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Carbon Co-op
South Manchester residents making a difference
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
Weds 24th November/1st December/8th December 2010, Manchester
Book here: http://carbon.coop/Community_Renewables_Finance_School.doc
Do you dream of a small scale hydro project or wind turbine where you live, but don’t know where to start? Is your community building crying out for a biomass boiler or a set of solar panels? Have you heard about feed in tariffs, heat incentives and paybacks and wondered whether your voluntary organisation could benefit?
This winter, Carbon Co-op and Carbon Leapfrog are running a series of masterclass sessions, practical, how-to guides for people interested in low carbon projects that will transform their communities and their environment.
Each session features advice from a panel of professional experts form the North West and the City of London. The emphasis of the programme is on sharing knowledge and experience and on practical solutions.
1. Inspiring Communities – engagement and planning
10.30-4pm, Wednesday 24th November 2010
Featuring a series of case studies, identifying key pitfalls and looking at monitoring. Featuring: getting going, communications, footprinting and engagement, renewables assessments, finance planning for communities and legal structures.
Prof Roy Alexander, Chester University
Dr Mary Gillie
Helena Farstad
Peter Andrews, Bath Community Energy
Giles Bristow
2. Finance and legal issues
10.30-4pm, Wednesday 1st December 2010
Governance issues, tax advice, options for investment, benefiting from incentives such as Feed In Tariffs and Renewable Heat Incentives, the co-operative way, community finance options and project planning for finance.
3. Installation and maintenance
10.30-4pm, Wednesday 8th December 2010
Practical advice on low carbon technologies. Running and sustaining a project long term. Featuring a series of case studies/pitfalls/monitoring.
James Heather, Ham Hydro
Peter Harvey
Peter Capener
CooperativesUK
Jeremy Robinson, Bird & Bird
Location
The masterclasses will be held at Manchester Digital Laboratory (MadLab), 40 Edge Street, Manchester M4 1HN.
How to book
Places are free but limited and demand is high.
To book a place email events@carbon.coop or call 0161 408 6492. You can book on one or all sessions. Lunch is provided.
To confirm your place we require a returnable cheque for £40 dated after 8th December 2010 and made out to Carbon Co-op as a deposit. When you attend the workshop the cheque will be returned to you.
Bursaries
A limited number of travel bursaries are available to subsidise travel from outside the Greater Manchester region. Contact us for more information.
More information and the latest information on experts: www.carbon.coop
Carbon Co-op: http://www.carbon.coop
Carbon Leapfrog: http://carbonleapfrog.org/
Tags: community finance, Community Renewables, feed in tariffs, Finance, free, investment, Manchester, masterclass, renewable heat incentive, School
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Monday, September 6th, 2010
We had a fantastic time at the Moss Side Neighbourhood Day, thanks to everyone who came along and had a look around the Big Red Bus.
Tags: Environmental, green homes, Manchester, Moss Side, Renewables, solar panels, Sustainable homes, sutainable communities
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Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Midday-5pm, next Saturday 10th July, the Carbon Red Bus will be pulling up at the Green Side of Moss Side festival. In its second year, this festival will be bringing all kinds of fun activities connected to sustainability to South Manchester.
The Carbon Co-op Bus will be showcasing lots of low carbon technologies for the home and we’ll also be giving away some free energy monitors.
For those who know it the festival will be on Edith Avenue. See you there!
Tags: Community sustainability, education, Environmental, green festival, Manchester, Moss Side, solar panels
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Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Save energy – cut bills – help the environment
In March 2010 The Carbon Co-op launched its Moss Side project with the Carbon Co-op Manual offering advice on saving energy in the home. Now we’re inviting you to take the next steps by joining us for a free workshop and tour of local green projects.
*Moss Side Carbon Co-op workshop*
6pm-8pm, Tuesday 22nd June 2010
Greenheys Centre, Gt Western Street, Moss Side
How do you use electricity and gas in your home?
What simple ways are there to save energy and cuts bills?
How might local people club together to make savings cheaply and simply?
Come along to this free workshop to pick up some practical hints and tips and share
experiences with other Moss Side residents.
Arrive 5.30pm for complimentary food and refreshment
*The Big Red Bus Tour of Green Projects*
Midday-4pm, Saturday 19th June 2010
- See energy saving projects up close
- Meet people who have transformed their houses and hear how they did it
- See renewable energy projects from the top deck of a red London bus!
Departs midday from Greenheys Centre, Great Western Street, Moss Side, returns 4pm.
Complimentary food and refreshments available
Book spaces
Both events are FREE! To book a space on the workshop or the Big Red Bus tour call 0161 408 6492 or email info@carbon.coop
In collaboration with Great Western Street Residents Association and Peace FM.
Supported by Manchester City Council’s Manchester Carbon Innovation Fund
Tags: Carbon Co-op, ecohome, green homes, Manchester, Moss Side, Retrofit, sustainaibility, workshop
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
The Carbon Co-op is currently taking part in an action research project run by NESTA looking at how we can better replicate and diffuse community-led responses to climate change. It’s a great group including people from the Isle of Eigg, Eden Project, Transition Towns and Brecon Beacons. It’s been really interesting and informing to see how other grassroots organisations and communities are innovating and leading the way on tackling issues such as climate change and energy security. Watch this space for more information…
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Friday, April 9th, 2010
This offer has been re-opened.
Get in touch if you live in Manchester* and want to receive one of the 150 next generation internet-enabled, SMARTER energy meters we’re giving away free of charge.
They enable you to monitor your energy usage and you can also log on to a personalised web page and measure your performance against other people’s. These monitors are a great way of identifying how much energy you use and finding ways of saving money and reducing carbon emissions.
Installation
The monitors are really simple to install, just clip them around your existing meter cable – no need for wires or messing with the fuse board. You then link the monitor up to the internet using your broadband router using a cable provided.
Compare data
Then it’s just a case of logging on to our SMARTER website and you get an instant reading showing how much energy you’re using including the cost. You also get graphs showing your performances over the last few days, weeks or months which you can compare against other people in your area or around Manchester (all data is anonymised).
To receive a free SMARTER monitor just email us at info@carbon.coop to sign up. We have 150 to give away so if you’re interested you can invite friends and neighbours to sign up to.
Conditions
* To take part you must be living in the Manchester City Council area and have a broadband connection. The connection must always be on – many people like to turn their router off at night to conserve energy but studies show using a SMARTER will help you make energy savings that more than make up for this.
Carbon Co-op
The Carbon Co-op aims to make it simple, cheap and easy for households, streets and neighbourhoods to come together to buy low-carbon and energy-saving equipment. Discounted products including energy monitors, ‘A’ rated domestic appliances, whole house insulation products, boilers, burners and solar panels. It is a not-for-profit, social enterprise project. http://carbon.coop
Funding
The project which is being jointly funded by Manchester City Council’s Carbon Innovation Fund and the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s (NWDA) Carbon Challenge Fund is being delivered by the Commission for the New Economy working in partnership with the Greater Manchester Environment Commission. Read more about the project’s launch.
Trouble finding the right cable?
Here’s a really useful guide from the Open University on how to to find the right cable on your meter for the monitor:
http://tscp.open.ac.uk/t152/docs/T152install
Tags: Carbon Co-op, energy monitor, SMARTER
Posted in offers | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
At the end of March the new Carbon Co-op Manual was launched at an event in Moss Side. It contains hints and tips on saving energy as well as an outline of how people can work together to achieve bulk purchase savings.
A PDF version can be downloaded here: http://www.carbon.coop/manual.pdf
Tags: Carbon Co-op, Carbon Co-op Manual, Moss Side
Posted in Carbon Co-op Moss Side | 1 Comment »
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
Innovation agency NESTA has been supporting the Carbon Co-op’s development over the past few years. Now they’ve produced a report looking at ways to galvanise community-led responses to climate change, recommending government be more active in creating the conditions within which community leadership can flourish.
The report demonstrates lessons for UK government climate change policy, drawing on communities’ experience of NESTA’s Big Green Challenge which has funded Carbon Co-op. There’s some excellent practical recommendations in there and it’s good to see the grassroots approaches to tackling climate change being championed at a high level.
Download and read the report here.
Tags: Carbon Co-op, Community-led, innovation, low carbon, NESTA
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