About

The Stroud Eco-Renovation Open Homes project is an initiative of Transition Stroud.

Interest in greener technologies has never been higher and Stroud has a strong and growing reputation as a ‘greener’ place to live.

Similar events in Stroud in 2008 and 2009 have demonstrated a clear interest in eco-renovation, and the need for local information and experience sharing.

Many people intending to eco-renovate their homes would like to meet with others  who have already done so. Intriguingly, in previous years, people learnt as much about the importance of insulation and energy efficiency as the newer, more aspirational Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) technologies such as photovoltaics.

Why open homes?

The concept of the open homes weekend is to give people the opportunity to visit various home-owners in the Stroud area over a weekend:

• to see and learn more about solar thermal, PV, insulation, Sustainable Urban Drainage systems and more;
• to be able to talk to householders who have taken these measures, to ask them why they chose them and how the equipment is performing;
• to increase interest in insulation and energy efficiency as well as Low and Zero Carbon technologies so that more home-owners will be encouraged to help to reduce Stroud District’s carbon footprint and lessen the impact of Peak Oil.

The scientific consensus is that for the UK to play its part in helping the world avoid a rise of more than 2°C, we must reduce our carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The household sector represents 27 per cent of our total emissions and achieving deep cuts here is an imperative…Of the homes we will inhabit in 2050, around 80 per cent are already standing today and these have to be the main focus for carbon-reduction policies.’

Extract from the Executive Summary of Home Truths – a low carbon strategy to reduce UK House emissions by 80% by 2050 by Brenda Boardman, University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute.