Photo credit: John Maher
In 2016 PET raised funds for, and in 2017 built a cluster of 6 small flats on the West Whins (WW) site of the Findhorn Ecovillage.
Design
Complementing the relatively big East Whins (EW) homes (see map) to have a wider range of properties in our portfolio, small one bed-room flats were chosen for the West Whins cluster.
Designed to a high eco-specification, flats should have low running costs. The Energy Performance Certificate of Nov 2017 calculated for the construction:
- 2 storey : 42m²; Energy efficiency B81 (Sco D61) and CO2 impact B90 (Sco D59)
- 1 storey : 38m²; Energy efficiency C79 (Sco D61) and CO2 impact B88 (Sco D59)
GreenLeaf Build and Design, a local young builder, constructed our combined concept. (See a timelapse of the “similar” build down the road).
Funding
To make “affordable” sustainable, we chose a funding strategy that prioritised borrowing within the Community (through Ekopia and private loans) and an application to the Scottish Rural Housing Fund (RHF).
Two Community members offered PET their pension funds as a loan, for a total of £140,000; and another person came to Ekopia offering a £100,000 loan. The Scottish Ministers decided to grant our project £130,000. The land was effectively gifted by Duneland for a nominal fee.
Allocation
The allocation process for these flats went very smoothly. read more ….
Construction
Construction went smoothly too. See our blog updates.
Though not Passive Haus, this project does incorporate some of its principles. Here’s what the Passiv Haus people strive for: to BOOKMARK your copy, click here!
Press
Rainbow Bridge article: “2016 Year of Affordable housing.”
Social Media
From Richard Lochead the local MSP’s Facebook Page for 23rd June 2017, here’s the video that he made with Paddy Atkinson and Kevin Stewart MSP who is the Minister for Housing and Rural Affairs.
And the Findhorn Foundation mentions our project in their 2017 end of year subscriber message.
Nomination
SURF (Scotland’s Regeneration Forum) and the Scottish Government have teamed up again to deliver the ‘20th Anniversary’ SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration for 2018. These are presented each year to projects that are judged by a panel of independent regeneration experts to be performing outstanding regeneration work.
West Whins was nominated for the 2018 Housing Category with two other projects.