Housing Co-operatives and Climate Change

What can housing co-operatives do?

At the October General Assembly held in Singapore, ICA members adopted a resolution submitted by the Co-operative Group Ltd and Co-operatives UK Limited calling on the co-operative movement to do his share in combating climate changes. The resolution suggests three ways on how the co-op movement can act now:

 Measure and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that arise as a result of our activities
 Communicate with, inform and motivate members towards a lower carbon lifestyle
 Use political influence at home to encourage each government to play a constructive part in the Kyoto negotiations.

ICA Housing is committed to this plan of action and wants to contribute. By dedicating a specific section on our website, we hope to encourage the exchange of information and stimulate a debate on how housing co-operatives can do better. Because actions made by the co-op housing sector can make a difference.

President of NBBL, Kent Olif-Stigh, presents some ideas on how Swedish housing co-operatives have tried to combat climate change at ICA Housing's Seminar on the issue in Singapore in 2007

Here are some meaningful statistics.

According to the Natural Step, in the US, residential buildings (76 million) and the commercial buildings (5 million) account for 36% of the total energy use, 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions, 30% of the raw materials use, 30% of the waste output and 12% of the potable water use. In Sweden, a report has said that 39% of all domestic CO² emissions come from real estate.

Housing co-operatives are enterprises with social values. Long-term viability, protection of member’s assets and fulfillment of social goals have always been in their action plan. Environmental concerns are now high on the list of priorities for cooperatives, whether it involves building design and construction, building renovation and ongoing maintenance or the management of community living. There are already several success stories.

Here are some examples presented at the ICA Housing meeting and GA in Singapore. Click on these links to see the documents presented by the Housing & Development Board of Singapore, the SHE project co-ordinated by Federabitazione, the HSB in Sweden and CHF Canada.

We will continue to post information on this section as we find them. If you have implemented an environmental policy; or you are developing a particular program or initiative, whether inside your co-operative or with the larger community, please let us know. Remember, any action undertaken, small or big, can help another housing co-ops somewhere in the world.

Canadian Climate Change examples and tips

Canadian Housing Cooperatives are attempting to address the very serious problems associated with climate change and developing sustainable housing cooperatives.

Top 10 tips to be a sustainable housing cooperative. Click here.

To find out more about what housing cooperatives are doing in Canada. Click here to find out more.

New Tricks with Old Bricks: How reusing old buildings can cut carbon emissions

This Empty Housing Agency in the UK report describes groundbreaking research into the combined embodied (built-in) and operational (in-use) carbon emissions from refurbished compared with new build houses. Using the University of Bath’s Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE), it shows that embodied energy is a much larger part of the lifetime carbon cost of housing than has been widely supposed. It also suggests that, even over 30-50 years, refurbishment is at least as good if not better than new build in terms of CO2 emissions. Published with the support of the Building and Social Housing Foundation. Click here to read the full report.

Sanford Housing Cooperative, London, UK

This fully mutualized housing cooperative in the New Cross part of London consists of 14 houses and a small unit of studio flats has recently implemented some innovative ways to reduce its carbon admissions by up to sixty per cent.

To read more about the green methods employed by the Sanford Housing Cooperative click here.

Grand House Consortium in Ontario, Canada

The Grand House Consortium is comprised of university students and professionals from Cambridge, Ontario and beyond, with the main objective to build a Twelve-Bedroom Student Residence. We have secured property in Cambridge’s historic downtown, and our official ground breaking happened on June 3, 2007. The Grand House Student Co-op is responsible for the design, construction, and project management and owns the residence. Each semester 12 students will call the Grand House home and be co-owners of the co-op. The project aims to be as eco-friendly as possible and is utilizing many different techniques to achieve this aim. To read more about this project click here.

CECODHAS conference “Housing and the European Energy Transition”

The programme and press release for the CECODHAS conference “Housing and the European Energy Transition”, which will be held on 30 January, at the Committee of the Regions as part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week 2008.

Click click here for the press release and click here for the program of events.

If you are interested in attending, please do not forget to register online as soon as possible click here (places are limited).

The Natural Step

Since 1988, The Natural Step has worked to accelerate global sustainability by guiding companies, communities and governments onto an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable path. More than 70 people in eleven countries work with an international network of sustainability experts, scientists ,universities, and businesses to create solutions, innovative models and tools that will lead the transition to a sustainable future