The Green Sproughton project has had two main themes. One to get our iconic grade II listed Barn well insulated and useable all the year round, and Two to raise awareness in the community of the need to be less energy dependent.
The insulation project was funded by Cut Your Carbon, in 2008/9 and the activities listed in the associated action plan have been the basis of our activities subsequently.
We have replaced the internal ply lining of the Barn with thicker marine ply, replaced the external weatherboarding, and inserted a 60mm layer of pavatherm acoustic and thermal insulation between the two layers. The pavatherm is made with reconstituted sawmill waste. The external midstrey doors have been replaced and double glazed internal doors have been fitted behind the midstrey doors. Heaters have been fitted in the lavatories, electrical circuits upgraded, and the fire alarm system extended and improved.
Implementing the action plan associated with our Cut Your Carbon grant bid, is the challenge facing this community of Sproughton village. We committed to a 2.5% annual reduction of carbon emissions, including the savings on heating the Barn. This equates to 159 tonnes p.a.
Prior to the Cut Your carbon bid we had carried out a Carbon Footprint Survey. The village total was estimated at 6,126 tonnes. The most significant result from this survey was that 50% of our emissions were due to use of private cars i.e. 3,067 tonnes. Of this 2,500 tonnes were due to use of private cars. This finding is supported by what we knew of work, shopping, and leisure journeys from the Parish Appraisal. Our Cut Your Carbon bid was the culmination of a series of awareness raising events, going back to Spring 2007 when Sproughton Parish Council became the first Parish to sign up to the Nottingham Agreement on Carbon Reduction, and Green Sproughton, a panel of the Parish Council was set up. In partnership with CRed Suffolk, Suffolk County Council Greenest County initiative, & U.E.A., there followed a series of consciousness raising events, films, swap days, bike rides, a carbon footprint surgery etc. www.greensproughton.org.uk
The Cut Your Carbon grant was used to insulate our Community Building, the Tithe Barn. As far as possible we have also invested in energy saving technology, although we are severely restricted by the fact that it is a listed building. As revenue grows, which it is doing already, the Parish Council is committed to using part of the revenue as a Green Dividend to support and encourage behavioural change in the community. In fact to implement the Action Plan attached to the CYC bid.
The plan included the following actions
- to upgrage the heating in the Barn using renewables.
- To reduce the number of shopping car journeys out of the Village by 67 per week.
- A reduction of 50 people per week leaving the village for leisure pursuits.
- A reduction of private car use and an increase of public transport use by 25% based on acquiring a mini bus to provide a feeder bus route to Park & Ride South and North of the village,
- To acqure electric bicycles,
- and WOMBAT enabled cars for Car Club use.
- To reduce our carbon footprint by 159 tonnes per annum
- To grow our community by 50 members
On the basis of this Action Plan, the following has been achieved.
We commissioned a heating feasibility study with Messrs Johns Slater & Haward ( Chartered Buildings Services Consultants) Our terms of reference set out that the proposal should be as carbon frugal as possible. In the meantime we switched our only energy source in the Barn, electricity, to a100% Green tariff. Calculating energy savings to date has been difficult because of the significantly increased use of the Barn.
The consultant’s report suggested that the system of overhead spot heaters we were using was appropriate given the usage of the building. Since the insulation has been extremely effective, we have decided to shelve introducing any further heating to the Barn.
Per person the use of energy has gone down by 39% in the Barn. From June – September 2009 549 kwhrs extra electricity was used in the Barn in comparison with 2008. ( + 27%) However over the same period the income from hiring had increased by £2,541 (272%). Looking at the nature of the bookings, we infer that this meant an increase of about 77% of people i.e. from 790 to 1400. Hence the amount of energy per person used in the Barn has decreased by about 39%, in comparison with the forecast 43%. If this saving extrapolates evenly over the year, this implies a saving of 856 kws equating to . 460 tonnes of CO2 The analysis of our second carbon footprint survey shows an overall reduction of .24 of a tonne per household, which exptrapolates to 135.36 tonnes for the whole community. Add in the savings in the Barn and we are looking at about 136 tonnes instead of the projected 159 tonnes.
The shopping journeys out of the village we have tackled by refurbishing a store in the Barn to house a Community Shop which will be opening in March 2010. The funding is in place, and a Community Interest Company set up.
The relative importance of the shop has grown in our carbon reduction project.. We knew from the Parish Appraisal that 349 people indicated they would use a village shop, of which 151 would use it every week. However, we now understand that the shop and the Barn complex can act as a social hub for disseminating the Green Sproughton Agenda. Shopping becomes a positive way of bringing carbon emission reductions. No one is being asked to give up anything or make a capital expenditure. Purchasing miles are reduced, and the intention of the Community Interest Company is to source wherever possible local food. If we assume that these 151 people actually shop in Sproughton, and give up a car journey to do it, then 8.48 tonnes of Carbon will be saved p.a. Not only will the shop sell energy saving products, but it will administer the light bulb library, The courtyard has been resurfaced with a view to creating a summer café area.
In 2007 we failed to get funding from the People’s Millions for the Community Shop. However, we did get over 2,000 votes, so we know that support for a local shop affects a large number of people.
With regard to leaving the village for leisure & learning activities to date the Parish Council has instigated a Bi - Annual children’s family disco, and an Annual Beer festival in order to establish leisure activity in Sproughton. We await someone taking on a Cinema Club. The Church Hall has taken on a mother’s & toddlers group, and the school has started a disco dancing group. We do not know yet whether total numbers of private journeys have been reduced. The number of respondents 78 was disappointing in comparison with last year, 166, with only 45 repeat responses. The 33 new responses went some way
We carried out a second carbon footprint survey in April /May 2009, The total to meeting our target of 50 new respondent households, and grew our community to 200 people. Although the analysis shows an overall reduction of .24 of a tonne per household, which exptrapolates to 135.36 tonnes for the whole community, the poor response lowered our spirits extremely. We had gone further towards meeting our target of 159 tonnes than we had anticipated. The second Carbon Footprint was delivered with a Transport survey to the whole village. The transport survey was piloted with intensive house to house visits to 73 dwellings and then rolled out to the whole village. We got 90 responses in total. ( learning point, 50% response from door to door surveying) The purpose of the transport survey was to understand in more detail where people go in their cars, what changes would encourage them to leave their cars, and which mode of transport would be their preferred alternative? The survey also asked questions about what would encourage people to cycle, whether they would use electric bikes, or become members of a car club? The whole village was given both surveys. We knew from the Parish Appraisal that most respondents (c. 500) indicated that better frequency and more routes would encourage more use of the bus service together with better information on timetables. Free or cheaper buses and increasing car costs would also affect use.
The results of the 90 Transport Survey respondents indicate that people will only contemplate change away from the private car if their convenience and safety are not compromised. The profile of journeys has been analysed with the help of Suffolk County Council and we now understand the typical direction and reasons for private car journeys. (See addendum) Suffolk County Council has rolled out our survey to over 70 other communities in the county.
In total we can say that over the last two and a half years, the whole community has been consulted on a number of issues. The delivery of our programme to focus leisure and shopping activity on Sproughton, and get people out of their cars has been developed over this period. Insulating and refurbishing the Barn has made it possible to use this building as a greater community social hub, as well as beginning to provide the Green Dividend. Delivering the shop develops the theme of reducing private car travel.
The shop will be opening in March, so we anticipate that our carbon saving this year will be c !44 tonnes of Co2
We also made an application to the Low Carbon Communities challenge, hoping to get partnership working with Suffolk PCT to provide minibuses to solve their parking problems and give us a greater off peak public transport connectivity. The grant also bid for electric bikes, and cars for a car club. Alas we were unsuccessful. We now see that to achieve the new bus service we shall have to find a site for, and install a wind turbine.
