Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

Hanham Hall building, in South Gloucester-shire, England is about to become the centre of Britain’s first zero-carbon village - but it will it convince us to move out of the big smoke?

Although in 2006 the British government announced that from 2016 any new home should be zero-carbon, something much larger is about to take place. England could herald the start of a new way of living, thanks to English HCA, a Home and Community Agency for the national housing and regeneration, creating the opportunity for people to live in high quality, sustainable places.

Designed by HTA, the new Hanham Hall Village (www.hanhamhall.co.uk) will provide around 200 zero carbon homes. The ex-hospital will be transformed offering a community center, restaurant, nursery, cafe and offices. The village will have a communal CHP (Combined Heat and Power) system, powered by a biomass boiler, which will generate hot water and supply electricity for all homes; heat for the homes and hot water will be provided by burning woodchips, releasing carbon into the atmosphere when burned, while more trees will be planted to replace the lost ones.
When the village will be completed, in 2010, each house will have a ventilation system designed to reduce air leakage, with a consistent diminution of energy waist, because in a traditional house the more air comes out, the more the heating system has to work to keep the rooms warm.

The residents will be encouraged to become more self sufficient, growing their own products for consumption, and recycling through centers at strategic points around the development. Children will be able to play without dangers of cars driving nearby, because all vehicles will be positioned together in secure zones near each home.

David Warbuton, of the HCA, has said about Hanham Hall,” What we don't want in Hanham is a white elephant. We want to produce a project which is replicable. People should be able to come here and learn how the scheme has been put together, learn about the technology behind it and then take it away and do it elsewhere across the country."

Hanham Hall won’t be alone: in the next years other Zero Carbon Villages are about to be built all over the world, here some examples:

- Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) near Wallington, England; 

- Chew Magna, near Bristol, England

- Carbon Buster Village near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada;
www.carbonbusters.org/ecovillage

- Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park, California, U.S.A;
www.sonomamountainvillage.com

- Dongtang Eco-Village, Shanghai, China;
www.arup.com/eastasia/project

Giuliano Federico
 

Source & Photo Credit: www.hanhamhall.co.uk

TAGS: design eco hanham hall zero carbon beddington zero energy development sonoa mountain village dongtang eco-village chew magna