Contact →

Category: Podcast

  • HPH006 : How to Save Money When Buying Land – with Ted Stevens of NaSBA

    HPH006 : How to Save Money When Buying Land – with Ted Stevens of NaSBA

    Ted Stevens, Chairman of the National Self Build Association in the UK, gives his advice on how to find a good plot of land at a reasonable price. Plus, why Almere in Holland could be a blueprint for other large scale self build developments across the world.

     

    Interview with Ted Stevens

    Ted details how he became interested in construction at an early age, inspired by his technical drawing teacher at school. After running a student newspaper at university he then got a job at an architect’s magazine called Planning, before setting up his own marketing company. When an opportunity arose to sell his business and take early retirement, he seized it. However, the retirement didn’t follow! Over the years he’s renovated a few properties, but between 2004 and 2005 he built his own house and soon after that, he got a call from a friend who wanted him to oversee the publishing of Build It magazine. It was during this time that Ted realised nobody was championing the self build industry in the UK, which was when he got together with other key figures from the industry and the National Self Build Association was born.

     

    The Self Build Market is Small in The UK

    Ted reels off an amazing fact about the UK market: only 10% of new homes are built using various forms of self build. In most other developed countries that figure is between 30-50%. Ted explains that the process used to be simple and that you’d buy land from the local farmer and build your house. However, due to being slightly more populated and having slightly less land, this has gradually changed. The UK is also unusual when compared to its European neighbours, in that it has big national house building companies filling the space where the self builders might be.

     

    The Government is Keen to Diversify UK Housing Market

    The then Housing Minister Grant Shapps was shocked by this data and wanted to see much more self build delivered in the UK, perhaps increasing to 20% or more. This would mean that there wouldn’t be such a dependency on the national house building companies and it would also add variety to the new housing stock as self builders will have very different agendas (no shareholders to satisfy, etc.).

     

    Self Builders Don’t Tend to Move!

    With self build you put more in, but you also get more out. Ted highlights the fact that home owners move on average once every 6 years. Conversely, self builders move on average once every 25 years! It’s partly because or the blood, sweat and tears along the way and partly because you have a place that is purpose built to you – there is nothing else on the open market that meets these needs.

     

    ‘Self Build’ is a Misnomer

    Self build is not a great term to use as only 15% of people put one brick on top of the other. 85% take another route and they hire:

    • A kit home company. All they normally have to do is organise the concrete slab underneath.
    • An architect and builder.
    • The brick-layers, electricians, plumbers, etc. and they project manage them.
    • Professionals to do some of the work, while they do the rest.
    ‘Custom build’ is a term that better describes what most people do – you are commissioning and procuring a home custom built to you.

     

    Spend 3 Years Planning and Then 6-9 Months Building

    Ted likes the advice that Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud gives: spend 3 years building up your knowledge of exactly what you’re going to do and then nothing will go wrong and it will be built in 6-9 months. Doing it the other way around, with only three months of planning, it might take 3 years to build and cost twice as much! So preparation is everything.

    1. Go to see other self build projects
    2. Visit the exhibitions
    3. Read the self build books and magazines
    4. Do research on the internet
    5. Get advice from people who have been there and done it

     

    If Land Has Been Advertised, Expect to Pay More

    The easiest thing to do is sign up to a plot finding website. Unfortunately, you will then be in direct competition with the other people signed up to the service and inevitably the land will go to the highest bidder. The same is even true if you see land advertised by your local estate agent or in a local newspaper. Thus you need to be more innovative in your approach if you want to pick up a bargain.

     

    Be a Detective and Discover a Plot of Land!

    Ted looked at over 100 plots when he built his home. He says 90 of them were not places in which he wanted to live – they were next to railways, sewage farms etc. Ted reiterates that it’s very easy to find a rubbish plot that nobody wants! His strategy for buying land at a good price is to find it yourself.

    • Decide where you want to live. Narrow it down to a particular area or village, etc.
    • Order up a giant scale map of that area. In the UK, the Ordnance Survey maps cost about £75 each and are 2 metres by 2 metres, but they have every detail. Google Earth may work just as well.
    • Look at the map and work out where there might be a bit of land at the back of somebody’s house. Check out these areas on foot. If a large garden is overgrown, perhaps the owner is struggling to keep it up and may be willing to sell it to you? Don’t be afraid to knock on doors – they will probably say no but you’ll never know unless you try.
    It’s also worth posting up on Facebook that you’re looking for land in a particular area. Your friends or relatives, or people that they know, might be able to help you.


    The Self Build Portal

    The National Self Build Association has set up a website to help self builders in the UK. If you’re starting out, it’s got an interactive game that allows you to juggle the numbers and figure out what you can afford to buy at a particular location. The Self Build Portal is packed full of information and advice to help any would-be self builder.

     

    Green Belt vs Brown Field Sites

    Generally speaking, although there are plenty of exceptions to the rule, if a site has been built on before it is far easier to get permission to build on it again. Whereas building on green belt land, an area of outstanding natural beauty or a national park will be near impossible.

    Also be aware of defining boundaries. For example, villages and rural areas normally have, in planning terms, a red line drawn around them. If you purchase land outside these markers you will probably struggle to get planning permission. You can ask your local planning office for more information.

    Quite a popular route these days is to find a small bungalow or chalet that is falling apart and then you may be able to negotiate with planners about knocking it down and building a slightly bigger, new house.

     

    Almere in Holland – a Blueprint For Self Build Communities?

    Ted talks about an innovative project in Holland, where they are building an extension to the town of Almere. It will take 3000 new self build homes when complete, but midway through the development it is already regarded as architecturally diverse and a vibrant place to live. By doing a lot of planning upfront, the councillors were able to create a quick and easy process, with very few rules. Plots were divided up and priced on a proportional scale according to the amount of land required. Where planning permission had taken between 3-6 months, the turnaround was reduced to 3 days!  The key point is that they trusted the self builders not to create eyesores and the results speak for themselves.

     

    Self Build Towns Could Be The New Wave of Garden Cities

    People can be quite negative about planners, but good planners are some of the most visionary people going. A century ago it was planners (Sir Ebenezer Howard) who came up with the idea of garden cities. Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth were seen as both innovative and scary at the time. Nearly a century on and they are fantastic places to live. Could a self build development, like Almere, be exactly where we should be heading in the 21st century? Also, the bonus of self builders constructing their own town is that they are not just building a house but a community. They know their neighbours and they get on famously. They also play their part in delivering the services for the area and deciding where the amenities will be, etc.

     

    Ted’s Top Three Tips For Tackling a Custom Build Project

    1. Increase your knowledge by reading books from the people who have done it. Also visit as many self build projects as possible.
    2. Don’t expect it to happen overnight. It can be mentally and physically draining. Expect to make lots of decisions.
    3. Be innovative when it comes to finding and buying land as it can save you a lot of money. Be a detective!

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Ted Stevens.

     

    Please Connect With Me

  • HPH005 : The Passivhaus Standard #3 Retrofitting to Passivhaus (Passive House) – with Adam Dadeby from Passivhaus Homes

    HPH005 : The Passivhaus Standard #3 Retrofitting to Passivhaus (Passive House) – with Adam Dadeby from Passivhaus Homes

    Adam Dadeby from Passivhaus Homes talks about some of the challenges he faced when retrofitting his own home to the Passivhaus standard. He’s also co-author of a new book called The Passivhaus Handbook.

     

    Interview with Adam Dadeby

    Adam explains that it was while he was studying sustainablilty at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales that the Passivhaus standard caught his attention. He particularly liked the fact that it focusses on a narrow goal of energy usage, which is backed up by science and the practice of what works. It also thinks about how people use buildings and how occupants behave in buildings. Detail and quality are fundamental.

     

    Sustainability Approaches

    Adam gives examples of some of the other approaches he looked at in his studies, which include those that focus on Carbon more than energy (in terms of its resource usage during the lifetime of the building), those which are about natural materials and low embodied energy (low impact materials), and others which are absorbed by gadgetry and technology.

     

    The Code For Sustainable Homes

    In the UK, the Code For Sustainable Homes has up until now concentrated on Carbon. This has not had the desired effect, creating inefficient buildings plastered with PV and a woodchip board that no-one knows how to use or service. The Passivhaus approach is to address the fabric, to get the building to demand as little energy as possible. The choice of how you then provide that little heat that is required is a secondary consideration.

     

    Energy Performance Standards

    Adam explains the benefits of aiming for a fabric focussed energy performance standard.

    If you’re retrofitting there is also the EnerPHit standard.

     

    Insulation Constraints on His Retrofit Project

    Using natural, low embodied energy and low impact materials is something that Adam would always want to do. However, when retrofitting his home there were severe space constraints imposed by the existing structure, making it difficult to use sustainable, but less thermally efficient, insulation. The impact of changing certain aspects of the design and materials can be modelled with the Passive House Planning Package, which helps you what the effect is on the energy performance.

     

    Four Ways to Measure Floor Area in the UK!

    Adam reveals to Ben that there is no agreed method of how to measure floor area in the UK, making comparisons of certain aspects very difficult. Ben cannot quite believe this! Germany keeps it simple with one method to measure floor area… again leading the way.

     

    Refurbish and Extend, or Build New?

    Adam emphasises the importance of spending time to get the brief right. He always wanted to get his house certified to the Passivhaus standard and so his biggest decision was whether to refurbish or build from new. His decision to retrofit was driven by the belief that he needed to save and re-use materials because his house had a lot of concrete in it. With the added complications and increased costs, in hindsight he says that he would probably have built new.

     

    Policy Changes

    In the UK there are tax benefits which favour new build. Adam suggests that a better approach could be to link the VAT rate to the energy performance of the final building. This tweak, which could be revenue neutral overall, would provide a huge incentive to build low energy housing. He also believes builders will do the right thing if they understand why adopting new methods is so beneficial. That’s where training schemes could educate on the importance of airtightness.

     

    Cultural Change is Needed Too

    Reducing our throwaway culture and investing in the quality of buildings is a mindset we must adopt. We have become blinded by items that have a low initial capital cost, but require ongoing monthly payments (satellite TV and mobile phone subscriptions etc.). As you are likely to live in your new house for years and years, spending a bit more to get something that lasts is a lot greener.

     

    The Passivhaus Handbook

    Co-written with RIBA architect Janet Cotterell, Adam talks about his new book the Passivhaus Handbook, which is aimed at all those considering building with this methodology. The book offers practical advice as well as enough detail for architects, builders, planners and the like to become better informed. It also has a section that is specific to the UK and another section about what it’s like to live in a Passivhaus.

    This is our affiliate link to buy the Passivhaus Handbook on Amazon.

     

    Adam’s Top Three Tips

    1. Try not to change your brief. This is a good idea on any project but more so with Passivhaus because the implications will ripple through the build.
    2. Be modest with the size of house you want. Consider what you really need. The bigger the house, the more energy it’s going to use (irrespective of anything else).
    3. The trio of client, architect and builder need to trust and cooperate with one another. This is the most important success factor for any build.

     

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Adam Dadeby.

     

    Building a House You Both Want!

    Ben Adam-Smith describes his first major mistake – getting carried away on a solo mission and not involving his wife in the process of thinking of their new home! Basic error, yes. Argument, yes. The lesson that has been learned: if you are in a relationship, you have to be deciding things together. You have been warned!

     

    Updates for Homebuilding and Renovating Magazine

    There’s exciting news. We will be posting updates on Homebuilding and Renovating’s website about what we get up to on the House Planning Help Podcast.

     

    Totnes Passivhaus Bed and Breakfast

    If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to live in a Passivhaus, then Adam Dadeby may have the answer. After retrofitting a property to the Passivhaus standard, you can now stay at the Totnes Passivhaus Bed and Breakfast and experience the excellent comfort and superior air quality for yourself. It’s the only Passivhaus holiday accommodation in the UK (as far as we are aware).

     

    Please Connect With Me

  • HPH004 : The Passivhaus Standard #2 with Dr Wolfgang Feist (Passive House)

    HPH004 : The Passivhaus Standard #2 with Dr Wolfgang Feist (Passive House)

    Dr Wolfgang Feist describes how better energy efficiency opens a path to making us less dependent on fossil fuels and we have that knowledge now.

    wolfgang feist

     

    Interview with Dr Wolfgang Feist

    Dr Feist explains that his early research in the 1970s was addressing how to deliver the growing demand for energy in the world. When examining what the energy was used for, the surprising result was that most of it was wasted. So improving energy efficiency was the clear route forward. If you consider the services you need then you can design a building in a way that it uses far less energy. Scientifically speaking this is quite easy to do; the bigger challenge is getting that through to the market.

     

    The Passivhaus Standard is Very High Energy Efficiency

    By improving the building’s envelope you reduce the energy losses you normally have, so that you only need a very low amount of heat to keep it warm or cooling to keep it cool. This is in the range of a tenth of what we used to need in the past. It not only reduces the amount of energy you need but it also improves the comfort in the building, too. With a far higher quality of building envelope, another benefit is that it lasts longer. And, as it’s simpler, it becomes easier to maintain.

     

    Passivhaus Principles Can Be Widely Used

    Dr Feist explains that a building that meets the Passivhaus standard can be of any style and for an purpose (offices, swimming halls, schools and dwellings etc.). It also lends itself to any kind of material: masonry, timber construction, load bearing structures with concrete, whatever you want.

     

    Old Habits Die Hard in The Construction Industry

    As a very conservative industry, the construction industry tends to do what they have always done and that means it’s not easy. However, change is becoming more rapid. The key is that they must decide they want to learn this new way of doing things.

     

    Energy Will Only Get More Expensive

    Our energy problems are not in the future, they are happening right now. Over the last ten years the cost of energy has risen significantly and that is set to continue – fuel poverty already exists. Also, the consequences of using fossil fuels on such a large scale mean that we have a growing amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the earth’s atmosphere. We need to change the way we use energy. Using less energy will in turn burn less fossil fuel and thus reduce CO2 emissions. Currently, around the world, over 80% of our energy still comes from fossil fuels.

     

    The Passivhaus Standard is a World Standard

    Dr Feist says that the Passivhaus standard is a world standard, but it is a method of doing things. Therefore what works in one country cannot necessarily be transposed to another. It’s a method of how to design a building compatible to the climate in which you reside.

     

    Passive House Principles

    In the UK’s situation, insulation is the most important factor. It must be in such a way that it avoids thermal bridging. Then the building must be airtight, which is something they have not been in the past. Improved windows have a very high influence on the energy balance of building, too. Due to the airtightness, a ventilation system is also necessary.  So the four factors are insulation, airtightness, good windows and ventilation.

     

    Passivhaus Standard Certification

    It is well documented what a building is that meets the Passivhaus standard. That’s why certification allows you to know that the building meets the criteria. In the UK the Passivhaus Trust has a list of certifiers. If you come to sell a house, this certification becomes a quality and performance guarantee.

     

    A Future Worth Living

    Through his research at the Passivhaus Institute Dr Feist is creating better components, such as more efficient windows. He’s motivated by seeing new projects realised. Recently he has been working with the city of Frankfurt to build the world’s first Passivhaus hospital. The government and European Commission are seeing the huge benefits and encouraging this advance. Dr Feist also helps organisations around the world to gain members and knowledge.

     

    How World Governments Can Play Their Part in Driving Forward Energy Efficiency

    The most important stride could be made by governments creating an environment where innovation is accepted. Incentives can also play a part and they don’t have to involve money. Dr Feist details an example in Italy where truly energy efficient house builders are allowed to build on a bigger proportion of the land they own. That way it doesn’t cost the taxpayer any money, but it does provide investors with an incentive to build energy efficient homes. Governments can also circulate literature about how to improve efficiency in new construction and in refurbishment of existing buildings.

     

    Timing is Everything When Retrofitting Existing Housing

    The best time to improve the energy efficiency of a house is when something needs to be done anyway. As our existing housing is not static, but in a cycle, there will come a time when repairs etc. are necessary. This is the time to improve energy efficiency… when the scaffolding would be going up anyway. Dr Feist stresses the importance of going for the best products, too. This is because the job may not be done again for many years.

     

    A Path Away From Fossil Fuels

    Based on the physics there is no need to use energy to create comfortable temperatures in buildings. Energy savings could be reduced further, not to zero but to almost zero. However, there is a certain amount of renewable energy available and with the advances of Passivhaus they reduce energy consumption to 1/10 of what it has been in the past. Therefore the required energy is low enough that it will be available from regional sources anywhere in the world without a big problem. So in the end there is no need to go much further than that but of course it could happen.

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Dr Wolfgang Feist.

     

    We Need Your Input

    It may be early days but we want your feedback on the House Planning Help Podcast. What are you enjoying? How could we improve? What would you like to know more about? Your answers will help shape future episodes. We would also like to create video tutorials during a house build, if that is content that will be useful to you. Have your say now!

     

    Please Connect With Me

  • HPH003 : The Passivhaus Standard #1 A Passivhaus Builder’s Story (Passive House) – with Pat Wilkinson from Touchwood Homes

    HPH003 : The Passivhaus Standard #1 A Passivhaus Builder’s Story (Passive House) – with Pat Wilkinson from Touchwood Homes

    Pat Wilkinson from Touchwood Homes reveals why he decided to build to the Passivhaus standard and there’s a resource for young industry professionals who might just be completing their architecture degrees or building training etc.

     

    Interview with Pat Wilkinson

    Pat explains that his family has been in construction for three generations. With his interest in climate change, in the mid 1990s he set about changing his practices to become more energy efficient.

     

    I-beams

    In 1994 he built his first house with I-beams (imported from Sweden), allowing him to build thicker walls without using lots of timber. Pat says this first house has performed very well over the last 15 years, with virtually no heating requirement.

     

    People Don’t Seem to Realise How Energy Efficient New Homes Can Be

    Pat talks about writing to (UK) MP Mark Prisk, who is chair of the Green Construction Board, and then speaking to one of his colleagues, who didn’t seem to realise that we have the capability to build low energy houses right now. Pat also suggests that large construction companies have little interest in building energy efficient homes because it might reduce their profit margins.

     

    What Makes These Houses So Energy Efficient?

    Insulation and airtightness are the two most important factors of any energy efficient building – this way it holds in the heat. Pat describes how a ventilation system will also be necessary due to the airtightness. The Passive House Planning Package is a vital tool in designing and specifying your house correctly.

     

    Houses That Meet The Passivhaus Standard Can Be in Any Style

    Pat says that you can build an energy efficient house to look like whatever you want it to look like. It could be a barn, a stone cottage or a Tudor hovel! However, Pat believes that modern architecture is very good and it’s what we should be building now, rather than repeating styles from the past. Ben explained that he was still drawn to historical buildings and that he doesn’t rate a lot of the new builds that he sees, stating “they don’t feel right.”

     

    You Can’t Tell That a House is Energy Efficient Just By Looking at It

    One issue you must overcome when buying a house is knowing what you are buying. Pat talks about new-builds he has witnessed with about 50mm of insulation. He wonders how that can comply with building regulations. Pat’s buildings generally have 300mm of insulation in the walls. The trouble is the consumer rarely gets the insulation checked before purchasing a house.

     

    The Extra Cost of Meeting The Passivhaus Standard is Really Not That Much

    Pat gives examples of buildings that he has constructed where the maximum extra cost is 10%. On a recent project he says the extra cost was nearer 4%. Over time as components, such as triple glazed windows, become more common that difference could even be eliminated.

     

    Knowledge Is The Key To Any Build

    For anyone planning to self build, Pat suggests reading as much as possible. German and Scandinavian books often have excellent advice about energy efficiency.

     

    Select Tradespeople With Care

    Pat says that very few people have the skills necessary to build to the Passivhaus standard. He advises choosing your contractors carefully, telling the story of a plumber who was installing solar panels and didn’t really have enough knowledge to make them work!

     

    Great Minds Plan For The Future

    Ben Adam-Smith thanks Pat for his recommendation to use the AECB website and forum to get trusted information on sustainable building. If you have recently qualified as an architect, a builder or a designer etc. in the UK, then the AECB is looking for forward-thinking individuals to join them.

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Pat Wilkinson.

     

    The Passivhaus Standard

    If this is the first time you have heard of the Passivhaus standard, Ben Adam-Smith recommends going to read more about it from the Passivhaus Trust. This will give you far more detail than we could ever cover in the podcast. The House Planning Help Podcast aims to give you a general feel for it.

     

    Will Homes Built to a Low Energy Standard, Such as Passivhaus, Be Worth More in The Future?

    Ben Adam-Smith phones 10 estate agents (real estate brokers) in the UK, only to discover that 8 out of the 10 had not heard of a low energy standard, such as Passivhaus. Ben also wondered why energy isn’t a key consideration when buying a house, when we seem to do it naturally with cars (selecting a model which achieves the highest miles per gallon).

     

    Architect’s Journal

    They recently featured an article on Howe Park, which achieved record levels of air tightness. The article suggests it could be the world’s most airtight house! Pat Wilkinson was the timber frame specialist on this project. Unfortunately these tests were not completed until after Ben interviewed Pat.

     

     Please Connect With Me

  • HPH002 : The House Design You Want And The Low Running Costs – with Martin Evans from The Malthouse Consultancy

    HPH002 : The House Design You Want And The Low Running Costs – with Martin Evans from The Malthouse Consultancy

    Martin Evans from The Malthouse Consultancy talks through how he built his own energy efficient home.

     

     

    Interview with Martin Evans

    Martin explains that he has been in construction all his life, starting as a civil engineer before moving into building. In the early nineties he experimented with renewable technologies and higher levels of insulation. This process developed through to the point where he built an example of a country house that is not compromised by any design constraints, but is built to be as energy efficient as possible.

     

    Energy Efficiency Doesn’t Have to Dictate The Design

    Martin describes how he set about designing a house (6,500 sq ft) that best suited the site and took advantage of the lovely views. Having created the optimum design, he then worked out how it could use the least energy possible. The main considerations are very high levels of insulation that go a long way above building regulations; the house is carefully air-sealed so there’s very little ingress of cold air from the outside during the winter; there is also a mechanical ventilation system (imported from Canada) to avoid stuffy conditions and fresh air passes through an efficient heat exchanger. Martin also generates his own energy from a ground source heat pump, which provides the main energy for the heating and hot water for the house. His total running costs are under £2000 a year.

    Steel

     

    Energy Efficiency is The Future

    The UK has not been good with energy in the past and has not built houses that are deliberately low energy, other than rather odd looking houses. Martin says that he wanted to demonstrate with his house that you don’t need to compromise on the look or the amount of glass, you just need to be careful in the way you specify and the way you build.

    Timber-frame-going-up

     

    LED Lighting

    Advances are happening all the time and Martin describes how LED lighting has moved on since his build nearly five years ago. He highlighted the fact that when you dim a light it doesn’t necessarily use less energy. So try to install a properly controlled lighting system, where the energy usage is proportional. Martin rarely needs to run his lighting in any room above 30% or 40%.

     

    Renewable Technology Can Be Used in Old Houses

    Martin talks about period homes that can be very efficiently heated by renewable technologies, such as ground source heat pumps. The key is to recognise the needs and to deliver a system that works properly. In the example of ground source, he said: “You can put in a very good ground source heat pump, which in theory can deliver the right energy for the house but if the heat emitters in the house aren’t matched to give you the optimum performance of that heat pump, you very quickly get a big drop in performance of that heat pump. So you’ll still get the house warm but it will cost you a lot more in energy. That’s just about not understanding the full process of extraction of energy from the ground and delivery of energy into the houses.” Martin believes you can make any house efficient.

     

    Sustainability in New Builds

    Martin likes timber frames, mainly because there’s very little embodied energy. He points to Canada as a good example of sustainability in wood – they grow the same amount of wood as they extract. That may not be true in Europe but things are moving in that direction. It’s much harder with brick and concrete products because they’ve got a lot more embedded energy in them. However, when you actually look at the energy lifetime of the building, the energy we put into heating it, living in it and ventilating it, it makes the energy involved in the actual construction look relatively insignificant. Martins says it’s probably right that we focus on what the building uses once it’s completed as the priority, rather than worrying about how much is embedded in the building process.

    justin

     

    An Energy Tax Might Provide The Right Incentives

    With predictions that fuel costs will continue to rise, Martin hopes that the UK government will move away from trying to support certain technologies. If that approach is made much more general and it is just applied as an energy tax, which encourages us to do the right thing, then people will become more and more incentivised to reduce the energy that their buildings use. We may want to do it for altruistic reasons but also it needs to be the right thing to do financially.

     

    The Passivhaus Standard

    Martin explains that he didn’t have his house certified but in terms of energy use, it exceeds the Passivhaus Standard. Whether you use a standard like Passivhaus absolutely or as a guide, there are lots of good learnings to be had from the methodology and approach.

     

    Gauging Your Carbon Footprint

    Martin talks about his consultancy work with England’s largest hotel group where, from the outset, they designed and built hotels to the very lowest energy possible without changing the customer experience. The carbon footprint of a night’s stay at one of these eco hotels compared to a top end, ‘energy is no object’ approach, is about 50 times less. As people start to understand the choices, it could also influence their decision-making. With cars it is a lot more straightforward – you know what you are getting – but with houses and overnight stays etc. it’s much more difficult. Of course, it’s moving in the right direction. On the Carbon Trust website you can benchmark your energy usage.

    Insulation-inside

     

    Getting The Right Advice

    There are lots of examples of things going wrong, where people have spent a lot of money and don’t get the right results. It’s usually about not getting the right advice. Quality of installation varies so dramatically that Martin stresses the importance of seeing how installed projects have worked. To do that you need proper data that shows the energy you’ve put into a scheme and the energy you got out so you can see how efficient the whole installation is. Martin wouldn’t buy from companies that can’t demonstrate seasonal figures showing how well their installations have performed.

     

    There is Smarter Cooling Than Air Conditioning

    Air conditioning is not energy efficient. In America they spend more money and more energy on cooling than they do on heating and Martin emphasises that we shouldn’t be moving in that direction. There are ways of making very efficient comfort cooling in a house without using much energy. This means simultaneous heating and cooling of hot water. If at the same time as generating hot water we are generating cold water, then it’s a free by-product of the process if we do it right. So you don’t want a gas boiler heating your hot water cylinder and an air conditioning unit cooling your lounge, for example. We can be much smarter.

    Beams-and-stove

     

    Martin’s Tips For Energy Efficiency

    • Make energy a consideration at the outset but it doesn’t have to compromise your design.
    • Technology should be a long way down your list of priorities. Design it right, specify it right, insulate it to very high levels, seal it well and mechanically ventilate it.
    • Invest in the best products. They may not be a substantial premium but they will save more energy and should perform well in 40 or 50 years.

     

    The Malthouse Consultancy

    The Malthouse Consultancy is a highly acclaimed independent environmental consultancy providing unbiased advice and project management services to property professionals in the planning design and construction fields.

    House-up

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Martin Evans.

     

    Listeners’ Top 3 Tips

    In episode 1 Ben Adam-Smith asked for your top 3 tips if you had been through the building process or commissioned a custom build. Carol from France got in touch with 7 tips, which we decided ought to feature as an article.

     

    Listener Email About Poor Housing Development

    Anastasia from Pevensey, UK, wrote an email about her previous house in Sovereign Harbour South. She tells us that, despite the building being 15 years old, it seemed to lack even basic insulation. Consequently her bills were sky high. She described the worst part as being the damp and mould, with fungus growing all over the house. However, the house design also left a lot to be desired with bedrooms that barely had room for the beds and a large part of the living space that was practically unusable as it was under the stairs.

     

    Please Connect With Me

  • HPH001 : What Makes a Successful Builder of Traditional Homes? – with Simon Lewis from RW Armstrong

    HPH001 : What Makes a Successful Builder of Traditional Homes? – with Simon Lewis from RW Armstrong

    Ben Adam-Smith explains his motivation for creating this podcast and there’s an interview with Simon Lewis, Managing Director of RW Armstrong, a residential builder in the South East of England.

     

    How This Podcast Came About

    Ben Adam-Smith talks about his passion for certain historical buildings and a dislike for a few recent housing developments in his home town of Hertford, UK. Ben wants to build his own house in the next 4 years and find out first-hand what this will entail, increasing his knowledge with each expert he interviews.

     

    Interview with Simon Lewis

    Simon explains how he got into the industry, initially studying architecture before deciding he preferred the construction side. Even with all the qualifications, it took a lot of years of hard graft to work his way up through the ranks.

    Simon Lewis

     

    You Get What You Pay For

    The industry is driven by cost and most of the contractors are trying to bid for the work cheaply. However it is then difficult to produce the best quality work for the minimum amount of money.  Tradesmen on low wages thus lack focus and dedication. Of course, there are good individuals, but they tend to charge more than the lowest going rate.

     

    Quality Construction Can Exist With Smaller Budgets But…

    Nice commercial buildings and public sector projects do go on, but they are often pre-fabricated and built in an industrial warehouse, brought to site and put together. Simpler forms are easier to get right. Simon went on to say that RW Armstrong’s sector of market is much more bespoke – it’s traditional, labour intensive and uses skilled craftsman.

     

    Factors That Make a Successful Builder

    Dedication to producing high quality construction, providing a good level of personal service. Support your clients and make sure you can understand their expectations and deliver the construction project to meet them. The logistics of finding the right sub-contractors mixed in with their own direct tradespeople and management team is one of the key skills.  If you don’t get that right you become inefficient and then you don’t deliver the service the clients are expecting.

     

    Energy Efficiency

    There’s a huge drive on energy efficiency due to rising fuel prices and that it’s up to you to consider how much to invest to get above the building regulations threshold (where you live). Simon also pointed out certain renewable sources haven’t been through a full life cycle to see if there are maintenance or reliability issues.  A lot of the bigger mechanical and electrical systems need to be designed into projects from the outset in order to minimise expense.

     

    Complications of Listed Properties

    There are limitations as to how much you can and can’t do. If you’re not doing a full strip out and refit of a listed building then you are restricted to how much insulation etc. you can put in a building. Simon gave an example of how the listed building officer may or may not let you change from single glazing to double glazing… and how this may impact on the project.

     

    Budget

    Control your budget carefully. It’s very easy to appoint an architect, tell him or her the budget, and that architect will design the biggest house for the amount of money you’ve got. Then you’ll find the build cost will increase and you start going over budget. At that point the only way to get back on track is to reduce the floor area of the building so that you can afford to put in the right products and build it the right way.

     

    Tips For Choosing a Good Builder

    1. Get a list from the CIOB – The Chartered Institute of Builders

    2. If you have someone in mind, drive by a site to see how organised it looks. This should help you gauge how efficient they are.

    3. Contact those contractors, the architects they use, and get references from existing clients. It will take time but it will be worth it.

    4. Check out their financial status. You don’t want the contractor going bust in the middle of a project.

     

    Don’t Believe Everything People Say

    Listen to what people have to say and then evaluate it and make your own mind up. There are lots of people who will tell you what they think you want to hear and aren’t totally truthful, be it budgets, timescales, quality etc. If you don’t think somebody has told you the truth, ask the same question to someone else and see what they say.

     

    RW Armstrong Portfolio

    R W Armstrong is a residential builder in Hampshire, UK, providing high quality building services for the county as well as for most of south-east England. Its traditional ethos and expert craftsmanship has built a reputation for high class refurbishments and renovations of country homes, as well as period town houses and listed properties. The company also constructs bespoke new houses for private clients, both contemporary and traditional in style.

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Simon Lewis.

     

    A Big Thank You

    A special thanks to Mike Russell of Music Radio Creative for some great advice in getting this podcast live. He is a very knowledgeable man!

     

    Please Connect With Me