housing: 1/23 of 23

Cohousing and community on the coast

April 9th, 2013

by Sarah Lozanova

Sarah Lozanova tells the Ecologist why her and her family have decided to make the move from a city dwelling to an Eco-village.... more...

What has happened to the UK’s eco-towns?

Bethany Hubbard

2nd April, 2012

Although currently out-of-favour with the UK government, eco-towns may still offer the best hope for creating sustainable communities more...

Getting a good deal from the Green Deal

Hannah Kyrke-Smith

25th January, 2012

The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) have the potential to reduce emissions from the UK’s ageing housing stock, create warmer homes and new jobs, says Hannah Kyrke-Smith. But will there be enough uptake? more...

Europe's empty houses drive new wave of squatting activism

Almudena Serpis

6th January, 2012

As the recession continues, squatting across Europe has enjoyed a renaissance. Although controversial, occupying vacant buildings has become a form of activism, promoting alternative lifestyles and challenging the mainstream more...

SQUASH - Squatters' Action for Secure Homes

Why we need to 'keep squatting legal'

Laura Laker

14th October, 2011

Groups such as Dot Dot Dot and the Squash Campaign are pushing for workable solutions to the UK's housing crisis, but they are up against an anti-squatter media backlash. Laura Laker reports more...

Contaminated Bayer site houses get green light despite 'health risks'

Tom Antebi

29th June, 2011

The clean-up of contaminated land earmarked for 380 homes in Cambridgeshire has been 'watered down', according to campaigners, fuelling fears over the potential health impacts of toxic chemicals underground. Tom Antebi reports more...

Turning our Victorian terrace into an ecohome: part six – ventilation

Sue Wheat

19th November, 2010

Better insulation means more warmth but also more mould and condensation. Sue Wheat's eco retrofit continues with a look at a super-efficient ventilation system that recycles heat while stamping out damp more...

Sue's son Yeshaya helping put in the Ecobatt insulation

Turning our Victorian terrace into an ecohome: part five

Sue Wheat

14th October, 2010

Research over, it's crunch time in Sue's house, as materials are delivered, builders are educated in new eco techniques and wall insulation is fitted more...

Greening the Big Apple: how building got sustainable in the Bronx

Gwen Schantz

24th September, 2010

Things are looking up in one of New York's least affluent boroughs, with the construction of the latest cutting-edge green development designed for low-income families more...

Turning our Victorian terrace into an ecohome: part four - ecogadgets

Sue Wheat

13th August, 2010

Sue immerses herself in the addictive world of ecogadgetry, including water-powered alarm clocks and a crash course in cooking with blankets... more...

The Government has seriously miscalculated the cost of green homes

David Thorpe

9th August, 2010

There's a lot of nonsense talked, bought and done when it comes to eco-retrofitting houses. David Thorpe's new book sorts the wheat from the chaff, and challenges some green orthodoxies... more...

Turning our Victorian terrace into an ecohome: part three - floors

Sue Wheat

1st July, 2010

Insulating the floor can be fiddly, messy and costly. Luckily, there are simple, cheap options too as Sue discovers more...

housing: 1/23 of 23

We need a citizens' housing revolution

Stephen Hill

13th January, 2010

Self-builders are no longer a niche segment of society: they are industrious, skilled, innovative individuals who should be helped to create vital, sustainable communities more...

North West Cambridge inset proposals map

Forget eco-towns - real green house-building is already happening

Eifion Rees

12th January, 2010

Cambridge University's expansion plans could change the face of sustainable building in the UK. In 2012, construction begins on the greenest development of its size and scope in the UK more...

Building houses with straw bales

Mark Anslow

31st December, 2009

A house built with straw could cost as little as £70,000 to build - and some are still standing after 140 years. Barbara Jones' fantastic book Building with Straw Bales reveals all you need to know more...

What's next for Transition Towns?

Leo Hickman

8th June, 2009

It has grown from a local to a global phenomenon, but how does the Transition Movement keep itself relevant in the current political and economic climate? more...

CASE STUDY: creating Transition Towns

Ed Hamer

27th November, 2007

From theory to practice, how one man in Totnes is helping a community respond to the threat of peak oil – from its own currency to relearning lost arts. Ed Hamer reports more...

Low-tech retrofit experiment could transform social housing

Eifion Rees

8th July, 2009

The Greening-the-Box initiative aims to demonstrate that retrofitting can transform hard-to-heat housing association and council properties into models of low-tech sustainability and fuel efficiency - with almost zero heating more...

Will climate change make your house uninsurable?

Jon Hughes, Rebecca Bole

29th January, 2009

The insurance industry is set to abandon two million British homeowners to the perils of climate change. Jon Hughes and Rebecca Bole report more...

Allotments are not for building on

Paul Kingsworth

28th January, 2009

Paul Kingsnorth on the battle to keep land for people to grow their own food, rather than for developers to grow rich. more...

A radical carbon tax reform

Dr. Adrian Wrigley

2nd August, 2008

Dr Adrian Wrigley lays out his ideas for a radical Carbon Tax and explains how replacing the Council Tax with a Land Value Tax could solve the current housing crisis... more...

The danger of fetishising zero carbon new-build

Dr. David Strong

20th June, 2008

What’s the point of zero-carbon homes that aren’t fit for habitation? There is more to sustainable building than meeting Government targets, argues Dr David Strong more...