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With energy costs spiraling, ensuring your home has optimum thermal performance, making it as cheap as possible to heat, cool and light, is vital. BuildHome looks at sustainable home building, covering everything from insulation to shading, to show you how you can achieve maximum energy efficiency – and comfort. For the novice owner-builder, or those seeking an economical way to have a home of their own, a pre-fabricated home can be a good choice. Basically, the main components are built in a factory and then delivered to your site for assembly. Then there are kit homes, which also appeal to many first-time owner-builders. They are built like a traditional home but just about everything you need to construct and finish the home is delivered to site as a package. We examine the benefits of both approaches. And we also explore an exciting new trend – the garden studio.