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Cardiff University
People with green space on their doorstep or access to a private garden reported better health and wellbeing during and after the first lockdown in the UK, according to a new study.
Researchers from Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University have shown that people with a garden and a park nearby were more likely to say they were feeling calm, peaceful and had a lot of energy as compared to those with no access to a garden or living further away from a green space.
Official figures show that around one in eight households in Great Britain had no access to a private or shared garden during the coronavirus pandemic, and that just a quarter of people in Great Britain live within a five-minute walk of a public park.
Energy positive house slashes bills by £1,000 a year
The house designed by Cardiff University is net negative in carbon emissions
Image: SOLCER House / Cardiff University
A three-bedroom house built at Welsh village of Pyle, considered to be the first affordable energy-positive housing project in the country, could save £1,000 a year on bills.
The 100 square-metre house was designed and built by experts from Cardiff University as a prototype to meet the government’s zero carbon housing target.
It was constructed to generate more energy over a year than it needed, to heat, ventilate, light and power appliances.
According to a new study, the so-called SOLCER House imports around 25% of its energy needs from the grid, mainly to cover heating needs during colder months but over the year 1.3 times the amount that it imports, is exported back to the grid.