| On Friday 24th
January, the South Australian Minister for Urban Development and
Planning, Jay Wetherill, will visit the UK’s largest eco-village:
the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED). The Minister will
meet representatives from the BedZED team and tour the site with
a view to replicating its sustainable design innovations in South
Australia.
The Minister’s visit to
BedZED forms part of a study tour to Europe. The purpose of the
tour is to study innovation and best practice in urban planning
policies, with a focus on urban form and design, use of civic spaces,
community building and transport need and demand in urban areas.
The tour includes visits to Copenhagen, Paris, Strasbourg, Freiburg
and London.
BedZED, located in the London
Borough of Sutton, is one of the most coherent examples of sustainable
living in the UK and is receiving widespread recognition for its
innovative approach to creating a sustainable urban community. The
project is a Peabody Trust development in partnership with local
environmental organisation BioRegional Development Group and Bill
Dunster Architects. Representatives from all three organisations
will be at BedZED to meet the Minister and to share their knowledge
of sustainable environmental development.
BedZED is a multi-award winning
project. In 2002, it won a European EuroSolar award for solar architecture,
the Lifestyle category at the Evening Standard New Homes awards
and first prize in the building and housing category at the prestigious
International Energy Globe Awards in Austria.
Key features of BedZED include:
*South facing
homes that maximise warmth from the sun
*300mm insulation in external
walls and roofs compared to *the
standard 50mm
*Triple-glazed windows to further reduce heat loss
*A Combined Heat & Power plant that provides
electricity *and hot
water for BedZED. This is fuelled by woodchips *from
waste timber that would otherwise be sent to *landfill
*A ‘Living Machine’ that recycles wastewater
for use in *flushing
toilets and irrigation
*Wind cowls with heat exchangers on roofs to provide
a *passive ventilation
system
*A green transport plan that promotes walking,
cycling *and the use
of good local public transport links. A car *club
for residents is now fully established at BedZED
*Photovoltaic panels that provide clean electricity
to *power on-site
as charging points for electric vehicles
*Kitchens fitted with the latest energy saving
appliances.
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