INVITATION Multi-Generational Living - Life Partners - The concept of a future worth living

17. September 2013, Wellings  Parkhotel,  Neuendickstrasse 96, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort, Germany

Admittedly - this is not a novel idea. Three years ago, representatives of the Student Union brought this project to the table with the STATTBAU GmbH in Berlin. The approach - students and senior citizens supporting each other in a common living space. At that point in time, the senior citizens in particular had great reservations...

Since then, the framework conditions have moved on. According to STATTBAU, the senior citizens had undergone a change in mindset; pilot projects on a shared llifestyle were successful. The demand for social housing is huge for the coming years. A student/senior citizen residential accommodation is thus a key to creating a "better quality of living" within these "constraints".

The result - LIFE PARTNERS: Students and seniors supporting one another in everyday life – sharing energy, ideals, experience, in short - a zest for life.

In collaboration with WELKER FOUNDATION Duisburg, we have developed a concept for a former care home for the elderly in Duisburg and had it evaluated.

The German PARITÄTISCHE WOHLFAHRTSVERBAND (Charities Association) - the INSTITUT FÜR ARBEIT UND TECHNIK (Institute for work and technology) - the BUNDESMINISTERIUM FÜR VERKEHR, BAU UND STADTENTWICKLUNG (BMVBS) (Federal Ministry of transport, building and Urban Affairs) came to the same conclusion:
The concept is not just a "nice idea" but economically and socially cost-effective.

We want to introduce precisely this approach to our target audience: For cooperatives, housing associations, municipal construction companies, towns and communities. It is not just pure theory, but can become reality with your help, in appropriate locations and within a very short timescale.
 
The following presentations will proved a scientific introduction within the context of our theme of "MultiGenerationalLiving":

"Modern technology for MultiGenerationalLiving"
by Prof. Dr. Viktor Grinewitschus, (Institute of energy systems and energy management of the University of Ruhr-West)

"Living - young and old"
by Michael Cirkel, (Institute for Work and Technology - Gelsenkirchen)

There will also be a finance presentation on:

“Routes to financing using public funding”
By Stefan Kunz, Funding Advisor of the NRW Bank & Jürgen Jankowski, Funding Advisor of the NRW Bank, Social Housing Funding

The audience will include German representatives from communities, mayors, social services, housing associations, headteachers, universities and student organisations.

UK delegates in a relevant area or sector are welcome - Places are limited!

Whilst the conference language is German, translation services will be provided.

UK contact for more information:
Dr Chris Thomas, T: 01223 440024, E: chris@miltoncontact.com
Ambassador for Tollé Green Architecture

Tollé's Team Building at Kamp Lintfort

I was going to meet the team! That and the address of the hotel was all I really knew. Sandra and Leif Tolle had been involved in a whirlwind of activity in the past months. The new Düsseldorf office was now up and running. This was going to be the opportunity for colleagues from Verden, Düsseldorf and of course Cambridge to get to know each other.

Driving my Mother's old but trusty Audi, I found the Wellings Parkhotel in the ancient town of Kamp Lintfort, Germany. It was good to meet up again with Sandra & Leif.

View over the small lake of the Wellings Parkhotel

They had to disappear briefly for a catch-up from a prior meeting and this was a great opportunity to resume my friendship with their daughter by trying out the Hotel's range of small exercise toys. Scattered throughout the corridor outside the seminar room were devices to test your balance. It was almost with regret that we parted so the actual team building could go ahead with the adults.

Eric Borges was tasked with bringing this geographically-, personality- and skill-diverse collection of individuals together. We were 12 in all: Architects, project managers, designers, external contractors and office support. I was very familiar with the concept of such events from my Dale Carnegie days. You can always learn something new, tackle challenges and, above all, have fun together. Two of  Eric's exercises are embedded in my mind as achieving these goals.

"Blind Scribe" is my name for the first exercise. Each team of six was tasked with using 6 ropes to write the five letter word 'More' as accurately as possible, whilst blindfolded. We did have a trial period of 20 minutes with one rope to come up with a strategy.

The opposition debates whether the letter "L" is in the word "More" during their planning exercise

Now, I do not want to give our secrets away, suffice it to say that our team (Angelika, Anton, Laura, Leif, Ralph and myself) clearly had the better solution. Our rapid-fire brainstorming and trialing resulted in a strategy where Anton and I developed an intimate knowledge of our other team members legs and feet by touch. Fired on by shouts of encouragement and great hilarity all round, we clearly achieved a very legible written out 'More'.

What "more" can you say? Exactly as we had intended of course, despite Eric's reservations!

"Parallel Construction" was our last exercise. Given identical materials, our two teams had to build vehicles as similar as possible. Only one communicator from each team was allowed exchange information verbally with the other - and without seeing each other's work. In the end we had to admit: Though we had originated the idea of a flood navigating raft, with great stability and integrity, the vehicle created by Holger, Wolfgang, Markus, Eva, Marius & Sandra, had more style.

our Mark I

The design improved Mark II

Most importantly; we now could put names to faces; we had shared laughter and competition; we had broken down barriers to future communication. Note that all the German participants had given up a Friday before a long holiday weekend for this full day activity - not something everyone is willing to do.

Thanks to Leif & Sandra for organising this event. I think the farewell photo says it all!

I travelled to Germany by train this time, instead of flying. The journey is described in conversations and pictures here:
http://miltoncontact.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-trans-national-train-journey-in.html

Peterborough City and its housing strategy

As a city, Peterborough has aspirations for growth, raising the overall skill level within the city and attracting more influx of workers, residents and students. In particular, the city is working towards becoming the centre for cleantech and environment and has just received £3 from the Technology Strategy Board to assist its Future City ideas (http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/news/latest_news/2013/april/peterborough_secures_%C2%A33million.aspx). The city’s aspirations are summarised in the comprehensive Peterborough Core Strategy Development Plan Document (2011) at http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/pdf/Plan-policy-ldf-cs-adoptedCS.pdf.

Photo: Peterborough Hampton

Peterborough conducts a regular Strategic Housing Market Assessment.  The first one was published in 2008 and an update was completed in 2010.: http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/pdf/housing-shma-peterboroughhna_part1.pdf.

With the help of this and similar documents, Peterborough can identify the needs for successful housing growth and development. Current planning is over 15 years, with a review planned in 2014/2015 to take the city up to 2031.

Affordable homes UK

According to the UK Housing Survey, 2012 briefing paper, the UK construction market is still behind the target for new housing to fulfil housing needs. (http://www.york.ac.uk/res/ukhr/ukhr1112/UKHRbriefing2012.pdf). This is also reflected in a continued deficit in the construction of affordable housing where there is a 7 year low. Cuts in public spending have not been compensated by rises in private construction. The Homes and Communities Agency has an Affordable Homes Program (2011-2015) that attempts to address this with an investment of £4.5bn (http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/affordable-homes). The objective is to achieve 170,000 new affordable homes by 2015, primarily through housing associations.

Affordable Homes Peterborough

Anne Keogh, Housing Strategy Manager for Peterborough City Council, gave me some of her time to fill me in on the approach to housing in Peterborough, with particular reference to affordable homes.

In line with the rest of the UK, Peterborough has to tackle a lack of affordable housing. According to the finding of the 2010 SHMA update the city currently requires 1008 new affordable homes per year to meet current and newly arising housing need. Peterborough City Council itself does not own any stock; 10,000 properties had been transferred to the Cross Keys Homes housing association in 2004 following a ballot of tenants to decide on their landlord. The construction of affordable homes therefore has to come from the housing association sector.

Peterborough City Council influences the provision of affordable homes through its requirement, that new developments of 15 dwellings or more should contain 30% affordable homes. However, this is viewed pragmatically and with a certain degree of flexibility so that the overall ratio is achieved. Housing associations can also benefit from recycled capital grant funding, where the proceeds of sales of existing properties built with funding in the past are used to build new affordable homes.

In 2011-2012, 767 (gross) houses were built in Peterborough, of which 114 were affordable homes and suggested figures for 2012-2013 are circa 770 homes in total of which 276 homes have been confirmed as  affordable homes. Present and future figures (i.e. after this article) can be found at http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/housing/housing_strategy_team/affordable_housing_delivery.aspx.

One of the upcoming developments is the “Vista” development by Morris Homes, a Carbon Challenge Site at Code 6 where 256 homes are to be built. Forty per cent of the homes – 72 houses and 48 apartments – will be offered under social rented or shared ownership terms to people on the housing needs list. This is enabled by a grant of £7.8 million from the HCA’s National Affordable Housing Programme 2009/10. http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/news/latest_news/2011/february/peterborough_leads_%E2%80%98zero_carbo.aspx.

A recent change making an impact on affordable rental homes is that, where these were previously set as “social rents” or “target rents”, the calculation has now been replaced with “affordable rents”. Affordable rents can be set  at a maximum of 80% of the market value and are therefore higher than previously. An illustration is given here http://www.guinnesspartnership.com/~/media/files/Publications/Guinness%20South/Leaflets/Affordable_Rents_explained_Fact_Sheet_Final.ashx.

Peterborough City Council was one of the first to adopt the Local Authority Mortgage Scheme. In partnership with the local Lloyds TSB, they set aside £1m for the “Local Lend a Hand” Scheme. In this scheme, subject to Lloyds TSB's usual lending criteria, borrowers are able to select any property within the local area, up to a maximum loan size of £123,500.  First time buyers put down five per cent of the property price instead of the standard 25%. Peterborough Council provides a cash-backed indemnity of up to 20% as additional security. The local authority then earns interest on this amount. The first time buyer thus owns the property in its entirety and has access to a range of products at a lower rate of interest than would normally be available (http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/housing/local_lend_a_hand.aspx).

Housing for Students and Senior Citizens in Peterborough

Peterborough is up-skilling itself. In August 2008 a joint venture between Anglia Ruskin University and Peterborough Regional College was formally established to create University Centre Peterborough. http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/your_university/anglia_ruskin_campuses/associates_east/university_centre_peterborough.html. It offers degrees from Accounting to Archaeology, Computer Science to Criminology.

Currently most of the students are existing residents of Peterborough. The first privately built student’s residence is Taverners Hall with 54 units (http://www.tavernershall.co.uk/). As Peterborough becomes established, demand by an influx of students from beyond Peterborough will expand.

For those looking towards enjoying retirement, there is also the thought about the additional needs and care that may arise with increasing years. One of the solutions is Extra Care which offers self contained  apartments within a designated complex. The ideal is to ensure that these include a mix of social spaces, shops, restaurants and activities near the accommodation. There are currently five extra care schemes in Peterborough providing a total of 231 units of accommodation. A further scheme for 79 units of extra care is currently under construction and should be completed in the early part of 2014/15.

Summary

Peterborough is an aspiring city, striving to up-skill itself, both in education and in becoming a future green city. The city’s housing strategy also looks to address the deficit in affordable homes. It is achieving this through flexible planning policies that ensure affordable housing is built by the local private developers and housing associations.

A Miscellany of Funding and Tax Breaks in Cleantech/Sustainability

Introduction

I’ve heard some interesting talks giving examples of successful funding as well as hearing of a variety of funding opportunities. Below is a miscellany of insights I have come across. Some suggest sources of funding, others give examples of how individual companies gained their funding. Others may be added from time to time.

Grants and Funding Finder – Envirocluster Peterborough

This is a brilliant overview of grant and funding opportunities in the sustainable/cleantech sector!

There were 126 different funding sources listed in March 2013 alone, so go and visit http://www.envirocluster.co.uk/knowledge-centre/funding/ 

Venture Capital

Presenter Aine Shaffrey, Greencoat Capital at Cleantech Route to Finance Event, 28.02.13

Greencoat Capital is a Venture Capital investor in the renewables and cleantech sector. They are advisors to the ESB Novusmodus LP, a €200m cleantech fund. ESB, the leading Irish utility is the sole investor in the fund and provides Greencoat Capital with a unique platform of support and know-how.

Greencoat Capital have an EU focus and provide €3m to €20m equity investments. Their aim is to have a significant minority position and look towards to a 5+yr investment horizon.

• They do invest in development and commercialisation 
• They do not support large infrastructure projects or one off projects 

http://www.greencoat-capital.com/

Joint Venture

Presenter Julian O’Neil, Finance Director, Biogen at Cleantech Route to Finance Event, 28.02.13

Biogen is the No 1 food waste anaerobic digestion operator in the UK. Their route to £24m Joint Venture funding resulted in a good partnership with the Keir construction group.

To gain the trust and positive involvement of a larger funding partner in a Joint Venture, the key lessons were:

• Your demonstrated excellence and expertise is critical 
• Have a proven track record of success 
• Know your business model 
• Be the one everyone wants to work with 

http://www.biogen.co.uk/ 

AD (Anaerobic Digestion) Loan Fund, Defra

I came across this one by chance whilst browsing the web re Anaerobic Digetsion.
The Anaerobic Digestion Loan Fund (ADLF) is a £10m fund designed to support the development of new AD capacity in England. The fund aims to support 300,000 tonnes of annual capacity to divert food waste from landfill by 2015.

The ADLF offers direct financial support to organisations building new AD capacity in England. http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/ad-loan-fund

Crowd Funding

Crowd funding is a new idea which relies on getting large numbers of small investors to provide capital. An example in the green energy sector is Abundance https://www.abundancegeneration.com/

A general overview can be found here 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd_funding

Investors

Presenter Peter Magowan, Amantys at Cleantech Route to Finance Event, 28.02.13

Peter Magowan talked us through the investment history of Amantys, a company set up specialising in power switching, e.g. in electric vehicle and high voltage DC. The company started with a single Angel investor to provide seed money. Once the system was established, more funding was required to expand. They excited the interest of two investors, ARM and Moonray Investors. Success in getting investment was due the combination of a demonstrable product with potential for growth and synergies with Moonray who already had an energy interest in the form of Moonray Energy.

Low Carbon KEEP Programme

Presenter Carole Randall, Low Carbon KEEP Programme Manager, Envirocluster Meeting 13.02.13

Until December 2014, there will be €7.6m of funding for business collaborating with any UK institution. To date 38 projects have been approved in all business sectors.

The funding is accessible to SMEs in Essex, Suffolk, Herts, Beds, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire and can be used with any university/research centre in the UK.

The benefits are as follows:

• To business 
• To our knowledge base 
• To the graduate employed as part of the process 

More information can be found at www.anglia.ac.uk/lowcarbon.

Low Carbon Innovation Fund

Presenter Laura Chellis, UEA, Low Carbon Innovation Fund at Envirocluster event 12.09.12

The Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) is a venture capital fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It received £12.5m from the ERDF which will be matched with over £17m private sector investment – generating a total over £30m of investment in the East of England. The Fund runs until December 2015.
https://www.lowcarbonfund.co.uk/LCIF/Index.action 

The fund makes early-stage equity investments into small and medium sized enterprises ("SMEs") within the East of England that are developing new and innovative products or processes in a low carbon, environmentally sensitive manner.

 

R&D Tax Credits and Patent Box

Presenter Kevin Edwards, MHA MacIntyre Hudson, Envirocluster Meeting 13.02.13

R&D Tax Credits

The UK Government wishes to help innovative businesses and has therefore created R&D Relief schemes. If your company is liable to pay Corporation Tax then you may be able to reduce your tax bill (see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ct/forms-rates/claims/randd.htm).

In particular, the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Scheme, for every £100 you spend on qualifying costs, you could receive an additional £125 relief from Corporation Tax. Some of the relevant features are (not exclusive):

• Only companies can apply 
• The relief is retrospective 
• The research has to be innovative, leading either to appreciable improvement or built in a fundamentally different manner. 
• You need a competent professional in the field 
• Must be able to document methodology, process and results. 

Costs that qualify for R&D are, for example:

• Staffing 
• Software or consumables 
• Sub-contracted R&D (-65% of labour costs) 
• Externally provided workers. 

Patent Box

From the 1st April 2013, HM Treasury is introducing the Patent Box scheme, where companies can apply a reduced 10% Corporation Tax rate on profits from Patents and similar types of intellectual property. (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/patent_box.htm). 

Third Party Assistance with getting funding

Example Team Ventures

Presenter Simon Haworth, Team Ventures, at Cleantech Route to Finance Event, 28.02.13

Dr Simon Haworth founded Team Ventures Ltd, the European operation of BSG Team Ventures, and leads the Biotechnology and Cleantech practices for BSG Team Ventures worldwide. He also founded European early stage investor IPSO Ventures PLC and uses this experience to lead their Fundraising activities.

They build teams typically starting with the CEO or Board Chairman, and source equity for companies best able to use it. Their UK-based fundraising service sources new capital for growing companies - typically seeking $5m+ from US and UK sources.

Simon is also very knowledgeable about opportunities for new businesses accessing resources in China.

http://team-ventures.co.uk/simon-haworth.html

Example CSG - Capital Solutions Group

Presenter Colin Hayter, CSG at Envirocluster Event 12.09.12

CSG provided finance and routes to bring buyers and sellers together. The example given at this event was the BigBelly bin, where they had a 60% investment. BigBelly linked to councils who achieved a 90% saving on collection costs (http://www.bigbellysolar.co.uk/). http://www.csg-lease.co.uk/

Example Dr Alex Smeets, Cambridge Funding Solutions

Met at Cleantech event "Influencing the TSB’s Strategy for Innovation in the UK Cleantech Sector" 23.04.13

"Based in Cambridge UK, we specialise particularly in grants for technology research and development, such as the Technology Strategy Board's Grant for R&D, Collaborative R&D competitions and Small Business Research Initiative, as well as the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme and other programmes for the support of R&D and innovation. However, we can also help with other types of public sector grants." (http://www.cambridgefundingsolutions.co.uk/)

Previous articles on Tollé activities

Over the past year, I wrote a series of articles relating to activities for Tollé Green Architecture in my Miltoncontact blog. Below is a listing with the first paragraph for each article and the chance to follow a link to the full text.

Photo: Wimpole Hall during our visit there together

Investing time and money in a sustainable future

THURSDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2012

I had a meeting with the TSB in London, about the future for business in sustainable construction. What's more, they not only wanted to hear my opinions on problems to be tackled, they even offered a pot of 50m GBP I could tap into! Read More at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/investing-time-and-money-in-sustainable.html 

Fuel poverty-identifying solutions in the UK

MONDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2012

The SHIFT conference on Fuel Poverty-Identifying Solutions took place on 28th September 2012, in the Church House Conference Centre, just a stone’s throw away from Westminster Abbey. Energy Experts, government departments and representatives from a variety of housing associations provided a wide breadth of speakers on the importance of fuel poverty as an important factor in social housing and tackling our future energy savings plans in the light of the Green Deal. Read more at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/fuel-poverty-identifying-solutions-in-uk.html 

Germany-EoE links via Tollé Green Architecture

TUESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2012
A flat-lining EU economy, the construction industry in crisis. This is not a good time for an architect's visit to the UK, you might think. So why did Sandra & Leif Tollé come to Cambridge seeking meetings and with plans for a UK architectural practice (Tollé Green Architecture)? Add to this, their underlying ethos of social responsibility. Surely this was a no-brainer in the free-market UK economy currently led by a right-leaning government! Read more at

http://miltoncontact.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/germany-eoe-links-via-tolle-green.html

Looking back on Ecobuild 2012

THURSDAY, 17 MAY 2012
This year’s visit to Ecobuild in March on behalf of Tollé Green Architecture extended to two days due to the size of the exhibition and the interesting talks and seminars. A few personal impressions and images above follow.

The dramatic increase in popularity of Ecobuild 2012 was immediately apparent in the increasing crush on the Light Dockland’s Railway leading to Excel, where the event was taking place. Now the largest “green” exhibition in the world, Ecobuild 2012 filled both the exhibition halls of the venue. Read more at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/looking-back-on-ecobuild-2012.html 

Tollé Architects, visiting a great practice in Verden, Germany

MONDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2012 

Whilst Fritz-Dieter Tollé Architektur reads like a recommendation in German (Tollé looks like the German exclamation for Great!) it does happen to be apt, as I found out on my current visit to meet up with the next generation, Sandra and Leif Tollé on mutual business. Read more at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/tolle-architects-visiting-great.html

Ambassador to Tollé Green Architecture Blog

Since February 2012, my initial contact with Leif & Sandra Tollé has expanded into a role representing Tollé Green Architecture in the UK . This blog will reflect interesting events, subjects and people that I encounter as an ambassador for Tollé Green Architecture. 

Tollé Green Architecture (www.tollegreenarchitecture.co.uk) is a long term venture by Sandra & Leif Tollé in the UK. It is an architecture company with sustainability, ethical and social interests that extend to forging cross border links that include training and research.

Photo: view from Ely Cathedral