BEDZED

On Tuesday I took the train out of London to see BEDZED, which stands for Beddington Zero [fossil] Energy Development. It has about 100 homes, as well as several businesses and a community center. Luckily they had a small visitors center and a model home, so I didn't have to resort to ringing doorbells and begging for a tour.

Power comes from a tree-waste fired neighborhood cogeneration plant, as well as some photovoltaics on the roof. The homes are extra insulated and sealed, so the roof vents cycle fresh air into the homes.

Although they don't come out and say it, I get the feeling that the residents on average aren't as environmentally conscious as the designers expected. In the parking lots, despite plenty of free electric car charging ports, I only saw one electric car, but several luxury sedans and some SUVs. Now that the on site combined heat and power system and photo voltaic arrays are working properly, the community still only generates 80% of the power it needs. Also, the visitors center display admitted that recycling rates were disappointingly low; only slightly higher than the national average despite fantastic recycling bins. A lot of people do a few small things and then mentally declare themselves “eco-friendly”. Some people buy a hybrid car, or switch a few incandescent light bulbs to CFLs or LEDs. I think that many of the BEDZED residents probably fall into this mindset that just living there is doing enough good for the environment. Ultimately though, their “eco-friendly” lifestyles aren't actually good for the environment, just less bad. BEDZED is not just a step in the right direction, its a huge leap towards the future of sustainable housing.

Free electric car charging station in the BedZED parking lot.

They also have some electric car charging stations spread around London. Electric cars are immune to the now hefty congestion charges.