EVENT: MASHFFF Results
Reception, Friday March 30th, 6.30pm, Ashburton Town Hall – with
special guest speaker and MC Dave Hampton “The Carbon Coach”
Carbon CoachDave Hampton will be presiding over an important eco-event for the town of
Ashburton at the end of this month (March).
He’s the
special guest MC and speaker at the Results Reception, organised by the town’s
Transition group Ashburton Futures and taking place in Ashburton Town Hall on
Friday March 30, from 6.30pm.
Dave works
with individuals, businesses – and even celebrities including chef Heston
Blumenthal - to reduce their carbon footprints. And Dave and his family try
hard to live a low-carbon life too.
Dave is a Fellow
of the Chartered Institute of Building, and won
Building Magazine’s inaugural Sustainability Leadership award in 2005.
Building Magazine’s inaugural Sustainability Leadership award in 2005.
Said Dave: “Years
spent reducing our carbon footprint have given me a rich experience of not only
the technical and financial challenges involved,
but also the social,
emotional and personal ones.
“My work is
informed by what actually works
for me and my family. Anything I recommend to others has been proven in
the test-bed of my own lifestyle – and people tell me my advice and insight is
all the more realistic and relevant as a result.”
He’ll be
presiding over the climax of the eco-data-gathering exercise known as Making Ashburton-style
Homes Fit For the Future (MASHFFF), which received Government funding to
investigate how a cross-section of properties could save money on energy bills,
and become cosier too.
MASHFFF
commissioned a series of energy audits on properties, from council houses to
listed buildings in Ashburton’s Conservation Area, as well as public buildings.
The audits looked at where heat and energy was being wasted – and advised on
how those leaks could be plugged, those draughts busted, that insulation
improved or tariffs switched to cut bills.
A set of punchy
short films have been made at each participating building, clearly illustrating
the issues for each property – and the practical eco-improvement steps that can
be taken.
All of the
videos have been released under a Creative Commons Licence via YouTube, which
means that anybody who wants to can use them in their own presentations or
websites for free. See http://youtube.com/ashburtonfutures
Sharing the knowledge even wider
All that
valuable information gathered during the initiative is to be shared with the community,
starting with the Results Reception, to ensure that the useful knowledge is
spread widely.
Match-funding
from Dartmoor National Park Authority will pay for Neighbourhood meetings in
April and May, to spread the knowledge about eco-improvements even wider.
MASHFFF also
funded a free coach trip for Ashburton householders to the National Self-Buildand Renovation Centre in Swindon, to meet and quiz experts on eco-home
improvements.
