WALES’ NEW ENERGY LIVING LAB

Leave some of these politicians alone long enough and they'll turn the whole damn earth into a living lab.

UK “living laboratory” to train climate experts
Andras Gergely, May 24, 2007 (Reuters)

WHO
Centre for Alternative Technology Development Director Paul Allen, Welsh Institute for Sustainable Education project officer Phil Horton
campus
WHAT
The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) will build the Welsh Institute for Sustainable Education (WISE), a $12.33 million institute to study energy-conscious design and train engineers, businessmen and officials in energy-efficient building design and maintenance.

WHEN
- WISE will open in mid-2008.
- CAT was built in the 1970s.

WHERE
Machynlleth, Wales, U.K.

WHY
- WISE will have buildings w/ large glass surfaces for solar gain, a timber frame filled with hemp and lime, earth interior walls to regulate hall temps w/o air conditioning, a sustainable heating system, auto monitoring of energy/electricity consumption, solar water heating, solar panels, rainwater harvesting, low-flow taps/toilets, a woodchip-fired power plant (sending excess electricity to the electricity grid) and other experimental systems and design features conceived to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.
- Such a facility is in increasing demand as climate change motivates designers and entrepreneurs to seek new solutions.
WISE will be built w/ EU and Welsh Assembly funds.
- CAT shows environmentally friendly ideas and runs post-graduate courses on architecture and energy in conjunction with the University of East London.
cramming for finals
QUOTES
- Allen: "It's like a little living laboratory where students actually live with systems that they are studying and maintaining…"
- Horton: "We've had a huge increase in demand for courses on a technical level for solar water heating for plumbers and solar electrical systems for electricians and that kind of thing…The aim is to make it all sustainable so that you're being taught about sustainability in an environment that reflects what you are learning about…"
- Eleanor Morgan, 33, visiting CAT with her husband and two children: "There are things I hadn't heard about and which we'll do when we get home…It's really brought to life all the things I had read in the paper recently…"