Sustainable community specialists, BioRegional1,
held their first zero carbon homes training session on 29th June within their
education centre at the BedZED2 ecovillage in south London. The aims of the
launch were to help the industry begin to plan a move towards the new standard
and to gain feedback from the expert invitees to ensure that the course content
would be of the highest standard and of most use to the industry. Several dates
have now been set for further training sessions.
Gordon Brown announced: “Within 10 years every new home will be a zero
carbon home, and we will be the first country to make this commitment.”
The launch of this Continuing Professional Development3 course (CPD) was attended
by CABE, Department of Communities and Local Government, Housing Corporation,
Environment Agency, National Energy Foundation, Adapt Assessment (energy assessors)
and planners from London boroughs, architects and housing associations.
“At a time when we increasingly have to provide added value to our clients
with regard to more sustainable construction, BioRegional's Zero Carbon Homes
CPD course perfectly complements the internal training provided by our sustainability
team.” Edwina McKechnie, Junior Consultant, Davis Langdon LLP
"As pioneers in the field of providing Zero carbon Homes, I loved the
platform for honest opinions and frank discussions on issues ranging from biomass
and CHP to implementation in new and existing buildings." Manmohan Dayal,
Planning Officer, London Borough of Merton
“I just wanted to add again how great I thought the CPD was and just to
remind you I would like to hear it all again.” Magda Devaris, Adapt Assessment
Everyone building homes in the UK will have to adopt these standards by 2016.
The training course will equip participants with the knowledge they need to
deliver zero carbon homes. It covers policy, energy efficiency and energy generation
for single dwellings and communities for new builds as well as existing housing
stock. The CPD is grounded in first hand experience and is based on real case
studies.
As with the launch event, subsequent CPD sessions will feature talks from Sue
Riddlestone, founder and director of BioRegional, as well as seminars from Chani
Leahong, sustainable development specialist at Fulcrum Consulting and Simon
Corbey, sustainability consultant in the built environment. In addition to this
there will be the opportunity for attendees to have their questions answered
by members of the expert panel during the Zero Carbon Surgery.
BioRegional are development partners in BedZED, the Peabody Trust’s award
winning urban eco-village in south London, and as such, are uniquely placed
to offer this training. With zero carbon housing becoming a rapidly expanding
area of policy and industry, BioRegional will be holding events on the subject
throughout the year3. To book places on a course go to: -
www.bioregional.com/programme_projects/ecohous_prog/bedzed/bz_cpd.htm
Course dates
Friday 28th September 2007
Friday 30th November 2007
Friday 25th January 2008
See our website for more BioRegional training courses - courses on sustainable
procurement and reclaimed materials coming soon.