Imagine strolling down a weed-covered trail that leads to a deserted mine while learning about coal from elderly residents in a former mining town. Or experimenting with different natural dyes and seeing how they react with wood. Or even building a miniature model of your dream house and exploring how it fits with other houses and the environment.
These are some of the activities open to participants of summer camps organized by HAND initiative e.V. (汗得學社), a non-profit organization devoted to energy education since its inception in 2002. The camps take place in August.
Founded by Wei Ren-jheng (韋仁正) and Hu Hsiang-ling (胡湘玲) while they both were studying in Germany, the initiative is rooted in the couple’s experience renovating their 170-year-old German house using traditional construction methods and energy-saving ideas with the help of their neighbors. Focusing on issues surrounding architecture, energy and sustainability, HAND, which stands for humanity, alternatives, nature and dialogue, has developed a variety of programs, projects and events designed for a wide variety of participants — from architecture and design students and professionals to children.
Photo courtesy of HAND Iniative, e.V.
Wei, CEO of the organization, says it is important to expose these issues to children in a manner that goes beyond the classroom.
For example, the summer camps, which begin in August and are open to students between the fourth and seventh grades, provide practical knowledge about how to use tools and building equipment. Games and other activities will also be used to provide students with a deeper understanding of renewable energy, sustainable architecture and how both relate to their community. When they return home, they can use their new-found knowledge to influence their family.
“We’d like to think of children as delegates from their families,” Wei says. “They come to learn about their responsibility in creating a space and changing it for the better and gain confidence in their abilities to carry out that responsibility.”
Photo courtesy of HAND Initiative, eV
BUILDING HOUSES
The non-profit emphasizes the value of labor, and operates on the premise that physical engagement facilitates a deeper understanding of the subject being discussed. Or, in Wei’s words, the goal is to make everyone “a doer, not an advocator.”
One of the organization’s major projects is building energy-efficient houses using traditional construction methods and natural materials such as timber and clay. Each project is a joint effort between volunteers and residents, with the importance of teamwork consistently highlighted.
Photo courtesy of HAND Initiative, eV
In 2003, the organization’s staff and volunteers collaborated with locals to set up homes for victims of the 921 Earthquake in a Bunun (布農) village in Nantou County. They later traveled to Drushnaja in Russia, where they built houses for the residents of Chernobyl, who were resettled in non-contaminated areas. In Aceh, Indonesia, they erected four houses in 2006 to accommodate survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Wei says that participation is the key word in these projects, allowing participants to understand that having a home is a basic right.
“Everyone can build a house. It is not only for rich people and land developers. Oddly, people in Taiwan work hard, pay a lot of money for a home, but still live in poorly designed, unhealthy environments that consume lots of energy,” he says.
Photo courtesy of HAND Initiative, eV
In 2011, HAND launched the Solar Library and Energy-Optimized House (Solar LEO House), a two-story building located at Youth Park (青年公園) in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華). Consuming 80 percent less energy than the average Taiwanese home, it has no air conditioning, yet stays cool during the hot summer months. It includes a public library on the ground floor and an educational center on the top floor.
Built with reinforced concrete, the house is a comfortable living environment all year round with well-planned designs and utilizes natural insulation material as well as natural paints made from lime, water and pigments.
“It shows that there is really no need to make many changes and modifications. We can use the way that is familiar to everyone [to build an energy-efficient house],” Wei says.
Photo courtesy of HAND Initiative, eV
COMMUNITY EFFORT
Beyond Taipei, HAND has branched out to the nation’s rural communities. Part of this year’s summer camps, for example, will take place at Ganlin Elementary School (柑林國小) in Shuangsi (雙溪), New Taipei City. Formerly a major coal mining center, Shuangsi has long been in decline, changing from a thriving town that never slept to a quiet hamlet inhabited by fewer than 200 villagers, mostly elderly people and children.
Hu, the organization’s director, says the town and its residents are valuable assets as witnesses to the rise and fall of the mining industry. And to give back to the community, for each child enrolled at the summer camp, HAND will allow one student at Ganlin Elementary School to join the camp for free.
In the historic town of Dasi (大溪), Taoyuan, the organization set up a work station that functions as a factory, educational center and bookstore. Workshops, book fairs and other activities are held to encourage the participation of residents and students, while all kinds of tools and equipment are being made at the station, such as the wooden shelves used to support solar electric systems for a new initiative, Taiwan Independent Power Plants (TIPPS, 一人一千瓦).
SOLAR POWER
Co-founded by members of Homemakers United Foundation (主婦聯盟環境保護基金會), Taiwan Thousand Miles Trail Association (台灣千里步道協會) and other organizations, TIPPs is envisioned as a social enterprise which can turn individuals into energy producers by harvesting sunlight at home. With a minimum investment of NT$100,000, anyone can be a “shareholder,” while people with a rooftop to spare can rent out their space to produce electricity. All the generated power will then be sold to Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台灣電力公司), and the earnings will be used for further investment and as dividends paid to shareholders.
So far, TIPPs has more than 60 investors, and by the end of this month, there will be 35 to 40 rooftops using solar panels to generate about 300 kilowatts per hour of electricity in various parts of the country, including Yilan County, Taoyuan, Tainan and New Taipei City.
Hu expects to have 200 rooftops producing 2 megawatts per hour by the end of this year.
To the committed environmentalist, the goal is not to put solar electric systems on every rooftop, but to educate the public about clean, renewable energy in practical terms.
“It is all part of the process to foster an energy-literate society. It is only when people start to take action and get their hands dirty that they can truly care for and understand the issues involved,” Hu says.
For more information on TIPPs, visit: www.tipps.com.tw. More information about HAND’s various undertakings, including the Solar LEO House (open to the public) can be obtained at its Web site, www.hand.org.tw.
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