kitchens made from recycled material and insulation from recycled paper, cotton/denim and sheep wool.
Also as part of this eco neighbourhood project, the church hall situated in the centre of Summerfield, received a £15,000 green make-over, providing Family and Summerfield with its first eco office. Funding for the Eco office has been provided by Birmingham City Council via Neighbourhood Renewal Funding and Frank Haslam Milan (FHM) completed the works using local suppliers, providing much needed work placements and creating job opportunities.
David Stevenson, Director for Investment, Assets and Regeneration for Family Housing enthused “We are very much looking forward to taking Dame Ellen MacArthur round to our eco office and to one of the eco show homes. I am sure Ellen will be impressed by visiting Birmingham’s first eco neighbourhood and will be able to see first hand the improvements that have been made over the last four years.”
Ellen MacArthur, said: “I am very excited that, through my partnership with E.ON, I am able to be involved with The Birmingham Climate Change Festival. I see it, and what it stands for, as a significant step towards encouraging businesses and community groups to embrace the issues of sustainability and to take action.”
The climate change festival is the only one in the UK and was organised from 31st May to 8th June 2008 by Birmingham City Council and CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.