Open Houses 2011
Sharing your knowledge and experiences of eco-renovation or energy efficient living can be a rewarding experience.
Oxfordshire ClimateXchange has run previously run county wide open days showing the approaches and possibilities of eco-renovation in a variety of homes across Oxfordshire. For 2011 we will be encouraging householders who have eco-renovated their home, or have significantly reduced their energy demand, to share their knowledge and experience with others who would like to do the same.
We have an increasing number of case studies on our website, which complements the case studies on COIN’s Ecovation site. These are also available in a booklet which can be borrowed, or displayed at events. If you would like to contribute your case study, we have provided a template here or you to download. Open Homes Template Please return completed case studies to jo@climatex.org . Photos make case studies come alive, so please attach any photos you’d like to include to the email.
Individuals wanting to renovate their homes want to get inspiration from others, and highly value recommendations and feedback about your experiences, and being able to see a variety of houses. If you’d like to open your home to others for a fixed time period to share your experience, please see the details below, and fill in the online web form.
Details to consider:
Decide the date and time. About 2 hours is normally sufficient for a small number of people, and usually best in the evenings or at weekends. Check the online calendar to see if there are other events happening nearby or at the same time. If there are you could consider arranging your time so that if people would like to attend both, they are able to.
Decide the number of people: If you’d like to talk through a specific aspect of eco-renovation (e.g. solid wall insulation, or Ground source heat pumps.
Donations: These events are set up to run on a voluntary basis, but some people find that requesting a small donation (of between £2-5) helps them either to cover their costs and time (both on the evening, or put towards cost of tea / biscuits, or to buy a bottle of wine for the person helping them) or to donate to a charity. It’s up to you.
Experience from similar small Open House events has shown that the following format works well.
In advance:
If you’ve got samples of insulation materials, brochures or pictures of the work in progress, do make them available.
Decide where you want people to be. The main point of the event is to share experiences and ideas, so think what works best. Do people need to see a specific piece of kit, and will this be possible? If you’d prefer people to be in one main room, ensure you limit the numbers to accommodate everyone. Tours of have relevant parts of the house work well, but might involve a bit more tidying before the event. It’s your choice.
Helping hand. We strongly recommend having someone who can help out with you throughout the event. They can answer the door / direct people into the room / make tea / be in the main room with people if others are looking at something in particular. Another person also increases your personal and home security.
Safety and insurance: These events are informal, but please be aware of and try to avoid accidents by ensuring that the places where people will be are safe (e.g. they won’t trip over things, and that if something is a work in progress it’s safe to see. If there are any specific hazards (e.g. low door frame, awkward stairs) please bring this to your visitor’s attention at the beginning. We have not arranged specific insurance to cover these events. Also it is wise to put anything small and valuable in a part of the house where visitors will not go. We haven’t had any reports of thefts during the many Open Home events we have held, and we would like to keep it that way.
List of visitors: You should have a list of visitors from the web booking form available so that you know when everyone’s arrived. If you do not have web access we will mail a copy to you.
As people arrive, do welcome them. Some home owners offer a cup of tea / coffee, some don’t. It’s your choice, but it’s good to have some water for visitors.
Once most people have arrived, briefly introduce yourself, and ask others to introduce themselves briefly too, mentioning their interest and if they are planning to eco-renovate. Some visitors may be there to learn, some may have similar experiences to share.
Go through your approach - mainly what’s outlined on the case study, including what you decided to do, how you did it, how it works, and your builders / suppliers. If you have any relevant samples of materials (for example insulation materials, brochures, or photos of the work in progress) hand them around or have them available. You can decide whether you’re happy to take Q&As through your explanation, or at the end, but it’s helpful for people to know this in advance.
If relevant show people your eco-renovation ‘features’. Depending on what you’ve done, this may work best with people sitting in your sitting room or round a table, or incorporated into a ‘tour’. Others have given an overview, then taken a few people at a time to see relevant parts of the house whilst other visitors talk among themselves.
Allow time for informal chatting and sharing of ideas and experiences. If there are any specific questions that arise that you aren’t able to answer, or useful feedback, please alert us to this after the event.
Do encourage people to leave on time! Sometimes people will want to talk a lot, which is great, but it’s perfectly reasonable to keep to your stated times and encourage people to share thoughts and ideas in their own time.
We’ve developed an online form where householders who would like to open their homes can see who else is planning to open their home, potential visitors can view the range of homes and sign up to them, and householders can directly email the visitors with details.
If you’d prefer to fill it in on a word document, the fields are below. Please complete and return to [Malcolm] who will upload onto the web format.
Your name, address, email and phone number - Please note: Your personal details are concealed from the public view, but the booking system will email people for you to give them the full details and any directions once they have registered.
Property Title Please choose a title by which your project will be known
Please briefly describe the type of home you have and the features that may interest visitors. Aim to keep this short but comprehensive as more detail will be provided in the case study. For example: ‘1980s terrace house with solar panels, sheep wool insulation, solar conservatory, triple glazing, many water and energy saving features, condensing boiler.’
Year Main House was Built This information is indexed so that people can find a house of similar age to their own to visit.
Web Page If your house already appears on a web page please supply the URL so that you don't have to repeat all the details.
Give the dates and times for the event Please give a start and end time for each event.
If possible, suggest a subject of interest for a discussion during each event: You may wish to focus the event on a specific technology or approach, or keep it more general. Simply pick one from the list that best describes your focus.
How many people would you like to host? Pick a maximum number, and we will ensure that no more than that number book to visit. Additional people will be put on a waiting list.
What would you like to charge? As expenses or as a donation £1, £2 , £5 or No Charge will appear on the promotion.
Publicise via the Eco-renovation list and Eco-renovation network on Community Central.
Give some guidance on running the event
Provide some background materials
Provide a web tool for visitors to sign up to
Communicate with visitors regarding venue and details
Open your house on a specific time and date as advertised.
If for any reason you are not able to open your house on the stated date and time, you must inform us and / or contact the names on the list, so that we can ensure everyone knows in advance.
Be welcoming, courteous and share your experiences about eco-renovation.
Other opportunities for open homes: Old Home Super Home Network:
If you’d like to join the network and take part in Open Days once or twice a year on a larger scale, do join the Old Home SuperHome network, and let us know when you’re opening up. http://www.sustainable-energyacademy.org.uk/