Advantages
Roof windows may be useful for half a dozen reasons:
to let light into a room more +/-» to provide a view more +/-» for ventilation. Most proprietary roof windows such as Velux have built in ventilators. as a means of escape[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] - Structural means whereby [in the event of fire] a safe route or routes is or are provided for persons to travel from any point in a building to a place of safety.[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] – Structural means [...]
Overview
There are two main green aspects to lighting.
how to maximise natural lighting (to minimise energy usage) how to reduce energy consumption when artificial lighting is used
There are several factors to consider with natural lighting. If it comes via a clear window (rather than a light tube) then there will be:
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timber house in the Field of Dreams, Findhorn FoundationThe Findhorn FoundationThe Findhorn Foundation is a large community near Inverness. There is a strong emphasis on sustainable building and living. is a large community near Inverness. There is a strong emphasis on sustainable building and living.
See some of the wealth of interesting UK timber designs here.
advantages and drawbacks
Timber can provide some of the greenest solutions to house building for several [...]
Have fun designing your house.
There are several worthwhile advantages if you do your own design work (or at least part of it) -
it may be the only way to get what you want. you achieve a kind of creative act that you can do in very few realms of your life. you [...]
Although architects have been quite slow on learning about green design principles there has recently been a bit of a scramble to catch up and they all now claim to know about the subject. In fact most architects practices leave the technical work to architectural technicians they employ. It may pay to ask quite detailed [...]
Permissions and regulations
The two main permissions you will most often require for building work are Planning Permissionthe legal basis for being allowed to do some form of development such as building a house. (not to be confused with Building RegulationsThese are the legal regulations which govern how a house is constructed. (not to be confused with Planning Permission which is about whether you are allowed to build the house at all or what it might look like) see Building Regulations) which is all about whether the building is properly constructed). see more on Planning Permission
and Building Regulations consent.
Planning Permission deals with the overall issue of what kind of houses are permissible in which area. The planning officers are employed by the local council.
Building Regulations deal with whether the building [...]
There are many purposes a window can serve and several of these have important ecological considerations:
Letting light in Collecting solar heat Providing a view Acting as a door The visual character of a house
Windows may have associated drawbacks to consider:
They may let in too much light at certain times Too [...]
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