Present: Approximately 75 people, as per attendance list.

1. Opening Address – Cllr Paula Desmond, Mayor of Cork County.

Paula Desmond welcomed those present on behalf of the County Council. She explained how the County was committed to developing use of renewable energy hence their setting up and continued support of the Cork County Energy Agency, who are Partners in the RENEASE Project

She emphasised the need for proper and efficient management of energy, and deplored the irresponsible approach to development which had led to the the planet itself being endangered. She also empahasised the need to combat social exclusion, through the provision of housing where people needed it, and at a price they could afford. Paula emphasised the importance of working with communities in solving these problems, and praised the work of Carbery Housing Association in attempting to respond to these needs. She pledged the support of the County Council to these initiatives.

 

2. John MaAleer – Director, South West Regional Authority.

John welcomed delegates and speakers on behalf of the Authority. He explained that the SWRA had been set up as one of the 5 Regional Authorities included in the Southern and Eastern Region of Ireland. In terms of European funding, there were now two regions in Ireland, the Border, Midlands and Western (BMW) Area, that was considered lagging behind in development terms (Objective 1) and the Southern and Easter Region (S&E) which comprised the 5 Regional Authorities of which the South West was one.

John explained that the Regional Authority was concerned with sustainable development in the Region. For this reason it was important that people should be able to work from the areas where they lived, and were not obliged to commute long distances by car. For this reason the Authority was supporting the development of information technology and was negotiating access to the European Space Satellite to provide broad-band linkage for small and medium enterprises in the County.

3. The RENEASE Project.

Jose Ospina presented the RENEASE Project. He explained how Carbery Housing Association had been set up by local people in West Cork and intended to contribute pro-actively to housing single people and families in the County. CHA was also committed to sustainable design and construction, and to the integration of renewable energy and other sustainability standards into its Project. CHA was proposing projects for various West Cork towns, and in co-operation with Blackwater Resource Development had begun to look at initiatives in North Cork. CHA had secured funding under the ALTENER II (EC) Programme to develop the fesability of social housing project based on bio-climatic design and renewable energy use, and this was now underway. A Partnership had been drawn by CHA which includes Cork County Energy Agency (CCEA), Blackwater Resource Development (BRD), Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) and the REVES Network (Network of Cities and Regions of the Social Economy).

NiamhTwomey, from the Blackwater Resource Development group, explained their role in RENEASE. This was the provision of training in sustainable living to prospective residents of CHA housing. A pilot session had been run in Skibbereen, and further training would be delivered in West Cork, possibly also in North Cork. BRD had also worked with CHA in the identification of possible social housing sites in North Cork.. BRD was interested in promoting the sustainable development of the Blackwater Valley, and was also developing an ecological village for the area.

Mike Haslam from SOLEARTH architects presented the CHA Bantry Sustainable Social Housing Project. A site had been identified by CHA comprising 2 acres in Bantry, and a purchase price had been agreed. The proposed design would comprise from 12-15 homes and a community facility. An initial outline had been drawn up, which Mike presented and explained to the Conference. He had sent the plans to Cork County Council Planners and was awaiting their response. SOLERARTH intended to lodge an outline planning application for this Project by end of December, and we expected the planning to be given by February of 2003. Further information on SOLEARTH may be found at www.solearth.com

4. The RENEASE Good Practise Guide.

Alex Grassick from the Cork County Energy Agency explained how one of the principal roles of his Agency and of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in the RENEASE Project had been to survey good practise in bio-climatic design and sustainable construction in Ireland and Europe in order to put together a Good Practise guide which would be used in the RENEASE Pilot Project and future design and construction initiatives. This research was now largely completed, and was circulated to all delegates at this Conference.

The Good Practice Guide comprises a general guide to social housing design and construction, based on the experience of the Agencies involved and the research undertaken. Then, 4 examples of Good Practise identified in Belfast (Iris Close), Somerset (Hastoe Housing Association) and Dudley (Black Country Housing Group) in UK, and the East Lake Commons Conservation Community in Atlanta, Georgia (USA).

Andrew Frew, architect from the NIHE, explained the role of this Government body in ensuring fair allocation of housing in the North. The Executive had once had a house-building role, but this task was in the main carried out by Housing Associations. The Executive, however, was concerned with raising the energy efficiency of existing housing, and ensuring that high standards of sustainability were achieved in new housing built by housing associations.

5. Professor Brian Norton, University of Ulster.

Prof. Norton has carried out extensive research into sustainability issues in construction. He stressed the importance of not looking solely at energy performance in operation of buildings, but also at issues like the energy that they embody. From this perspective it is important to recycle building materials.

He explained how the outer skin of building is critical to their energy efficiency, and demonstrated how different new technologies could be applied to generating and saving energy (such as photovoltaic cells which could act as external cladding, and vacuum sealed double glazing that could prevent heat loss). He believed the zero-rated house was achievable.

6. John Goulding, Energy Research Group, University College of Dublin.

John had worked for some time with the prestigious Energy Research Group at the University College Dublin. The Group had undertaken research regarding housing in Ireland, and concluded that the upgrading of housing stock to make it energy efficient would cost 2.5 billion pounds, but would save much more in terms of energy and additional creation of CO2 emissions.. This also means less expenditure by low-income households on energy, and he estimated their energy costs would be reduced to a third of what they are at present.

He presented the example of Clonmel, an early passive Solar heating project. The Ballymun housing project, which was a combination of council, housing association and private housing, also incorporated renewable energy use, both solar collectors and ground source heat pumps.

7. Gwalia Housing Association.

Phil Roberts, Director of Gwalia Housing Association explained how his Association hadfor many years been developing social housing for priority housing groups and applying an innovative bio-climatic design approach, coupled with renewable energy use and other sustainable construction methods. Gwalia operate throughout Wales from Swansea, and provide housing for single person, families, supported housing for elderly persons, foyer housing for young people, and had also developed new rural villages in Wales. The Association owns and managed 5,500 homes in Wales.

Gwalia not only builds new, but recently has undertake a programme of renovation of older and historical buildings as social housing projects. They used mainly timer-frame and steel frame construction, and avoided use of UPVC and fibreglass. In many projects, 60% of energy needs were provided by solar collectors. Gwalia used computer modelling to asses energy performance of homes. Their average per square meter building cost was 1,260 Euro.

Recently they had developed two foyers for young single people, one of which was in a converted church. They had also developed a project to convert a large farm into workshops, and to rebuild an old village. In this project they had encouraged local manufacture of furniture and fittings.

8. REVES – The Trans-National Dimension.

Antonella D’Agostino (Project Officer) spoke in substitution of Luigi Martingetii (General Delegate) who was unable to attend. REVES is a European Network of over 40 cities and regions in Europe that work with community based social economy organisations in development of their srategic programmes.

Although their principal involvement to date has been in the training, employment and social aspects of policy, they were increasingly concerned with issues of sustainable development and environment. As such, they are interested in being involved in Projects like RENEASE. They are principally charged with the Dissemination of the findings of RENEASE, and it would be REVES intention to promote the model of community based sustainable social housing to its Members.

REVES had also researched examples of good practise in bio-climatic and sustainable housing in Europe carried out by the voluntary sector, and the Eco-Villages network is perhaps the main example of this approach. Two examples in particular, are of interest, the Tori Superiori eco-village in Italy, and the Gyurufu ecological settlement in Hungary. They also mentioned the work of the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland as and example of what could be achieved in developing sustainable settlements.

9. Discussion Session.

The Chair then opened the Conference up for questions.

1. How can sustainable materials and equipment be sourced?

Answer: There are several Web Pages that contain this information: www.jxt.com, www.housingenergy.org.uk. The European Commission has also published a European Directory of Building Materials.

2. Do you think timber is better that steel framing?

Phil Roberts explained that although steel framing for housing seemed adequate, it was still untested and the small number of companies involved made sourcing it uncompetitive.

3. How to get energy standards adopted Europe wide?

This is already being moved to by changes in legislation and building regulations

4. Are planning issues blocking eco-villages?

There is a controversy as to whether development should be allowed in rural sites, especially if it involves large numbers of houses (ecological or not). On the other hand there is no accepted planning definition of sustainability.. However, their appears to be an opening now for innovative proposals.

Niamh Kenny (Manager, BRD) thanked the organisers and speakers and all those attending for their efforts.

The Chair closed the meeting at 2 PM.

Jose Ospina

Secretary

CHA