This is my first review of The Homebuilding & Renovating Show 2007. I’ve split it up cos there’s a lot to get through. I’m only gonna list points that I found interesting or relevant and not describe everything in detail.

From the second I entered the hall I was picking up leaflets and brochures from Ground Source Heat Pumps, Solar Collectors, Natural Slate to Building Estimating Software. After about an hour I stopped to catch my breath and found out that I’d covered only about a fifth of the hall if I was lucky!! Just as well I was going for 2 days

I had to go to some of the seminars I planned on seeing, if nothing else for the break from the rushing around brochure pilfering. I found the seminar section and sat down to a seminar on the Eco Home, “A Guide to Ecological Home Design and Sustainable Construction“. That’s what this blog post is all about.

This was given on behalf of the Energy Savings Trust(www.est.org.uk) by a consultant from ‘Sustain’(www.sustainmagazine.com).

By 2010 or 2011 he anticipated that all new buildings would have to use some form of renewable energy.

Sustainable Home Core Concepts

The basic rules/things to consider when creating a sustainable home are;

• The orientation of the home. South facing is best for rooms used during the day(living room, dining room) and north side for the seldom used/night time rooms(bedrooms, garage).
• The layout of the house
• Insulation. Some houses are so ‘super insulated‘ that they are very close to being classed as ‘passive heating‘. These require no heat source other than body heat, heat from cooking boiling the kettle, etc. I’d never heard of this before and it seems like something to aim for!
• Ventilation. What is the point in heating your house up and then opening your windows cos you’re too hot and want some fresh air! Air circulation is what you should aim for, but this shouldn’t be cold air. You want to aim for something that maybe filters external air and warms it up before it enters the house.
• Heating. Use efficient heating, a condensing boiler is the most efficient gas boiler available today. But there are other sustainable alternatives to using gas which are effectively free; will be in another post, so watch out for that!
• Lighting and appliances. Low energy light bulbs, led lights, the ‘best’ electrical appliances you can find. When picking an appliance you shouldn’t just go for the highest ‘A’ rated one that you can find!!! The ‘A’ rating tells you how efficient it is, it has no bearing whatsoever on how much energy it uses! You need to find out how much energy it uses in a year. You should buy a fridge that fits your needs, if you buy a nice big fridge and don’t fill it, it will waste money and energy, exactly the same as a freezer.

Read part 2 of this post…

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