Opening Your Home: What is Involved?

An Eco Home Open Day is a chance for householders with homes that have some significant environmentally friendly features to open them up to the public so that others can come and learn more about how to make similar improvements to their homes. It’s a bit like an Open Gardens Day, but you’ll be showing off your solid wall insulation or your solar panels instead of your sunflowers or chrysanthemums!

What kind of homes are we looking for?

We’re looking for homes that offer something inspiring from an eco-perspective. They don’t need to be purpose eco-built, out-of-this world, Grand Design-worthy homes – indeed we would rather most of them were a bit more ordinary – but they do need to offer something more unusual than just low energy lightbulbs and loft or cavity wall insulation. Some examples of what you might have done to your home include:

  • Installed solid wall insulation. Under the forthcoming Green Deal and ECO the government are hoping that lots of people will install solid wall insulation. You could help this initiative by sharing your own experience of installing solid wall insulation.
  • Renovated a whole house or room or built a house. If you’ve started from scratch, or with the shell of an old building, you might have lots to show people.
  • Made improvements on a tight budget. We don’t just want expensive high-tech solutions on show.
  • Installed renewable technologies.
  • Made a rented home more eco friendly. Perhaps you’ve a renter, or a landlord, who has found ways to improve a house that work for both the householder and the owner.
  • Incorporated a lot of waste materials into your improvements that would have otherwise ended up in landfill.
  • Produced a lot of your own food in your garden. If you could provide a short tour about how and why you’ve done this, we’d love to include it.

Why not become a Superhome?

If you have made significant changes to your home you might like to consider contacting the Superhomes network to see if your home qualifies to join the network: www.superhomes.org.uk/get-involved/join-superhomes/. Being a ‘Superhome’ isn’t a requirement for being part of the CCAN Eco Homes Open Week but it could be useful for you to join anyway.

Everyone who wants to take part should fill out the application form which can be downloaded below and your involvement in the event won’t be confirmed until we have received this form.

What will we do?

Marches Energy Agency will:

  • Provide you with this guide to help you open up your home to the public.
  • Advertise this event through the project’s website (www.everbodys-talking.org/ecohomes), monthly e-newsletter, Twitter and Facebook. Advertise the event on www.greenopenhomes.net.
  • Work with Local Authorities in the area to publicise the event in the local press.
  • Provide promotional material you can use to advertise the events.
  • Provide a webinar in April for all householders who are opening, with advice and top tips as well as a chance to chat with other householders.
  • Provide a short feedback form which we would ask you to ask visitors to fill in.
  • Provide a short feedback form for you to tell us about your own experiences of taking part.

What are we asking you to do?

  • Send us details of the home you intend to open using the form provided below.
  • Open your home for a minimum of two consecutive hours during May. You’re welcome to open it for longer if you wish.
  • Publicise the project locally. We will be providing promotional material closer to the time.
  • Prepare your home for being open to the public. More detailed advice on this can be found in the next section of this guide.
  • Open your home to the public.
  • Ask visitors to fill out feedback forms and return these to MEA after the event. We provide a freepost address for this.
  • Take a few photos of your event and send them to MEA after the event. These may be used on our website and in future publicity.

If you would like to take part please fill out the application form below and return it to us. 

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