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London Mayor Ken Livingstone today unveiled an eco house built smack in the middle of Trafalgar Square, designed to show us how to make our own homes more energy efficient. Many Londoners with a long commute will dream of living somewhere so central, but only pigeons can afford to live there.
However, the house won't be a permanent fixture. It will be on display there only until 16 December, when it will be uprooted to start a tour of the capital.
The house, No.1 Lower Carbon Drive (geddit?), is based on a typical, pre-war London terrace house, the kind that can emit around six tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. There are six zones in the house which cover energy, ventilation, appliances, water, recycling and insulation -- each showing visitors a different way to make their homes more efficient and lower their carbon footprint.
To make it more interactive there are various 'hands on' features -- you could pretend to be a boiler by trying on an insulated jacket, turn handles to generate the same amount of power as the sun in a solar photovoltaic exhibit or figure out how to block those pesky drafts.
No.1 Lower Carbon Drive can be found at London's Trafalgar Square
If each household in the UK was to follow the tips given in the exhibition, they could make a saving of £300 every year on their energy bill, and massively reduce London's total carbon footprint, claims the Mayor's Office. While simple changes such as switching every light bulb in London to an energy efficient alternative could apparently save £139 million each year.
The show house is all part of the Mayor's London Climate Change Action Plan, which is attempting to reduce the carbon emissions from Londoner's homes by 7.7 million tonnes by 2025.
The plan includes events such as this one, and services such as the concierge service seen before on SmartPlanet, where an environmental expert will come to your home free of charge and explain what changes you can make to save energy.
For opening times and more information on No.1 Lower Carbon Drive visit London Climate Change's website.
Photo: London Development Agency
05 December 2007 03:09pm
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