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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 [...] The Van Midden house is at the Lembas Organics farm at the Bridge of Muchalls, Stonehaven. It is a very low energy house due to high levels of insulation and the use of timber I beams to reduce thermal bridging. The external rain screen is Sitka spruce with an organic paint finish. The central [...] 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 [...] This timber post and beam house in Aberfeldy pioneered “breathing construction” in the UK. Designed by Gaia Architects and built in 1992 this well insulated passive solar house also has a wood burning stove and stack effect cooling for summer. The building materials used were chosen for being non-toxic and natural. See more on [...] 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 [...]
the front of the house with double storey sun space One of the first UK examples of a super low energy Passivhaus has recently been completed at Denby Dale in south Yorkshire. It is interesting in several respects The walls have a stone outer skin, (on the insistence of the planners) 300mm of wall [...] This 122 m² passive solar house in Montrose was the winner of the Angus Design Award 2006. It is a post and beam structure of Douglas fir and has larch cladding with breathing wall construction. The timber is untreated. The roof is of slate and carries a solar collector for domestic hot water. designer Neil [...] October 2009 Set on a windswept hillside overlooking Scapa Flow is what is probably the UK’s most northerly straw bale house. At the stage of being wind and weather tight but not yet plastered internally, this is an example of a building with very low embodied energy. Even the footings avoid using concrete, [...] September ’11
Constructing with FSC timber (or another accreditation organisation such as PEFC) is potentially one of the greenest ways of building for several reasons.more +/-» However, the UK seems to have a rather backward, or at least over-cautious attitude towards timber construction and this is outlined below. Grading timber There are [...] sourcing timber Sourcing sustainably produced timber and manufactured timber building products requires checking the following - Was the timber sustainably grown? How far has it travelled? Does it contain chemicals such as adhesives or timber treatment? The FSC Woodmark or the PEFC stamp are the most reliable means to know that the timber [...] 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 2010 Eco-house design is a fairly recent development which started getting off the ground in the UK during the mid 1990s. more +/-» Although you will probably end up using an architect or designer for your final plans there is no substitute for being clear about what you want. Especially with eco-house design, you [...] 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 much [...] The concept of ‘sick building syndrome’ has now moved from speculation into widespread acceptance with several well designed studies showing how people can react badly towards certain aspects of poorly designed buildings. This subject has several partly overlapping areas air quality problems associated with dampness microbe allergens poor ventilation chemical pollution pollution from building [...] |
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