Dorset Greener Homes 1-9 October

Keen to save energy and money? Or just keen to be green? Shaftesbury is celebrating the adaptations some people have made to their homes or life-styles by joining in with this county-wide event organised by the Dorset Climate Action Network (Dorset CAN). Around 50 homes took part in 2021 and more are being added for 2022 - including several in the Shaftesbury area. These may be new houses with the latest heating or ventilation technologies; or others may have been retrofitted with improved insulation, windows, or solar panels; and there will be some where the inhabitants have chosen to make low-cost life-style changes - such as growing veg, maintaining a wildlife-friendly garden, travelling less, reducing waste. There's a website with map, illustrative details of what you could see at each home and what the viewing arrangements may be. Find the website here. 

In 2021 local homes inviting visitors included

• The Threshold Centre, Gillingham: a pioneering co-housing community based around eco-friendly, sustainable and collaborative lifestyles;
• Greatfield House, Enmore Green: a 1960's house which was previously described as an 'ice-box' and was amidst major works including insulation, windows being reconfigured for solar gain, and installation of an air-source heat pump. See how the works have progressed in 2022;
• Hawker's Farm, Stour Provost, a 500-year-old, formerly near-derelict farmhouse where the owners have used a wide range of traditional and renewable materials in their restoration and where a barn is now a sustainability hub;
• A 1930's former council house on Coppice Street, Shaftesbury, with a timber-framed rear extension, attic conversion and kitchen re-fit where the works done reflected cost and desire to be energy efficient. 
• A 2004 3-bedroom home in Donhead St Mary which has been adapted over the years so that it now has a loft conversion, better quality windows, benefits from solar gain, solar PV and an air-source heatpump. The owners have an electric car and describe their garden as 'pretty wild'.

All the hosts are happy to talk about their experiences - and they won't be trying to sell you anything!

This event is organised by the Dorset Climate Action Network (D-CAN) and is associated with The Climate Coalition's Great Big Green Week. Participation across Shaftesbury and North Dorset is being coordinated by Rachel Bodle (of Planet Shaftesbury) in collaboration with Shaftesbury Town Council and by Jenny Morisetti (of Hawkers Farm, Sustainable Dorset, and D-CAN)