GREEN STUFF

Insulation – Highly insulated and sealed building – First and foremost we should reduce the amount of energy your home requires by highly insulating and good detailing to form an air tight fabric.

Heat recovery ventilation system – eliminates the need for trickle vents; reuses warm air from kitchens and bathrooms and re-circulates to the cooler rooms.

Thermal mass – dense block on the inner skin stores heat during the daytime and releases the heat at night helping to maintain a constant internal temperature.

Recycled and sustainable materials – A little thought when sourcing materials can often have far reaching benefits.

Solar water heating – A proven source of water heating, would usually direct the hot water generated into a thermal store so reducing the demand from fossil fuel boilers.

Green roof – a sedum planted roof gives increased insulation, reduces rainwater run off, reduces maintenance, achieves a potentially longer life than a slate roof, provides a natural habitat and looks pretty nice too.

Rainwater recycling – From diverting rainwater from your drain pipes into a water butt, to underground storage tanks and recycled water for WC flushing

Photovoltaic Panels – As feed in tariffs have all but disappeared these need to be carefully considered, but the much reduced installation costs mean they are still worth considering if used in combination with heat pumps for example; heat when the suns shining and store that heat in the houses thermal mass.

Wind Turbines –  The small domestic installations have proved over time to not be cost effective and disappeared from the marketplace but if you have the land and location for a larger installation they can be very effective.

Ground source heat pumps – Dependent on particular ground conditions but if suitable very effective especially for under floor heating.

Biomass boilers – trees can be re-grown, unlike fossil fuels, biomass boilers are becoming ever more popular and user friendly.