Although not self built, the two passivhauses at Ebbw Vale may be very relevant to many self builders. Built in 2010 as show houses mainly for the attention of housing associations, they are attractive and innovative while being relatively modest. The 3 bed Larch House is clad with a locally sourced larch rain screen and [...]
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Bringing existing houses up to a high standard of energy efficiency is a much greater challenge than with new ones. This particular example of eco renovation is outstanding because of the way it will achieve a net zero carbon rating while at the same time reaching CSH level 6. Not only that, it has been [...] The Tree House in Clapham, London is a recently completed and very elegant example of a self built detached house. It has, on occasion, been open to the public as part of the London Open House programme. Situated on a small urban plot of land dominated by a large sycamore tree it has taken [...] October '09 Jim and Jo Monahan are nearing completion of their passive solar house in Spinningdale, Sutherland. This is a timber frame house which utilizes roundwood for many of the structural members. This is a way of using timber at its maximum strength because it is not cut across the grain. The timber framing [...] October 2009 This low energy house is set on a hill overlooking the sea near Stonehaven. Its clean and simple lines echo the vernacular of the area although it is essentially a very modern building based on passive solar construction. The walls are double skin aerated concrete block with 300mm of insulation, achieving a [...] Evanton, October 2009 This passive solar, larch clad timber frame house has recently been completed. It is highly glazed on the south elevation and has a concrete floor slab for thermal mass. It has high levels of cellulose insulation (Warmcell). Heating is by an air source heat pump in conjunction with a solar panel, [...] Aberfeldy, October 2009 This is a timber frame house of 76 sq,m. built in 2001. In terms of heating it benefits from its double storey living area facing south and the limited amount of glazing to the north. There is 200mm cellulose insulation in the roof, 150mm in the floor and 145mm in the [...] October ’09 Home of Alexander and Vinny Burnett, Kashentroch is an elegant and spacious open plan timber frame house in a beautiful setting close to the Dee. The original part of the house (with the pitched roof on the right of the picture), built about 5 years ago, has recently had an addition of [...] ECOS, (formerly known as the Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development) is a charity which has been behind several green house building initiatives. Although not self-build, their houses are excellent examples of what is possible and are open to viewing on certain occasions. At present there are two schemes which are complete or nearing completion and [...] One of the most recent cohousing schemes to get off the ground is LILAC in Leeds. They are committed to ecologically sound building and have an interesting ownership structure, See the comment below from Martin about a possible new scheme in the Wye Valley Recreating the village Although very strong on the continent (15% of new [...] October 2009 On the Hill of Bandodle, Aberdeenshire, stands a beautiful timber frame house designed by architect Genevieve Jones for her family. Incorporating high levels of insulation (in the form of 350mm of shoddy obtained from Elgin woolen mill) and mainly locally sourced materials, Larch, Douglas fir and Caithness slate, the house also has [...] Hedgehog Self Build Co-op, Hogs Edge, Brighton august 2009 Started in the late 1990s this development of ten timber frame houses is based on the Walter Segal approach to construction. They incorporate high levels of Warmcell insulation and benefit from south facing solar gain. The living roofs are of Sedum. It may [...] A very interesting terrace of three houses, on a curved road junction, has recently been completed in this Somerset village. Some of the main features of the design are: Very high insulation levels provided by insulating concrete forms (ICF) with added exterior face insulation Structural insulated panel (SIP) roofs Eco-slab ground floors and upper [...] Walter Segal self build This is made up of 3 adjoining houses which were built by three families, starting in 1993. They were constructed according to the Walter Segal self build approach to construction and incorporated a number of ecological principles: High insulation values. Most of the external surfaces have 200mm of insulation, some [...] Self build eco houses in the Field of Dreams, Findhorn Foundation Over the last decade or so the green building movement in the UK has gone from being fringe to mainstream. Architects, builders and suppliers are falling over each other to declare their green credentials Self builders have something of a tradition of trying [...]
Earth Heart is a community of 22 people in 8 homes based on a large converted farm in Derbyshire set up in 1998 around home education. Although not initially concerned with eco-build, they have embraced the concept thoroughly during their upgrading of an old farm house and several outbuildings into dwellings. There [...]
The five earth sheltered houses. Image by WindandSun who provided the PV installation The Hockerton Housing Project is the UK’s first (and almost only) earth sheltered housing development. It is a remarkable place, not only because of the five houses which are built into the side of a hill and are almost zero energy [...] ‘Energy use’ is usually associated with how much energy is used to construct a new building. However, this is only part of the story. Most buildings get altered and repaired and redecorated a considerable number of times during their lifetime and taken to an extreme, some houses are constantly having ‘makeovers’. This can vastly increase [...] October 2009 The Findhorn Foundation near Fores in the North East of Scotland has a couple of interesting areas of eco-housing and a whole approach to living lightly on the earth including 750kW of electrical energy from 4 wind turbines recently installed for Findhorn Wind Park Ltd which is the trading arm of Findhorn Foundation. [...] January 2010 Building Regulations deal with whether the building is built properly and is safe and energy efficient etc. more+/-» They are not to be confused with Planning Consent (which is to do with the size, location and appearance of a house). The building inspectors are either employed by the local council [...] autumn 2009
from left to right – individual houses, the communal village green area, bungalows, the terrace of houses and, (bright red), the flats above the workshops and community centre CLICK ABOVE FOR 3D PANORAMIC IMAGE WITH DRAG AND ZOOM This is one of the most interesting recent examples of group self-build in the [...] |
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