Gamlingay Eco-Hub SET NEWS GREEN
Standards for Community Centres
One has to be remarkably tenacious or a little bit mad to decide to build a Community Centre based on charitable donations in the middle of a recession - but the undaunted villagers of Gamlingay decided to do just that and have recently opened the result - the Gamlingay Eco-Hub. (See www.eco-hub.info) The official opening took place on March 23rd with a small ceremony performed by the Right Honourable Andrew Lansley MP who took time away from his duties as Minister of Health to take part in the celebrations. Since the opening, many users - from regular Yoga groups though to one off parties and music events, have signed up to use the spaces in the Hub. The Eco-Hub’s success can be measured by its popularity, and the business developed so far has already ensured that the first year’s payments on the loans will be met. Why a New Building? Several years ago it became clear that the existing community centre had become unusable due to low grade technology and building techniques that were acceptable in the late seventies but which had left the village with a hall that cost so much to repair and power that demolition looked to be the only way forward. The community decided put their energy into a scheme led by councilor Bridget Smith to raise money and enthusiasm for a new building based on better principles; a building that would minimise its impact on the environment, be cheap to run and which had a longer life expectancy than the 25 years that the old hall had lasted. Unfortunately, developing a community building is not a simple matter of going to government for a hand-out. Every penny has to be fought for through grant and loan applications that create mountains of paperwork (hardly green but one would hope that the end justifies the means),
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enquiries, conversations and meetings. The fact is that it took three years through a miserable recession to get the funding together. One of the key philosophical principles of the EcoHub plans was to maximize the use of recycled materials - including the old building itself. Of course, using recycled materials is a good start, but what about the heat and power that would be needed? Nobody involved felt that it would be a good idea to invest in a system that would surely result in ever-increasing fuel bills coupled with the high carbon footprint that almost inevitably results from the heating of a large building, even when only one of the spaces was in use. Interestingly, the team discovered that there were many more sources of funding for buildings in which alternative and renewable technologies were being adopted rather than for a traditional build. This led to the architects - Civic Partners - designing a building that fitted those criteria – with the overall brief that it should be ‘Warm and Welcoming.’ Green Technology The Eco-Hub’s heating is from ground source heat pumps – which, in short, means that it is warmed by the sun. The Sun pours warmth into the ground all through the year and the heat pumps gather this warmth, concentrate it and funnel it into the building. Even on days that are minus 5 degrees outside, the building maintains a steady 21 degrees, day and night. The heat pumps are driven by electricity, the daytime component of which is generated by the photo-voltaic cells on the roof. This means that fundamentally, the
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