Notes from first meeting: Buildings and Construction group – Mon 17 December

Notes by Nicola Thomas.

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Present:

Nicola Thomas (NT)  NT Architects nt*at*nicolathomas.co.uk
Abi Torr (AT)  Koru Architects at*at*koruarchitects.co.uk
Mark Pellant (MP)  Koru Architects map*at*koruarchitects.co.uk
Simon Giddings (SG) si_giddings*at*yahoo.co.uk
Chris Bullar (CB)  chrish1234*at*hotmail.com
John Bristow (JB)  Member of Hub john.bristow1*at*btopenworld.com
Martin Kemp (MK)  kemp.martin*at*btopenworld.com


1. Introduction
1.1 All present introduced themselves and their interest in the group
1.2 JB introduced the concepts of Transition Towns (TT) to the group

2. Purpose of the Group and relationship to other groups and Hub
2.1 NT started discussions with her idea of the purpose of the group; to educate and raise awareness. JB said that we should also disseminate via such media as the website. SG said that we should also share knowledge, network and very importantly be working to inform and create the Energy Descent Plan (EDP)

2.2 CB stated that he felt that the group should inform other institutions such as the Council. NT said that she felt it was important that we worked ‘bottom up’ as opposed to the Council working ‘top down’
2.3 JB felt that we needed to know our own town and be well- informed. We also need to network within the architectural community. MP said that there were 3 networks that were involved with sustainability; RIBA – www.architecture.com Green Register - www.greenregister.org and AECB – www.aecb.net

3. Easy and cheap ways of reducing energy use in the home with some examples
3.1 SG is carrying out an eco-renovation project on his own home – a Victorian terraced house in Hanover – the building is a typical ‘2-up, 2down’ with a rear extension and planned loft extension. He introduced the project under the following headings
3.2 Materials – SG is using as many natural materials as possible, eg. lime plaster, sheeps wool insulation. Also local materials (in the UK at least), also re-using and reclaiming materials, even using waste from skips. He has also used salvage yards. Where he has to use materials such rigid insulation, he has found rejects or seconds which are cheaper and avoid them being put into landfill. He also uses local businesses where possible.

3.3 Heat Loss – Sealing, draughproofing and using insulation. SG has used multi-foil insulation (Tri-Iso) under rafters in loft with Thermafleece (sheep’s wool) between rafters. For walls he is insulating internally, 40mm thickness. Windows are Andersen American hardwood oak windows. For floor, he is using under-floor heating, so needed rigid insulation on top of floor. JB asked whether he was keeping a diary. This was felt to be very useful. MP asked about costs. SG will be able to produce costs later.
Other categories shown under (not discussed at the meeting)
3.4 Heating
3.5 Electricity demand
3.6 Renewables
3.7 Water use
3.8 Interiors
3.9 Waste and pollution
3.10 Exterior space and gardens
3.11 It was agreed to use SG’s eco-renovation project as a case study for the group. NT mentioned her connection with the University – they can monitor the performance of the house. It was also agreed to visit the house as part of the next meeting.

4. How to reduce the impact on resources of the increase in single and couple households.
4.1 This agenda item was suggested by a member of the group who was not present so we decided to discuss it at a later meeting.

5. Awareness-raising generally.
5.1 SG’s eco-renovation project case study could be used to raise awareness. SG said his house would not be ready to register as part of the open eco –homes trail within the festival. The group could find other houses as part of this.
5.2 SG will be producing a publicity presentation of the project for Green Architecture Day - www.brightonpermaculture.co.uk on 1st March 2008

5.3 NT to put title of useful books and publications on website
5.4 Green Homes Service - http://www.24dash.com/socialhousing/29818.htm
5.5 MK questioned ‘awareness’ raising as he thought that people were already aware of the issues and mostly ignoring them. He thought that we should be moving onto the next level of awareness, personal and cultural change. There was a discussion as to how to accelerate change that is already happening. It was recognised that people make changes based on finances. SG said that even if peak oil does not happen, the TT movement is valuable as future proofing and increasing community.
5.6 It was agreed that as a group (or whole TTB+H) we should have a presence in the Brighton Festival. CB could create publicity for this and also provide a master-class in publicity and advertising for other members of the TT.
5.7 Patcham Farm scheme was briefly discussed. NT to investigate further and report back.

6. Eco-houses in the Open Houses in Brighton Festival, May 2008
6.1 Already discussed

7. Next Meeting
7.1 At SG’s house – 7, Agnes Street, Brighton BN2 3AS at 7.30pm Mon 14th January 2008.

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DVD evening: 'A Convenient Truth': aka Curatiba the Greenest City in the world!? – Fri 14 December

Come to Hanover for feel good xmas DVD Evening on Fri 14th December 8pm.
Call Charley for directions 07773 279326
All welcome - bring a bottle!

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Notes from 1st Business & Economics Meeting – Wed 12 Dec

Notes by Martin Grimshaw

Our first meeting was largely welcomed by participants as a good start, quite constructive.

In truth, we are just getting to know each other, bounce thoughts about and feel around for some sense of direction. We watched together the film 'Money As Debt', which was much more stimulating than it might sound.

Instead of bullet point minutes / action points then, I've jotted down here the main thoughts expressed at the meeting, which do not have consensus agreement.

Next meeting is Wednesday 23 Jan 08 at 7.15pm, Brighton Media Centre, 68 Middle St, Brighton. Agenda to be confirmed, but mainly carrying on where we left off last time.


We did not achieve what we set out to do, to assess the work of the Lewes group and reach agreement about what the purpose of the group should be.

It took us quite a while just to each talk about our hopes, motivations and ideas...which were:

• If we are a community response to Climate Change & Peak Oil, then business is a vital part of that community, helping to provide for the city's needs. A sustainable business model is an attempt to rethink how those needs are met. We need a summary of the problems, we need to listen to the business community and its needs.
• Need to assess our own values, needs and motivation. The group will need to integrate a range of opinions, but there is a general feeling that we are facing a significant and immediate risk, with a dramatically more pessimistic view than the mainstream. 
• What we want is a thriving and resilient economy, with people empowered to participate, with a more positive social and environmental business impact. We will need to rethink the links between wealth and happiness. We are engaged in the process of 'future-proofing'. 
• We want B&H to be a shining beacon of best practice, of international interest. 
• We need to assess what other groups are already doing and what gaps our group can fill; what makes us unique and useful? We will act as an interface between business & economic needs and social & environmental needs. 
• We need to facilitate and enable the transition from old to new paradigms. 
• We will reach out and support a city-wide network focussed on the transition to a low carbon economy, incorporating and working with all other groups. We should be realistic about what we can achieve with the time and skills that we have; we should not underestimate what we can achieve together. 
• We need to demonstrate that we have solutions, which involves making decisions about where we position ourselves, according to our own capacity. What is the most useful and effective thing this group can do? 
• There is much misinformation. We need to be a trustworthy source of info and act as a mouthpiece / focal point. 
• Some business is fundamentally destructive and we need change at a fundamental level. While reduction of negative impacts is always welcome, it is often merely Greenwash, a smokescreen to detract attention from major impacts. While big business has a large impact, we might choose to focus on small business as more important to our community, since profits are more likely to stay local and be of greater economic benefit. 
• We should support existing small and green businesses and play our role in community building. We want business with integrity. We want to nurture an economy in which green business can thrive. Ultimately that will might bring us face to face with market / consumer apathy [the public, when put on the spot, usually does care, until faced with a bargain pair of jeans for a £tenner, at which point they 'forget']. 
• This is a design challenge, of matching our money system, economy, business models with our values, constraints (natural capacity) and needs. 
• Our work will overlap with that of other groups. When addressing the greening of business, we will also be interested in the greening of energy sources and transport. 
• We will need to address green procurement, supply chain management, organisational development, triple bottom line accounting and similar tools; we will have to face up to internalising traditional externalities (the items which historically don't appear on balance sheets, such as employee mortality rates, resource depletion or biodiversity). 
• We need to help design an Energy Descent Plan for the city. We need to be serious about mobilisation and making it happen. 

Present:
Martin G, John B, Chris B, Doly G, Charlie D, Jo N, Simon B, Kate M, David G, Michael P, Don E, Keith M

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Notes from first meeting: Waste & Recycling group – Tue 11 December

Ten people came to the first WaRTIG meeting; Discussion ranged from recycling ideas to composting to education and beyond. Notes taken by Jessica Gwynne.

(To be put on the mailing list for this group, either email the website or, if you are registered on the forum join the Waste and Recycling usergroup – click on the link in the top row of the forum main page.)

The group will in time be putting forward the Waste and Recycling part of the Energy Descent Action Plan for Transition Brighton&Hove, and in order to start the process off, we each voiced some initial thoughts:

We need to think about closing the loop - ‘moving people up a step’
people must take back their autonomy - composting schemes - could have community collection point; why not a subset of Freecycle to match up recyclables? Also get schools involved - ‘energy detectives’ etc

Have waste disposal and recycling facilities based in, say, six ‘community areas’ across Brighton and Hove

Should be more self - determination - we should learn to look after ourselves using permaculture principles as underlying basis. We should all talk to as many others as we can about Transition Town ideas - person to person is the most sustainable method

Lets have a system where everything inside your house can be re - used. Need to find ways of making it easy for people to not throw stuff away. Education.

Would like people to feel they can use less - when you do buy, the whole cycle begins again

What about punishment for not doing the right thing? Ask Council for copy of report from recycling research/consultation exercise; kitchen waste collection would be a good idea

Would like to see commmercial food waste collection - also encourage supermarkets to stop producing plastic wrappers

Why not get supermarkets and suppliers to recycle their own packaging. Also consider other ways of dealing with sewage - other countries convert it into fertiliser

Find out what the council does with green waste - Jo is going to copy and paste the council waste and recycling list into the forum to enable Sean to carry out his research

There was discussion of how to encourage people to recycle/develop awareness of the issues;
- One way of doing this would be to build towards a Public Meeting sometime in the Spring, and Peter Jones from Biffa has already offered to speak; we would also need a local ‘champion’ to speak from the particular perpective of Brighton and Hove: Ideas?

next meeting: Park Crescent Tuesday 8 January 7 pm onwards

Links:

ones to do with the recent withdrawal of the incinerator pollution permit:

The Argus: Why was incinerator information withheld

www.dove2000.org.uk

Decision notice 2007 (pdf)

www.storyofstuff.com (short film)

Gaian Democracies by Roy Madron and John Jopling (book)
(www.greenbooks.co.uk)

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Notes from first Food Group meeting - 10 December 2007

Notes by Ann Baldridge

The meeting was attended by Chris, Jacob, Simon, Jo, Ann, Simon, Jess and John

The group discussed some of the themes they’d like to address, ways of engaging with people around the city, and some of the activities that could be a part of the group’s work programme. The first meeting involved an informal discussion. It was agreed that future meetings will have a chair and a set agenda.

Some of the issues discussed:

- Supermarkets and whether there is a place for them in the Transition vision of society.
- Local food and how and where to buy it. It was agreed that supply of local food needs to increase if we plan to feed ourselves.
- Intensive urban growing
- Food waste
- Land use: it was suggested that the food group speak to the government liaison group about land use in Brighton & Hove

Ideas for activities:

- Develop an education programme to raise awareness of the benefits of local food, to lobby the council for more land to grow on, and to increase skills around food growing (e.g. via lectures on food growing)
- Start a community allotment managed by TBH food group
- Develop a step-by-step guide to becoming a greener consumer which would include a guide to shopping for local, sustainable produce in Brighton
- Facilitate a skills sharing system (see Bright Exchange or Freeconomy) to increase skills around growing food
- Organise talks on food issues (e.g. food and fuel)
- Organise a large networking event, possibly with speakers
- Hold an Open Space Event to discuss the future of the city’s food system

Next meeting: Tuesday 15th January, 7:30 at Brighton Eco Centre, Basement meeting room, 39-41 Surrey Street, Brighton BN1 3PB (across from Brighton station). Ring Ann on 07729126772 for entry into the building.

At this meeting we will discuss our plans about how to take forward our work in the New Year.

Agenda:

- Planning an event
- How we can bring people together
- Prioritise course of action for engaging with growers, businesses and residents across the city
- Think about steps: where are people at now with their knowledge of food issues and what is one step forward.

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National Climate March – Sat 8 December

Global Day of Action against climate change. Join people all around the world to demand that world leaders act now to prevent the catastrophe that threatens to engulf us all.

Assemble: Millbank 12 noon
Cycle Protest Assembles Lincoln’s Inn Fields 10 am
Speakers to include Chris Huhne MP, George Monbiot, Caroline Lucas MEP, Michael Meacher MP,

More information: www.campaigncc.org

Supported by I-count

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Help Sustrans win £50m for cycle and walking paths

Sustrans are trying to obtain £50m of Lottery funding for the building of new cycle and walking paths around the country. It's an allotment of money that is to be decided by a people's vote, so they need your help. The following is from their Facebook event:

---------------------------------------------

DO YOU WANT TO KICK CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE FAMILY JEWELS?

DO YOU WANT TO POKE THE OBESITY CRISIS WITH A POINTY STICK?

DO YOU WANT TO LAUGH IN THE FACE OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION?


If you answered YES to any of these please do the following easy simple and quick things:

1. Sign up at our website - www.sustransconnect2.org.uk
OR text CONNECT2 to 80010 (standard text rates apply)
Then we can remind you to vote when the website opens

2. INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to attend this event

3. Click the SHARE+ button to put a link on your profile.

4. Click the EXPORT+ button to put a note in your diary!

(Both on right menu)

Online voting starts 26th November, telephone voting 7th-10th December

*************PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY VOTE*************

***************PUT THE 28TH IN YOUR DIARY!!******************


THE small PRINT:
Connect2 is a huge scheme that will build new cycling & walking bridges and crossings over barriers such as busy roads, rivers and railway lines linking people with schools, shops, town centres and universities in 79 communities nationwide. It’ll give people the choice to walk and cycle - for the benefit of both their health and the environment –

It’s Sustrans’ entry in to a competition to win £50 million of Lottery money. We’re up against projects from Eden, Sherwood Forest and The Black Country, but ours is the only project that is UK wide and that will combat obesity, climate change and traffic congestion, making your town a nicer, safer cleaner place to live in and travel around.

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Help to set local criteria for sustainable building design in Brighton and Hove

Residents of Brighton and Hove and groups such as Transition Brighton and Hove are all stakeholders in the local planning process. Your help is needed in commenting on the council's draft document on sustainable building design by December 7th.

Brighton and Hove City Council has prepared a draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on 'Sustainable Building Design'. SPDs are important documents in determining the outcome of planning applications, and will form part of The Local Development Framework which will replace the Brighton and Hove Local Plan.

Buildings are responsible for a large proportion of carbon emissions. Residents and Transition Group members who are serious in wishing to plan for a low energy sustainable future, should read the Council's draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on 'Sustainable Building Design' - including the Sustainability Checklist - and comment on it. The final document will influence the kinds of building which are erected in Brighton and Hove in the future.

The draft document on which to comment is posted here.

The document is out for public consultation from 26th October to 7th December 2007 and the council is keen to gather your views on its content.

Comments can be be submitted in writing to Paula Goncalves, Senior Planning Officer, Planning Strategy & Projects, Room 407-410, Hove Town Hall, Hove, BN3 3BQ, or by sending an e-mail to: ldf@brighton-hove.gov.uk by no later than 5 pm on Friday 7th December 2007.

Printed copies of this document are available in the Jubilee (Brighton), Hove and Portslade libraries as well as Citydirect offices in Hove Town Hall and Bartholomew Square (Brighton). Alternatively, should you want a paper version please contact Planning Strategy and Projects, City Planning, Brighton & Hove City Council, Tel: 01273 292505

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Notes from Textiles and Clothing group meeting – 6 December

Notes by Kat Neeser

Actions

Action (Person)
Give Sarah ‘Magpie girl’s number (Kat)
Find out how to recycle swatches (Sarah)
Contact Chris and get set up as a moderator (Beth)
Get names of funding books (Beth)
PAN UK talk at Brighton Uni – possibility of doing a talk (Sarah)
Speak to BPEC about Green Pages (Jess)
Send Kat information about Fringe Festival – possibility of organising swap for then (Sarah)


Present: Kat Neeser, Sarah Bigley, Jess Clynewood, Beth Tilston
Contact Details (@ = at to avoid spammers on website:
Beth – wine_and_corduroy at hotmail.com
Kat – katneeser at hotmail.com
Sarah – sarah.bigley at btinternet.com
Jess – jessclynewood at email.com

Agenda

1) Review notes of previous meeting.
2) Set aims and objectives for the future.
3) Organise date of next meeting.
1) Review notes of previous meeting

The previous meeting was held on 25th July 2007. Please see the notes of this meeting on www.transitionbrightonandhove.org.uk.

2) Set aims and objectives for the future

‘How are the textiles group going to respond to the challenges of peak oil and climate change?’

• Reduce, reuse, recycle, reskill, remake, re-educate ... treasure your clothes!
• Appeal to people's aesthetic nature and need to retain element of style.
• Increase individuality
• encourage and increased creativity
• increase self-esteem by developing skills and creativity. We wear new and fashionable clothes to feel good about ourselves, but guess what ... learning new skills and using your creativity makes you feel even better ... and you get new clothes into the bargain!
• decrease reliance on hugely polluting imported cotton and other commercially produced/imported clothes
• awareness raising of environmental impact of cheap clothing production through films and talks - probably have these on at our fun and creative events.
• Link up with ethnic groups and older people (especially older women): wealth of dressmaking/mending/other related skills.
• Link older people and younger people together in creative projects
• twice-weekly selling workshops (separate project, see notes in Textiles and Clothing on forum)
• Swaporamarama event: April 26, 2008 at the Cowley club (we will be providing space, tools and knowledge to enable people to customise clothes. Essentially everyone has to bring along a bag of clothes and they are then free to pick up clothes that other people have brought. That's the swap part. The customisation part comes in when we provide tables with sewing machines and other 'customising' equipment and experts to help people adapt the clothes they have picked up into something new and exciting. The idea is called Swaporamarama and started in America.)
• Encouraging and promoting home clothes swapping parties. Swapping is the new shopping!
• Work with schools e.g. link up with school jumble sales, knitting and patterns on jumpers classes (??), finger knitting, booklets (??), after-school clubs. Possible contact for advice is Sibel from Shäbitat (sibel@leftover.co.uk )
• other notes: Ragroof Theatre and the Boston Museum


3) date for next meeting to be confirmed shortly. Contact Kat Neeser for details.

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‘London Green Homes scheme’ – Brighton & Hove needs one too.

Maureen (from our Group) suggests that TB&H proposes to Brighton and Hove City Council something similar to the Green Homes free Advice and Internet Service, set up recently in London in conjunction with the Energy Saving Trust.

The scheme aims to dispense advice on energy saving, water consumption, grants to implement energy saving, and transport.

Jacqui writes:
I happened to be at an event to where this was publicized. It offers a concierge service also to householders as well which for a year ( and I think that was subsidised at £199 ) you get a concierge come, assess and advise on works, get the contractors in, help with planning permissions, sort snags, see it through etc. According to Charles Secret, former head of FOE and advisor to Ken Livingstone, such a service would cost 2k commercially for a year's worth of help. I saw the house life size model on Traf square and agree it would be impressive to have one in brighton somewhere.

Jacqui has also provided links to illustrated newspaper articles describing this new initiative.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/04/climatechange.practicaladvice

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone today launched the UK’s first ‘green homes’ service to help Londoners cut climate change emissions by offering an easy, one-stop-shop for information on how to make homes more carbon efficient.

http://www.24dash.com/socialhousing/29818.htm

Under the London Green Homes scheme, people living in the capital will have access to two services - a free telephone helpline and website, and a personalised, paid-for concierge service for those wanting to make more significant changes to their homes. The programme has been allocated more than £4m for 2007-08 and aims to cut carbon emissions by 500,000 tonnes a year by 2010.


The main feature to promote this service, is a life-size exhibition house in Trafalgar Square, showing how to make homes 'green'. Maureen suggests The Steine as one of the locations. She sees this as a simple, relatively cheap, but interesting way to reach out to a wide range of people – an opportunity to extend the way we disseminate key messages which are seen as relevant to people's everyday lives.

She is proposing a specially constructed exhibition house, as this is likely to attract more interest amongst a wider community than someone's house being opened up for a short period. It can also be moved to different possible locations.

The London Green Homes Scheme, offers a phone advice and helpline as well as a website, to cater for those who do not have access to the web, or are less likely to use the web for this kind of purpose. Maureen emphasizes that the way those in the Hub or wider network all use and seek information is not necessarily typical of the whole community.

We would welcome posts on the Liaison With Local Government Group in the Forum

http://forum.transitionbrightonandhove.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=19&sid=e28baf1e79eaf4cf9ebbdb8dbdc61afc

This is an idea which Transition Brighton and Hove may well like to propose to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Sustainability Team.

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Brighton & Hove Food Partnership AGM – Wed 5 December

If you're interested in finding out more about the Food Partnership and our upcoming plans, the AGM is on Wednesday the 5th of December, at the Brighthelm Centre in the Hanover Room from 7-9pm. We'll be holding elections to our Board, launching our new Good Food Small Grants Scheme, and having a tasting of local foods, plus organic and biodynmic wines. The agenda for the evening is here.

If you'd like to attend please email an RSVP to the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership so we know numbers for refreshments.

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Debate: Carnivores or Vegans: who’s saving the planet? – 3 December

Transition Town Lewes’s Food Group presents: Carnivores or Vegans: who’s saving the planet? A debate
The Ainsworth Room, Southover Grange, Lewes £3

Can a meat-free diet reduce one person's impact on the environment even more than giving up their car or forgoing several plane trips a year, or would a vegan diet destroy the British countryside as we know it? With animal emissions accounting for 18% of total greenhouse gases, what is the future for meat eaters, meat producers and the British countryside?

Speakers include Martin Tebbutt of Boathouse Organics, livestock farmer, Michael Fordham, Tony Wardle of Vegetarian campaign group, Viva! And Craig Sams, chair of The Soil Association. Chaired by Joyce Edmond Smith of Brighton and Hove Council’s Sustainability Commission.

Details and bookings: Gilly Smith 01323 815704 email: gilly*at*gillysmith.com

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First meeting: Waste & Recycling

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