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Last Straw For Wakefield Green Building

Posted: 26/10/2006

The final bale has been added to Wakefield's first eco-friendly building, complete with living roof and compost toilet. After months of hard work by Agbrigg and Belle Vue Community Association, Agbrigg and Belle Vue Allotment Group and Wakefield Council, the £90,000 building is now finished.

Groups ranging from the Wakefield Primary Care Trust to Agbrigg and Belle Vue Allotments Group will now get to use the environmentally-friendly structure, which is made from wood from eco-managed forest and straw-bale ‘bricks’. The building’s roof will be full of colour and life as its surface is made of native sedums, a type of low-growing succulent plant, and solar panels mean that there will be a plenty of hot water.

Chris Stephenson, project manager, said: “The main advantage of an eco-building is that it has very low running costs. It has solar heating and, because the walls are made of straw and are lime-coated, it stays very warm.”

Triple-glazed windows will also help retain heat during the winter months and if visitors get caught short, they can use the compost toilet and help the flowers at the same time.

Mr Stephenson added: “It has an advanced compost toilet, which separates the liquids from the solids, which are then compacted and can be used on flowers. It’s apparently great for growing roses, but I don’t know whose job it will be to do the shovelling.”

Cabinet member for environment, Graham Isherwood, said: “We are dedicated to saving energy and encouraging others to do the same, so it is great news that Wakefield has its first straw bale eco-building.”

The straw building will be officially opened on Saturday, October 28 at 3pm as part of the annual Agbrigg and Belle Vue Pumpkin Festival, being held on the regenerated Woodcock Street allotments. The straw building has been funded by the National Lottery’s ‘transforming your space’ initiative and the European Regional Development Fund as part of a £500,000 regeneration of the area.

Wakefield Today  
 

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