118 in focus

In Focus

Every month, we round up some of the UK’s best products and suppliers for self builders and home renovators. This issue, we put the spotlight on eco options for your project

Self builders are a pioneering, determined bunch, so it’s no surprise that they’ve long been at the vanguard when it comes to integrating green measures into their homes. Creating a truly ecofriendly house requires a holistic approach – taking in everything from architectural design through to the performance of the building fabric, the materials you choose, how they all fit together and the efficiency of the systems that provide your home’s heating and power.

Building a new house or undertaking a major retrofit gives you the opportunity to put your own stamp onto the place you live, plus insulate yourself against spiralling energy bills. In doing so, you’ll enjoy a comfortable, tailormade home with low running costs. And by selecting low-carbon, high-performance products and materials throughout, you can rest easy knowing you’ve done your bit to minimise the carbon that’s gone into constructing it, too. Here are five key considerations to bear in mind when aiming for a sustainable, low-energy home:

1. Take a fabric first approach that reduces energy use. The more highly insulated and airtight you can make your building in the first place, the lower its overall energy demand will be – and the better renewable systems, such as heat pumps, will perform. Your design team should also focus on reducing thermal bridging. This is where heat can escape through junctions between structural components, such as where walls interface with the windows, doors and roof structure.

2. Consider aiming for an eco standard such as Passivhaus or (for retrofits) AECB CarbonLite, to give focus to your decision-making. Passivhaus involves orienting the building in a way that will deliver solar heat gain in winter, and then keeping that warmth in with excellent insulation values, triple glazing, airtightness and the use of mechanical ventilation systems. So, it’s very focused on energy use once the building is completed. There are standards that consider wider sustainability issues, such as the Living Building Challenge.

3. Go for natural, low-carbon materials wherever possible. Natural products are often a good starting point both in terms of minimising embodied impact (the energy required to manufacture an item) and promoting a healthy living space. Think wood fibre and sheeps wool insulations, responsibly sourced timber, clay- or limebased plasters, and finishing materials with ultra-low VOCs (volatile organic compounds).