From the very first conception over 20 years ago the house and garden were built with only public access and sharing the knowledge as primary purpose.
We will have vouchers on sale for our courses and visit days next year. These will available via this website by early February.
(can be email or telephone booked from now)
The operator David, and business umbrella, Energy Advisory Associates is a many years trading VAT registered operator we hope with a perfect reputation (consulting to many great and good, for example House of Lords late 90s).
We will be offering a range of workshops talks and other hopefully meaningful ways you can spend time here also just sampling the comfort of the house, and for first courses and stays, now, into spring 2016 all will be at introductory discount prices. We will always offer some form of complimentary refreshment - super healthy as well, but if the kids need hula hoops we wont scowl we're not like that..... .
Wherever we can access will be informal and as flexible as possible (especially as weather will affect visits) and often by entirely voluntary donation.
Assuming we can get the numbers (please recommend us to your friends) then we envisage free shorter visits, and a weekly drop-in day, likely Tuesdays, turn up to chat not even about eco... then formal ticketed sessions costing from £20 a shorter visit of a few hours in a group, and in then range of £50-60 for fuller days. To us sharing the message with as many people as possible is our primary goal. Accompanying children will always have free entry. We will also as part of "packages" that we may offer that have a formal visit as feature always try to make ourselves available as a free extra for advice by phone email etc on your own projects. Visits to give advice at your home also if our expenses are met. It is crucial to get energy advice at the first dreaming stage of that perhaps long planned extension - integration of certain energy saving concepts from Day one is key.
David is a champion of do it properly and that means avoiding, sadly, many of the worst offenders selling products that will not meet spec - come see how awful the "eco" paint we used turned out - lawsuit in the post...
NB we have NO commercial links with any supplier of any product or service.... we attempt to be always forever 100% nerutral.... the ecosystems of the planet are too important for the far too often vested commercial interests perverting the hard science (or media propagation of) of one product or technique over others...
Taster visit - best made in the winter: come and feel what it is like to live in a warm house that will cost no more than a couple of bottles of LPG to keep it at shirtsleeve temperatures all winter long. The last week, the second week in November its jumpers off inside - 15 to 20 degrees all day and night, no heating at all as the boiler isnt installed yet. Chat and social over a glass of something as we have a quick look around the main features.
Core program:
but likely we will offer shorter talks and open days where you may pop by for just an hour or so first quick look, entry by voluntary donation - though we will probably even forget to put the hat out energy saving being pour passion,
The house has one downstairs room given over entirely to a small exhibition on this project and other useful resources.
Home day (roughly 6 hour visit with a healthy often home grown light buffet and chat included) on all aspects of initial planning through to what you can get in respect of best bang for as few bucks as possible. Many young people do think, nowadays, of eco-building as they may plan their first self-build, however without the best planning and advice horrendous cost overrun can follow as particularly material selection is fundamental. David Olivier is a consumer champion extraordinaire acting as expert witness in actions against, and publiciser of the worst exponents of the all too common purveyors nowadays, suppliers of shoddy goods and services.
Garden day - join us for fruit growing tips as we establish a new small exotic fruit garden behind the recently constructed heat-retaining walls.
Fruit growing courses
The son of a Herefordhire fruit grower knows a thing or two about his apples, pears, and a few other fruits too....
specialist short courses. We believe the best boiler and radiator system currently available is the Viesmann boiler their site and MHS radiator their site in the case of the latter as they use far longer lasting 2mm steel when so many other manufacturers skimp with 1mm; in our case we will only need two small radiators to warm the whole house. We will run a short course and make a video as we fit the boiler system; And in time run other courses on the facts of the latest solar technology. Etc,.
School visits please get in touch to discuss. particularly we would like to encourage schools or colleges to set projects to their pupils on what all this energy saving stuff is, maybe on how this house differs from a standard home - we know children often come up with the simplest most convincing PR sounbytes of all.....
Gurus little, and the elder.... You won't get a badge or a leaflet from us - perhaps one may just say a heck of a lot of badges and leaflets we've seen handed out in fairs and events over the last few decades.... enough to have saved half a forest....meanwhile many of the houses in the region still lack adequate insulation - roof and wall energy loss the biggest Co2 problem of all...... But talking with younger people they often seem overwhelmed what can one really do; well the real issues are what the politicians will put in to meet emission and other green targets, however as we know it is all about a change of culture and lots of telly and your facebooks on genuine affordable for even the average person practices must be a big part of it. Help us promote, be a guru.... get on the box with us or at least the Tube.... be a part. Get the message out with us.... green = save a heap of cash over not that long a time....
We are predictably green politically, however don't preach, that said a most senior Friends of The Earth many year lobbyist from the W Midlands told us last year that Labour, Libdem, councillors and MPs would at least let them in to chat about good sensible eco practices over a nice cup of yogi tea ... unfortunately all the Tories in power won't even unbar their office doors...