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Blisland - leading the way on climate change ....The village of Blisland, near Bodmin, is providing practical examples of how a community can reduce its impact on climate change. Why they are doing things to help the climate.... As a local community they recognised that they could easily do something to help reduce their own impact on climate change in the village. They feel we all need to take responsibility for reducing the impact of climate change and an ideal opportunity arose for them to do this as part of planned renovation of their village hall and the construction of a new multi-purpose community amenity centre. For both of these buildings they have taken extensive steps to reduce their impact on the environment. What they are doing.... The new Blisland Community Centre contains a Post Office, village shop, GP consulting room, internet cafe and three small business units. Every aspect of the design and build of this centre has been carefully planned to ensure it has a minimal impact on the environment and climate change.
Using local companies they have built a centre using nearly all locally sourced materials which reduces the amount of energy needed to transport them to the site and keeps money within the Cornish economy. More importantly, in terms of the climate, the design of the building is such that very little energy from fossil fuels is needed for the building. The building has extensive insulation to ensure that it is easy to get warm and stay warm. They have installed a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) to provide heating and hot water, a wind catcher to provide air conditioning and a grey water system for the toilets and garden. The recent renovation of the village hall has also been done to limit the building’s impact on the climate. As part of the work they have installed high levels of insulation to reduce the amount of heat loss from the building. They have also installed a solar photovoltaic array (PV) which generates electricity which they sell into the national grid. Why it’s important….. Like any other building, community buildings need electricity and other fossil fuel derived energy to provide heating, lighting and electricity for appliances. By designing new buildings, and renovating existing buildings, with the climate in mind it is easy to reduce the amount of energy that needs to be used, whilst providing the warm and comfortable surroundings for their users. Such measures also help to reduce fuel bills, saving funds for other community based activities. By collecting rain water and using it to flush toilets and water the garden they have also reduced their demand for mains water, saving money, energy and reducing the risk of local flooding. Nearly all the energy we use in our community buildings come from burning coal, oil and gas. We do this directly by burning them to provide heat and indirectly when we use electricity that has come from a power station. Every time we burn fossil fuels we release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the main gas that is causing climate change. In Blisland the steps they have taken will reduce the amount of energy they need to use to heat and light their community buildings, meaning less carbon dioxide will be emitted from their daily activities – good for the climate and their budget.
There are over 250 village halls in Cornwall, if all of them were well insulated and generated a proportion of their energy needs from renewable energy sources imagine how much carbon dioxide we could save and how much more money would be available for local community budgets. Sustainable energy measures can easily be installed as part of a refurbishment project, a new building or retro fitted at anytime. Help and support is available locally and grants are often available for this sort of work. Further information.... For more information on Blisland visit their website. The village was very successful at fund-raising towards these building projects. For the sustainable energy measures they received some funding directly from the Government and the current low carbon buildings programme which provides funding for householders, community organisations, schools, the public and not for profit sector and private businesses. Grants are available for a wide range of renewable energy technologies, to find out more from their website. Blisland were also given local advice from the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership, Community Energy Plus and the Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust. Click on their names for more information on how these organisations can help your community in Cornwall. GSHPs Just below the surface, the average ground temperature in the UK is between 8ºC and 13ºC and this remains constant throughout the year. The system Blisland’s building uses, circulates water through pipes buried vertically in the ground. The water temperature in the pipes is lower than the surrounding ground and so it warms up slightly as is passes through the pipes. This low-grade heat is then transferred to a heat pump, which is a bit like a fridge running in reverse, but instead of cooling it extracts the heat in the water. Heat pumps work by compressing a refrigerant to extract heat from the water and this compression leads to an increase of temperature as high as 55 ºC. The system a Blisland has a heat output of 14kW and delivers heat to both the hot water tank and the underfloor heating system. For every unit of electricity used by the heat pump, 3-4 units of heat are produced and this results in a 40 to 60% reduction in overall carbon dioxide emissions, compared to conventional fossil fuel heating systems. Cornwall leads the UK and much of the world in the design and installation of heat pumps. For more detailed information on how they work and case studies visit Cornwall’s Earth Energy website. For a basic over-view of how they work visit the low carbon buildings programme. Photovoltaic Panels Insulation Grey Water Recycling
Photos courtesy of Arthur Ludgate
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OptionsThis StoryListen again to this story.... Related StoriesRelated LinksBlisland Grants for renewable energy Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership Community Energy Plus CSBT Earth Energy Carbon Trust Grey Water Recycling |
