UK "living laboratory" to train climate experts

MACHYNLLETH, Wales (Reuters Life!) - A new institute in Wales will teach ways to combat climate change in a building whose hemp and earth walls and sustainable heating system will be a case study in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in western Wales, which seeks to showcase practical ways to protect the environment, decided to build the new 6.2 million pounds ($12.33 million) institute on its site in response to increasing demand for studying energy-conscious design.

The Welsh Institute for Sustainable Education (WISE), set to open in mid-2008, will train engineers, businessmen and officials to design and maintain buildings with a low output of gases which contribute to climate change.

"It's like a little living laboratory where students actually live with systems that they are studying and maintaining," CAT Development Director Paul Allen said.

Scientists predict that average temperatures will rise by between 1.8 and 3.0 degrees Celsius this century due to carbon gases from burning fossil fuels for power and transport, causing floods, famines and putting millions of lives at risk.

CAT, built in the 1970s on a former slate quarry in hills near Machynlleth, runs a visitor centre to show environmentally friendly ideas like better insulation and composting which families can easily implement in their everyday lives.

It also runs post-graduate courses on architecture and energy in conjunction with the University of East London, and is building the WISE institute with EU and Welsh Assembly funds.

"We've had a huge increase in demand for courses on a technical level for solar water heating for plumbers and solar electrical systems for electricians and that kind of thing," said WISE project officer Phil Horton.

WOOL INSULATION

The institute has been designed to minimize the energy needed to build and run it, with large glass surfaces for solar gain, heavy earth walls inside to regulate the temperature of the lecture theatre without air conditioning.

The teaching rooms and bedrooms will be wired to monitor the energy and electricity consumption of each user.

The building will have a timber frame filled with hemp and lime, solar water heating, solar panels, rainwater harvesting and low-flow taps and toilets. A woodchip-fired power plant will generate heat and electricity, with excess electricity exported to the electricity grid.

"The aim is to make it all sustainable so that you're being taught about sustainability in an environment that reflects what you are learning about," Horton said.

A visitor said she had found CAT's interactive displays useful, including a house insulated with Welsh wool.

"There are things I hadn't heard about and which we'll do when we get home," said Eleanor Morgan, 33, visiting CAT with her husband and two children.

She said they would change their electric kettle to one which can be heated on a gas hob using less energy.

"It's really brought to life all the things I had read in the paper recently," she said.