Tag: environment

HPH196 : Why communication is central to self build success – with Lucy Pedler
Lucy Pedler, architect and founder of The Green Register, talks about the importance of good communication throughout a self-build project.

Interview with Lucy Pedler

As a child, Lucy was interested in the worlds of science and arts and wanted a profession that could combine the two. She qualified 35 years ago, and has worked as an architect in the UK and US.

Influenced by her father, an environmentalist, Lucy wanted her career to encompass both architectural and environmental work. In the early ‘90s, she worked as a Product Specialist at Construction Resources (the UK’s first Ecological Building Centre) for five years; this involved researching the environmental impact of building materials and systems, and training other construction professionals in green building.

In 2000, Lucy launched The Green Register, a not-for-profit organisation providing independent training and promoting sustainable building practices across the construction industry.

Poor communication is the cause of many problems

Lucy believes we spend quite a lot of time as human beings not saying what we think! If you can communicate effectively – using a bit of tact and choosing words carefully – people know where they stand. Lucy says some people think she’s quite direct but at least there’s no grey area.

Making the importance of communication clear from the start helps to create an environment where everybody’s comfortable talking about the build.

A robust brief ensures everyone’s on the same page

Good communication is key to making the project a success and this begins with a detailed brief. To produce one, the architect or designer must first thoroughly understand what the client wants.

This document should then be referred to throughout the build process as things inevitably change. For example, there may be planning issues, unexpected problems on site, or design alterations. A detailed brief aids important discussions about the time, cost and design implications of changes.

It’s worth spending time setting the green agenda

When people tell Lucy they want a ‘low energy house’ she needs to clarify exactly what that means. Clients may just want low energy bills, or they may have concerns about the bigger picture: the way the house is built, materials used, internal environment, wellbeing, etc. It’s a lot of work that has to be done at the beginning, but Lucy says you’ll reap the benefits throughout the process.

Be realistic about the budget from the outset

A fabric first approach is much better in terms of environmental issues and impact. But Lucy understands that the majority of people don’t have the money to do 100% sustainable buildings, commenting, “Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t got the perfect house because whatever you do is going to be better than the average house in the UK, which is very, very mediocre.”

Lucy advises people to be honest about access to funds and what you have upfront. Then everybody involved knows what you can afford. You don’t want to run out of money and work to suddenly stop onsite.

The project lead should manage expectations about cost

During a career spanning more than 30 years, Lucy can’t remember a project where the cost didn’t change, usually in an upward direction. Managing clients’ expectations won’t make the problem go away, but lessens their disappointment.

The architect (or lead) should explain the process and set expectations that the project will probably go over cost and time. If unexpected costs arise, they’ll refer back to the brief so the client can decide whether to increase the budget or save costs elsewhere. Lucy says self-builders often see the long-term benefits of increasing the budget.

There’s huge value in face-to-face communication

Modern communication technology sets expectations that everything can be done immediately. While some decisions are quick to make, Lucy thinks we’ve lost something in not being given the time to consider things.

Projects can be discussed remotely using phone, Skype and email, but Lucy gives reasons why talking to clients in person can be advantageous:
- You can sketch over plans while talking through concepts.
- It’s easier to compare room sizes on plans with the room you’re all sitting in.
- Some decisions take a bit of time and are best explained face-to-face.
- You can observe non-verbal reactions, e.g. facial expressions.
3D modelling makes it easier to convey concepts

Many clients can’t understand 2D drawings and Lucy comments, “Why should they? It took us seven years of training to get where we are.” She recommends a programme called SketchUp, which is very simple and can quickly produce a 3D walkthrough to use with clients, helping them to experience light and height and changes in space, etc.

It’s important that concepts aren’t presented as a fait accompli, and Lucy says clients should feel able to give feedback. Reviewing conceptual designs is a key stage for communication, when you’ll work out basics such as the position of the living room or the size of the kitchen.

Design iterations take time and can be costly

Lucy recalls a client who requested ten different designs for a 2m x 2m bathroom and chose the original one in the end! A helpful approach is for the architect or designer to state upfront the number of design options included in their price, and make it clear they’ll have to start charging extra for any additional major changes.

A collaborative design and build approach is worth considering

While in the States, Lucy worked with contractors from the conceptual stage onwards and the contractor would inform some of the technical decisions. This approach required a high level of trust, but meant shared ownership of the project. And when it came to pricing the job, the cost was quite realistic.

Lucy says when you go out to competitive tender, contractors may not have understood the drawings or might not be pricing accurately. She cautions, “Although it might appear initially to be the lowest cost, at the end they’re clawing back what they need in order to make a profit.”

A neutral third person can mediate between client and contractor

Lucy says if clients can afford to appoint someone to oversee the project that’s a real plus. The architect or project manager can tell them early on what’s likely to happen during the construction stage and clarify what their fee will cover.

Self-builders often get much more involved, but Lucy suggests clients don’t take on the project management role themselves as they’re too close to the project and usually don’t have the experience needed.

Agree a schedule of meetings for the build

When the construction stage begins, you’re introducing a lot more people, so communication can be challenging. And clients often perceive progress to be slow and see costs increase and timescales slip during this stage.

It’s helpful to plan a schedule of meetings and clarify to the whole project team where they’ll be held, who does/doesn’t need to attend, what’s going to be covered, etc.

Lucy says the one group of people they find very difficult to get into Green Register seminars are builders. She recommends ‘toolbox talks’ if you’re trying to achieve a low energy building, as spending just a few hours explaining the concepts is money well spent.

3 more tips for a successful self-build
1. The amount of information and decision-making can be overwhelming. Decide how involved you want to be, e.g. technical decisions may be best left to professionals trained to deal with them.
2. It’s important no one in the team holds back. The client, architect or contractor needs to share their concerns or say if there’s something they have doubts about.
3. The Green Register encourages post-occupancy monitoring (e.g. of airtightness, fuel costs, etc.). This can reassure you that you’ve got what you set out to achieve.
Find out more

Visit the website of The Green Register

Follow The Green Register on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Lucy Pedler

Please connect with me
- Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
- Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher
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November 27, 2017
HPH188 : What are Paragraph 80 builds and how do they work? – with Richard Hawkes from Hawkes Architecture
Richard Hawkes from Hawkes Architecture tells us about the exceptional circumstances in which planning for rural new builds may be granted.

*Since recording this podcast, the government has updated the National Planning Policy Framework. ‘Paragraph 55’ (or ‘Para 55’) policy changed in name to ‘Paragraph 79’ and then ‘Paragraph 80′, although the content remains largely unchanged. *

We have amended the show notes but the interview will still talk about Paragraph 55.

Interview with Richard Hawkes

Richard Hawkes’ self-build, Crossway, helped launch his own practice Hawkes Architecture nine years ago. Before that he worked at a large commercial practice in London.

As planning is rarely granted for new rural homes, Richard had to learn what circumstances were considered exceptions. His expertise then led to work gaining planning consent for others in similar circumstances. Nowadays Richard even sits on a Design Review Panel, made up of professionals including landscape architects and engineers, that advises planners whether or not a proposal is meeting policy.

Crossway

Planning policy allows rural development in exceptional circumstances

Paragraph 79 has four special circumstances that can permit a new dwelling in the countryside:
1. An agricultural worker’s dwelling. It’s quite difficult to create a business case for these so they don’t happen very often.
2. Re-use of a heritage asset, e.g. saving a listed building.
3. Re-use of redundant farm buildings. Relaxation of permitted development legislation has made this moot for now.
4. If the dwelling is of exceptional quality or innovative in its nature of design. All of Richard’s Paragraph 79 projects fall into this last category.
Four tests determine if a design is sufficiently exceptional

For a dwelling to be of exceptional quality or innovative in its nature of design, it has to pass all of these tests:
- Help to raise the standards of design more generally in rural areas
- Be of the highest standards in architecture
- Significantly enhance the immediate setting
- Be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area
Hawkhurst

Paragraph 79 is an important design-led policy

Since Planning’s introduction in 1946, there has been a reluctance to approve new homes in the countryside. Green Belt, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Heritage Coast and other designations evidence this. Even Paragraph 79, which Richard describes as a piece of national policy originally introduced in 1997 to enable landowners to get permission for their “English country house”, states that planning authorities should generally seek to resist new dwellings.

In 2003 the Labour government sought to get rid of (then) Paragraph 55 which they felt was an elitist policy, but were lobbied by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) who argued the policy would move forward dwelling design. As a result, the policy evolved into PPS 7, Paragraph 11 and actually used the term ‘contemporary architecture’.

The policy recognises the mediocrity of typical dwelling design, and has a practical significance in terms of architects’ professional development. It encourages them to learn how to respond to a setting and produce amazing buildings. Richard explains that the principles of good design can be looked at entirely objectively, even if people’s responses to design are inherently subjective.

Sustainability must be factored into the design

A beautiful house isn’t enough. A house of the highest standards in architecture will incorporate lots of insulation, heat recovery ventilation, triple-glazing, and passive solar gain. Richard describes these Passivhaus principles as just sensible design and something planners would expect to see in a Paragraph 79 scheme, not reasons why they would grant consent.

The nature of the site and its management will often tie in to the energy strategy they develop for each individual building.

West Pearroc

There are different types of Paragraph 79 house

Some locations suit a contrasting building, like an English country house. Richard describes this as unapologetically “dominating its landscape. Enhancing it but very much in contrast to it.”

Conversely, one of his own Paragraph 79 houses on a Green Belt / AONB site needed to show sensitivity to the defining characteristics of the local area and significantly enhance the immediate setting. His architecture enhanced the farmstead by reinforcing the positive qualities of stable buildings on the site while removing other buildings that were “detractors”.

Likelihood of planning consent must first be weighed up

Richard’s team must first establish whether the site has the right ingredients to get a planning consent. He uses the analogy of a set of weighing scales, and there are several factors weighing down the ‘wrong side’:
- You’re not allowed to build a house in the open countryside.
- In Green Belt, there is the principle of openness. If the site has other buildings on it, you can potentially look at “consolidating building form” as a strategy. If there are no buildings there at all, it becomes very difficult.
- AONB are protected by National Policy. It is possible, but more complex as these are highly protected pieces of land.
- If it’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or on top of a hill, any development is likely to have a big visual impact.
No one can guarantee planning consent, so Richard tries to manage that risk. To “balance the scales” he carries out a rigorous analysis of local and national policy to find benefits that could come with a scheme.

The landscape and architecture have to work together

Assuming there’s a robust enough case to proceed, Paragraph 79 applications are not for the faint-hearted; they represent a big investment on the client’s part and are about the land as much as the house. It takes months before Richard will even know what they’re designing.

Time is spent with landscape architects and commissioning reports and surveys to adequately understand the ecology, biodiversity and resources of the site. This long process uncovers minute details about animals, sun, prevailing wind direction, climate and geology.

Richard explains that involving a landscape architect right at the start helps them to lay down some rules about the site: sensitivities to avoid and opportunities to embrace. The ‘master plan’ is holistic and everything included in the plan can be justified.

Examples of ways to enhance the landscape might include:
- Binding the site together with areas of woodland
- Linking habitats
- Bolstering woodland edge
- Introducing wildflower areas and a proper mowing regime to increase biodiversity
- Putting management plans in place
Flight Farm

Designs reflect a rigorous understanding of the site and client

The practice’s design framework originates from Richard’s self-build experience. He developed the design for Crossway using two distinct, parallel processes. Firstly, responding to the client (his wife) meant considering the “mechanics of a plan”. These are things like securing the best views, ensuring low running costs, opening up the house to the south, etc. A client lifestyle analysis is done, including everything from what time they wake up to how often they entertain.

The other process is analysing how the landscape changes as you approach the plot from different directions, to determine what the house needs to do sculpturally to respond to each of the views. This was something Richard did intuitively with his piece of land: “For me, the context of any site has got rich things for you to respond to. You’ve just got to find them.”

The design then emerges from these two processes. Crossway’s distinctive arch grew from a desire for the house to sit in amongst the ecology and the biodiversity of the land. And the design for one client project interpreted the qualities of the local flint to respond to the “defining characteristics of the local area”; the building is sharp and crisp outside, like the inside of flint but the white, soft-flowing curves of the courtyard evoke the outside of the stone.

Crossway

We need to keep pushing house design forward

As well as acting as a good training mechanism for architects, Richard has a philosophical argument for protecting Paragraph 79. “If the policy weren’t there, I’d find that quite a sad reflection on where we are with design, where we are as a country with architecture. Look at all these houses going up with no aspirational policy there. I’d find that quite a sad place to be and quite short-sighted.”

Find out more

Visit the website of Hawkes Architecture

Follow Hawkes Architecture on Twitter

Follow Hawkes Architecture on Facebook

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Richard Hawkes

Please connect with me
- Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
- Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher
- Like our Facebook page
- Follow us on Twitter
August 24, 2017
From Passivhaus . . . to conventional house?

What makes someone swap the comfort of a Passivhaus self-build for a conventional 1960s bungalow? Former ITV news cameraman Mike Coe explains his unexpected transition.

When Mike Coe built his ultra-low-energy eco-build – the Cropthorne Autonomous House in Worcestershire – after he retired in 2006, he was determined to make a difference.

Water neutral and off-grid apart from electricity, the house trod as lightly on the earth’s surface as possible. It encapsulated Mike’s optimism that UK housebuilding was on the cusp of change.

But five years on, after much soul-searching, Mike and his partner Lizzie made the difficult decision to move on.

A shift in values, combined with an appetite for new adventure, has taken the couple from the comfort of a Passivhaus with no heating system, which never fell below 16°C even on the chilliest of winter nights – to a three-bed 1960s bungalow in Portree on the Isle of Skye. So what changed?

The comfortable Passivhaus they left behind

Reality check

“When we built The Autonomous House, I naively thought I was on the vanguard of some kind of movement in ultra-low energy homes,” says Mike. “But while I was attempting to build as ecologically as I possibly could, the government was in the process of trashing UK planning laws and allowing developers to build rubbish wherever they wanted. I became disillusioned quite quickly.

“I still feel The Autonomous House itself has value and was a great project – but I lost my sense of optimism that it was the dawn of a new era.”

Their current home – a traditionally built 1960s bungalow – is merely a temporary stop-over as they embark on another self-build challenge. And while Mike’s focus has changed since building his radical, largely off-grid Passivhaus, he hasn’t lost faith in low-energy building methods.

“I still try to live in an environmentally sympathetic way – and my next house will be a Passivhaus,” says Mike. “But I no longer think anything I’m doing will have any great impact on the world.

“Since retiring I returned to work as a cameraman, but only on carefully selected, mostly environmental projects. As a result I’ve met some of the world’s leading climate scientists and been able to talk to them informally. From what I’ve learned I’ve concluded that it could become uncomfortably hot in the south of England, even in my lifetime (I’m 60 now). This realisation was the trigger for a decision to move as far north as was practical without leaving the country – and we’ve ended up in Portree.”

Portree

Skye’s the limit

In planning their move north, Mike’s original intention wasn’t to build again. Despite being very practical and capable – having done all the electrics, plumbing and more at Cropthorne – he doesn’t particularly enjoy the building process. The couple’s first thought was to find an existing house that they could adapt.

“It quickly became obvious that we wouldn’t find anything that came close to what we had at Cropthorne in the areas we wanted to move to,” says Mike. “Once you’ve lived in a Passivhaus it’s very hard to settle for a conventional draughty house that’s expensive to heat and live in. So we decided to look for a temporary house, while we considered our options.”

It was during this search that they heard about a building plot with planning – that also had ready-made accommodation on site.

“While it wasn’t our intention to build again, the site we found, almost accidentally, had so much potential,” says Mike. “It had nine acres of croft land, two building plots with Permission in Principle (the Scottish equivalent of Outline Planning Permission) and a perfectly acceptable bungalow on site that we could move straight into. It was too good an opportunity to miss.

“It’s rare to find somewhere with ready-made accommodation on site when you build. We can build a south-facing, solar-heated home here with views over Portree harbour and distant views of the Cuillins. It’s perfect.”

View from the Croft

‘Conventional’ house v Passivhaus

So how does living back in a ‘normal’ home compare to the comfort of living in the Cropthorne Passivhaus?

“The most notable thing is how rapidly the temperature inside conventional buildings follows the temperature outside,” says Mike. “The heating goes off and half an hour later you notice that it’s really cooling down. Two hours later, it’s freezing.

“In our Passivhaus, which was high-mass with thermal storage in the structure of the building, the process was slowed down. In autumn, when you started getting chilly nights, you simply weren’t aware of it.

“Living here has made me realise how lucky we’ve been to live in a Passivhaus. The bungalow’s clunky old oil boiler drinks kerosene that I have to pay for. It’s not cheap – whereas at Cropthorne we had no heating bills, and it was more comfortable. That’s a stark contrast.”

The warm and cosy upstairs at the Cropthorne Autonomous House

Laying plans for a new adventure

What of Mike’s plans for the new build? Have his shifting views led to a fundamentally different approach this time?

“It will still be a very low energy design for both comfort and running costs, because it’s a good way to live,” says Mike. “It just won’t have unrealistic goals.

“With the Cropthorne project we were quite hard line. The house used entirely harvested rainwater, we had composting toilets, and everything was designed to minimise impact. We’ll still follow that path to some extent. For example, we’ll aim for zero heat, even though the climate here is different. There’s also a stream running down the site that should be capable of powering a small hydro generator to provide some of our electricity. Eventually we may even add a wind turbine.

“But this house will have more mainstream appeal. The autonomous systems at Cropthorne were brilliant but they added to the costs, and you don’t get those back when you sell. We had practical reasons for doing what we did there. On Skye, water is in abundant supply, so we’ll probably connect to the mains.

“So, overall, the new house will still be very comfortable, environmentally benign and energy-efficient, but will be more mainstream and more saleable – just in case I have another brilliant idea in five years’ time and we end up moving again!”

Artist’s impression of Portree Passivhaus

July 10, 2017
HPH171 : An eco interior designer in the home – with Elina Grigoriou
Elina Grigoriou from Grigoriou Interiors talks about design, wellbeing and sustainability, and the role of interior designers.

Interview with Elina

Elina and her sister founded Grigoriou Interiors in 2010. Their vision is “to create interior spaces of beauty and function that look after people and our planet”. A strong theme of sustainability is used in their branding and website, to educate people on the concept of sustainable interiors and to attract like-minded clients.

Interior design is about understanding how space affects you

Interior design involves looking specifically at the spaces that fall within the floor slab, ceiling slab and external walls. Elina explains: “From the moment you step into a building until you come back out of it, everything you touch, everywhere you interact within that space is forming the interior and the way that has been intentionally designed to support your life.”

Design can influence how well you sleep or eat

Wellbeing is a big issue right now, and Elina finds that a lot of people don’t understand the effect their space has on them. It is often only when they start talking about how they behave in an interior that they slowly start to realise how the space is informing some of their behaviours, or may be stopping them from behaving in a certain way.

For example, the shape of a table will affect how people communicate. Are you sitting opposite each other at a square or rectangular table, or around one with no sides? Elina suggests that dinner with your in-laws might be nicer at a round table!

And patterns tend to help people to relax. Elina explains that we find them reassuring because we trust things that are repeated. Movement is associated with asymmetry, whereas a balanced style promotes calmness.

An interior designer can help create a living environment

There are different motivations for hiring an interior designer. Elina says some people feel they should hire one because they’re ‘supposed to’ or to ‘keep up with the Joneses’, adding the image-conscious association often linked with interior design is not helpful.

A better reason would be someone wanting to create a home that feels like a home, where they can entertain guests, work, and allow the space to affect them in a positive way.

Elina guides clients through a decision-making process to make choices they will be happy with. Interiors contribute to the relationships people have in their homes, and she wants that contribution to be a positive one.

We can better understand and re-use existing buildings

One step is to establish whether the original architecture assumed a particular ‘user journey’ from the moment you walk through the door. What kind of volumes and spatial proportions did the designer envisage for the interior spaces? If this hasn’t been considered, you can get quite structural: reforming spaces and opening or closing up floors.

Self-builds can get it right from the beginning

Unlike commercial and residential developments, which tend to be quite ‘vanilla’, the self-build ethos creates an opportunity to engage in the design process and make a home fit for purpose.

With new builds, Elina would recommend involving an interior designer at the earlier stages, when forming the architecture and considering what kind of lifestyle you want to enjoy in the building. That’s the time to start discussing the internal spaces, views, etc.

A detailed brief gives a clear basis to start from

Elina recalls a previous project where the husband wanted to have lovely conversations with his daughter in the living room. She comments that this is the kind of brief they can respond to and believes this is the right kind of objective for a home.

Grigoriou Interiors create what they call a user profile. Every question they ask of each client in the design process goes back to this profile, gradually informing how the space needs to be and documenting where they started from and why. Typical questions might include:
- What’s the geographical location like?
- What’s the typical climate?
- Is it an existing or new building?
- How many bedrooms do you want?
- Do you entertain at home?
- Do you work out at home?
- Do you like lots of fresh air in your interior?
- Do you like a lot of natural daylight coming in?
- How are you going to clean it?
- How long do you want to live there?
- Will you be there throughout the year?
- Do you want to rent it out?
Shorter purchasing cycles mean greater impact on the environment

Architects consider lifespans of 20-30 years or more, and these timeframes inform product and material decisions. However the average interior lifecycle is just five to ten years.

Elina says it falls to designers to ensure that what they specify is sustainable in the first place. Grigoriou Interiors talk with their clients to understand where the environmental impacts are going to happen from the client’s own behaviour in a space. For example, working from home may mean longer periods of heating and lighting. Establishing this in the brief, at the start, allows them to create a sustainable interior and suggest certain materials and layouts based on how the space will be used.

Beauty is very important when it comes to interiors

Elina explains that the perception of beauty is personal to everyone’s individual conditions at a point in time. So she has to work with clients to understand what they consider beautiful and what kind of look they want. Something minimalist? Or a bit of texture? Do they have some lovely crafts, perhaps from their travels?

Existing furniture may not be suitable for your new home

If you are moving to a different sized house, Elina suggests that some of the furniture you currently own – such as the dining table or soft seating – may be too big or small for the new interiors. Similar spaces may allow you to re-use existing furniture but it’s worth questioning which pieces may need to be recycled.

A new build, especially a passivhaus, presents an opportunity to minimise or even eliminate the introduction of pollutants. Emissions from materials and furniture will affect the quality of air inside the house so, for example, an existing sofa will likely have chemical foams. Elina is excited to see alternatives such as coconut fillers becoming available.

Deciding not to re-use doesn’t mean throwing away

If you can’t use some or all of your existing furniture, there are plenty of quick and easy ways to pass it on before moving. Freecycle and Preloved are just two websites and Elina says more options are emerging all the time.

Interior design advice doesn’t have to cost the earth

Even with a limited budget, it’s still possible to engage the services of an interior designer. The key is bringing them in at the right time to get their feedback on architectural proposals. Elina describes it as having them dip in for a day or two to review the proposals, give you some feedback and possibly pose some questions.

Find out more

Visit the website of Elina Grigoriou

Follow Grigoriou Interiors on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Elina Grigoriou

Please connect with me
- Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
- Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher
- Like our Facebook page
- Follow us on Twitter
April 5, 2017

HPH156 : Creating a garden that’s biodiverse – with Lisa Kerslake from CIEEM

Lisa Kerslake from CIEEM explains how self-builders can encourage wildlife to flourish on their plots.

Interview with Lisa Kerslake

Lisa Kerslake is an ecological consultant who gives advice to people putting in planning applications, because a lot of wildlife in the UK is protected. Lisa’s previous jobs have included environmental work in the voluntary and public sectors.

Growing crops has had a big impact in the UK

Human activity has long affected wildlife. For example, we’ve removed trees and quarried caves where bats originally lived, so they’ve followed the stone and the wood into our houses. The last hundred years has seen massive change. Whilst not devoid of wildlife, huge areas of intensive agriculture in some parts of the country support much lower levels than before.

The wider implications aren’t yet known

Lisa cites a local decline of a formerly common species; water voles were once widespread across the UK but now in Worcestershire there are perhaps two or three known sites.

For every decline we can measure, there are those we don’t really know about. Considered common, hedgehogs don’t have any protection. Lisa thinks a population decline is actually the reason fewer are seen squashed on the road; unfortunately it’s difficult to measure because they’re hard animals to survey.

Find out if your plot has ecological value

Ecology, the study of living things, looks at the relationship between plants, animals and the wider environment e.g. soils and water.

Whether your plot is Brownfield or has vegetation, you need to know if there is any value for nature conservation or wildlife. It may be hard to tell what’s there without looking in more detail, as all sorts of things that live in the local environment might actually use the plot: plants, invertebrates and common mammals.

Assess things before construction begins

Ecological studies look at plants and animals that are evident, but also if the plot would suit species not evident at that time, e.g. plants not flowering and animals hibernating. At different times of the year the plot might support animals that are rare or protected.

National planning policy encourages biodiversity

Your ecological survey may discover evidence of or potential for protected species. Submitting a biodiversity method statement alongside your planning application will show how you plan to conserve them and enhance their environment, e.g. by planting nectar-rich plants.

The right materials will protect wildlife from construction and vice versa. For example, rather than traditional roofing felt, modern roofs are typically lined with breathable membranes that are lethal for bats. Moreover, bats will destroy the properties that make the membrane breathable. It’s advisable to integrate bird and bat boxes into the fabric of a new build as you don’t need to maintain them.

Urban areas are actually very rich in wildlife

Surprisingly, some areas of countryside don’t have an intrinsically high wildlife value. Towns and cities have bats, foxes, hedgehogs and even badgers. Interesting plants grow on disturbed ground where you’ll find associated invertebrates.

A less manicured garden creates a good habitat

Fake grass and plants might save on maintenance, but are probably not environmentally friendly and they don’t support any wildlife. Lisa says it’s better to reduce mowing, let grass grow longer and put in planting that needs less management, like a wildflower bank. This is a cost-effective way of creating a very good habitat.

Diverse habitats are more beneficial for wildlife

Lisa explains how practical measures improved the biodiversity of a self-build development site in North Warwickshire. It was overgrown with nettles and scrub, some mature trees and a pond. Lisa’s surveys discovered reptiles and amphibians. She recommended incorporating features that would help the animals already there and benefit other species that might come in:

Measure taken	Benefit
Long grass and scrub maintained around edge of the plot, not totally incorporated into gardens	Ensured the habitat was suitable for reptiles
Rubble piles were used	Beneficial for both amphibians and reptiles
Managing the pond so that it retained its size and didn’t overgrow	Open water and shallow areas continue to be used by wildlife
Appropriate management of the trees, e.g. removing diseased limbs only	The remainder of the trees were retained, valuable for wildlife

Small actions can make a big difference

If enough people make small changes to their gardens, the difference can be exponential. Lifting one panel at the bottom of your garden fence will let hedgehogs move between gardens. Adding a pond can encourage toad and frogspawn, and provide somewhere to drink and bathe for birds and other animals.

Start small and plan a variety of structure and flowering plants, as it all feeds up the chain: invertebrates feed on plants, birds feed on invertebrates and so on.

We can use our plots to encourage nature

While it’s tempting to create something new, it may be easier and cheaper to work with what you’ve got. But if you’re starting with a blank canvas, here are ten tips to create a wildlife-friendly garden:

Work with the environment you have, e.g. some plants only grow in alkaline soils.
Plants that grow, blossom and fruit over the whole season feed invertebrates, birds and other animals all the way up the food chain.
Use as many native species as possible. For hedges, these include: hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, field maple and holly.
Birds feed on berry-producing plants like pyracantha.
If you need a fence, trail a climbing plant such as common ivy over it. This helps birds in the late winter when it has berries.
Non-native plants such as buddleia can still attract butterflies etc.
Avoid laurel and conifers that provide a good screen but are quite devoid of wildlife.
Consider leaving areas wild; rough grass and scrub benefit wildlife.
Compost heaps support colonies of worms, grass snakes will lay their eggs in them, and dormice may even hibernate in them.
Bird and bat boxes attract wildlife into your garden, are relatively cheap and easy install.

There are plenty of resources available online

A Google search will find information on creating a wildlife garden.

The Royal Horticultural Society is good for explaining the qualities of typical garden plants
Wildlife trusts may offer advice on improving your garden and local environment
The RSPB campaigns about giving nature a home

If you need to employ a consultant, the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management has a professional directory with details of experts in your area.

Find out more

Visit the websites of CIEEM and Swift Ecology

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Lisa Kerslake

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December 20, 2016

HPH085 : 10 Environmental Design Myths – with Sofie Pelsmakers from UCL
Sofie Pelsmakers, environmental architect and doctoral researcher at University College London (UCL), busts 10 common environmental design myths. This also serves as a good introduction to The Environmental Design Pocketbook.

Interview with Sofie Pelsmakers

Sofie Pelsmakers is passionate about contextual design, with the focus very much on minimising our impact on the planet. She was inspired to write The Environmental Design Pocketbook after realising there was no single resource that had summed up the arguments and also pointed to deeper reading.

Download Sofie’s PDF

In this session Sofie is dispelling 10 environmental design myths. She has also put together this bonus PDF for further reading.

Myth 1: “Climate Change is in The Future”

With Met Office and NASA data showing that all of the UK’s warmest years have been in the last decade, it is evident that climate change is already here. So the notion that we’re designing for the distant future is wrong.

The job for designers is making sure that buildings in the future will still be performing to the standard they were designed for and that they’re fit for purpose. Ideally we should be designing buildings that take into account future changes in climate or that can be adapted if necessary.

How future climates may vary (copyright The Environmental Design Pocketbook)

Myth 2: “What if Global Warming is Not as Bad as Predicted?”

If we’re wrong about climate change then the worst that can happen is that we’ll have designed better buildings that function in this climate and in any in the future.

Copyright Joel Pitt

Myth 3: “Green Roofs – Are They Green?”

This depends on the kind of green roof, in which part of the country and how well shaded and protected it is. There isn’t one solution suitable for all situations in all regions.

Much of the sedum is imported which will have an environmental impact, and even more so if killed off from being used in the wrong position (perhaps being unable to survive on a thin roof in the south east of England during a drought) and needing to be replaced.

Sofie states the current fashion is of thinking if a building “looks green”, such as with green roofs, green walls, or renewables then surely it must be, however it is just not as simple as that.

An example of a biodiverse and intensive green roof (copyright bere:architects)

Myth 4: “Green Walls”

While they have aesthetically pleasing qualities, a massive amount of energy is actually used in circulating water and nutrients around the plants to keep them alive. Systems can fail because they’ve not been maintained properly, the plants are in very exposed areas, or exotic imported plants are used that are just not suited to the climate. With considerable resources and energy being used to keep them alive or replace them if they die, Sofie suggests a much more robust way of creating a green wall is to use plants from the ground up and along trellises and buildings.

A green wall at Paradise Park

Myth 5: “Micro-Renewables Such as Micro-Wind Turbines Are a Great Idea in Urban Areas”

Sofie feels that there is a danger in sustainable design of going towards gimmicky “look at me” type renewables. In fact the energy used to make and transit a wind turbine to site can actually be greater than the energy it will ever generate, particularly if erected in an urban setting where there isn’t enough consistent wind. And despite millions being spent on renewables there can be unintended consequences, for example in some cases turbines have even been switched off because of complaints about their noise.

The sustainability of wind turbines in urban areas (copyright The Environmental Design Pocketbook)

Myth 6: “Greywater and Rainwater – Is it Always Environmentally Sound?”

If your sole concern is about saving water then these systems will succeed in that objective. Depending on the system used however and when you consider the embodied energy in the extra pipework, the energy used for pumping, the chemical cleaning components etc, you could end up saving very little water for a great energy cost.

A far more effective solution would be a gravity fed system with short retention recycling which would not need the cleaning to be done mechanically.

Myth 7: “Eco-Measures Lead to Energy Savings and Reduced Bills, Right?”

Using a greywater recycling system like the example above, it is evident that bills could actually increase from the costs of energy used to pump the water around, clean it and feed it back.

An unintended consequence is that we think that eco-measures will save energy but actually in a lot of cases people then behave differently.

Myth 8: “Does a Zero-Energy Building Mean its Environmental Impact is Zero?”

While we may save carbon from energy generated onsite (and if offset with allowable solutions), a building has more environmental impacts which cannot all be measured in carbon (health, biodiversity etc.).

Also the current definition of zero carbon acknowledges that you’d have to build at low densities. This in turn makes public transport and walking to services less viable, and increases dependence on cars.

Myth 9: “If I Have Clean Renewable Energy it Doesn’t Matter How Much I Use”

There are around 27 million buildings in the UK, many of which are built to appalling standards. While a lot of people think that there’s no need to upgrade them if we can just decarbonise the grid, they neglect to consider that the high energy demand requires considerable money and finite resources for the substantial array of renewables that would be required. There would also be ridiculous amount of space required to enable those renewables to offset an energy-inefficient building.

[Tweet “Sofie Pelsmakers: “Energy efficiency should be the first consideration before renewables.””].

Myth 10: “Retrofit of Existing Buildings = Unneeded and Boring”

With such a large number of buildings built to a poor standard there is a fundamental need for them to be upgraded in order to meet our 2050 carbon budgets and to address the problems of fuel poverty.

Sofie feels that many architects find retrofitting unrewarding and complicated due to limitations such as expense and existing structure. She argues that actually it brings the architect back to the base principles of insulation details, airtightness and thermal bridging that are often forgotten.

Find Out More

Find out more about The Environmental Design Pocketbook

Follow Sofie Pelsmakers on Twitter (Sofie tweets so much great stuff!)

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Sofie Pelsmakers.

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March 12, 2015
HPH084 : Is the Passivhaus Standard a Good Choice in All Climates? – with Clare Parry from Australian Passive House Association
Clare Parry, Director of the Australian Passive House Association, explains what it means to work on Passivhaus projects in different climates. What, if anything, changes?

Interview with Clare Parry

Melbourne-based Clare Parry has always been interested in environmental sustainability but started out her career not knowing how to get into it. After falling into building services engineering, over time she worked with a number of inspiring people on interesting projects that naturally pushed her in the right direction.

There is Scepticism around Passivhaus in Australia

Most of the uptake so far has been in the colder areas, like Canberra and Tasmania. Much of Clare’s work is in convincing people that Passivhaus works in warm climates, and particularly well in hot and humid ones.

The physics of Passivhaus does not change, regardless of the climate.

The Indoor / Outdoor Lifestyle Leads Many Australians to Believe They Live Comfortably

The opposite can actually be true, particularly in the northern states where it can get extremely hot, and also in Melbourne and the south where it can get too cold, and where in fact 80% of their heating and cooling energy goes on heating.

Clare quotes many expats from Europe and North America who say that Australian homes are the coldest they’ve ever lived in.

In Temperate Climates Less Insulation is Often Required to Reach Passivhaus Standard

In a climate where there are extremes in temperature the insulation plays a dual role, keeping the heat out in the summer and keeping the heat in during the winter.

While there are extremes of temperature in Australia, the temperature differential is not as great as for other parts of the world, thus making it easier to achieve Passivhaus standard with less insulation.

Passivhaus is Based Around Comfort, Not Temperature Alone

There are more factors to comfort than temperature, such as humidity, air speed and radiant temperature (temperature of the surfaces). Clare cites an example in Jakarta where, despite the temperatures not being excessive, the humidity is very high so the amount of air coming into a building needs to be carefully controlled to avoid condensation.

Passivhaus school in Jakarta

The Cost Impact in Australia is High Because of a Lack of Specialist Manufacturing

Though Clare argues the cost savings are still there. An example she gives is of the specialist glazing they require, which they are only just beginning to find in Australia. This specialism, or having to import it, comes at a cost premium so the benefits are taking longer to repay.

Growing The Industry is Critical to Making it More Affordable

This is in terms of the manufacturing but also having the building industry on board too. Indeed the more people that do a Passivhaus project, the easier and more cost effective it will become for the next ones.

Demand for Passivhaus from individuals is bringing along the architects, design teams, construction industry and ultimately then the demand for the supply chain.

Castlemaine Passivhaus

“Your Home Will be Something You Engage With to Make Work”

While an Australian house is generally designed for the summer, it also needs to be designed so that it sees the benefit in winter. Clare doesn’t believe that a Passivhaus can be comfortable and efficient the whole year round without engaging with it in some way, which is probably going to be something which is manually or automatically adjustable to get the level of control.

There Are Occasions Where Passivhaus Will Not be Cost Effective

Clare concedes that there are “sweet spots” in Australia where the indoor/outdoor lifestyle works extremely successfully and where Passivhaus wouldn’t really be required.

In fact the Passive House Institute has identified several spots around the world where they can’t get Passivhaus to work cost effectively.

The beauty of Passivhaus is that the benchmark that has been established for where you do meet Passivhaus is set where the cost effectiveness is best.

Find Out More

Follow Clare Parry on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Clare Parry.

Research into the Airtightness of Homes in Melbourne

Although not strictly on this session’s topic, Clare shared some amazing research on a random sample of homes in Australia.

Until recently, the building code in Australia did not even mention airtightness! It therefore is not a great surprise to see how leaky these homes were. The purple line shows the airtightness of a Passivhaus (which you may not have noticed because it’s virtually hugging 0 ACH).

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February 19, 2015
HPH069 : What is Active House? – with Rory Bergin from HTA Design LLP
Rory Bergin from HTA Design LLP explains why building standards are devised, the pros and cons, and why people adopt voluntary standards. He also gives an overview of the Active House standard.

Interview with Rory Bergin

Rory Bergin runs the Sustainable Futures Team at HTA Design LLP, a multi-disciplinary consultancy that encompasses architecture, landscape design, communications, sustainability and planning.

Most Standards Focus on Energy Efficiency

With the construction industry pursuing a low carbon or zero carbon agenda, most of the standards that have been developed in recent years focus on energy efficiency.

These include Minergie in Switzerland and the Passivhaus standard in Germany but some countries also have legislation in place to reduce carbon emissions. For example, France hopes to have carbon positive homes by 2020.

Voluntary Standards Generally Exceed Building Regulations

Rory believes that meeting a well researched, comprehensive standard takes you a long way ahead of the market.

It also differentiates you as you feel it is important enough to do this.

Standards Sometimes Don’t Transpose Well

Rory thinks there always has to be a level of local adoption or local editing of a standard to make sure it works properly. He gives an example of a project where he was comparing the carbon footprint of dwellings across Europe.

Rory says: “You have to take into account the carbon intensity of the grid in each country, which is very different. So you don’t get the results you expect simply because of the national energy policies in different countries.”

Standards Can Be Difficult to Interpret for the Consumer

While a standard may be a good framework for a developer or designer, it can be confusing to the end user.

Rory feels this is a failing of many standards because the information gets too technical and therefore is difficult for the homeowner to understand.

More Useful Information Could Aid Home Buyers

One current project at HTA Design LLP is looking at the labelling of homes. In addition to the regular sales information, such as the number of rooms et cetera, they have suggested that developers provide details on things like the amount of storage available, the daylight factor in each major living space, the running costs and how much maintenance will be required to keep this building intact.

A Good House Should Go Beyond Energy Efficiency

Active House is a specification developed by a group of pan-European industrial companies, manufacturers who provide many of the components that go into modern homes across Europe.

They were concerned that most of the standards currently being used focus entirely on energy savings. Although clearly important they believed this was not the only measure and that air quality, good ventilation and daylight should all be taken into account.

CarbonLight Homes – photo copyright VELUX

The Active House Prototypes Showed the Potential

HTA Design LLP were approached by one of the members of the alliance, VELUX, and asked to design a pair of homes to demonstrate the principles.

Rory describes how having built these houses and carrying out a study over 18 months, the occupant feedback was far beyond their expectations. They reported sleeping better and feeling healthier too.

Active House demonstration buildings have also been built in the USA, Canada, Denmark and Germany (to name but a few).

Without These Standards Homes Might Just be Built to the Lowest Common Denominator Standard

By this Rory is talking about Building Regulations, which are in place to protect us from problems from failure, but are not aimed at giving us a good experience. Even if a house is built to Building Regulations and gets planning approval, it does not mean that it will be a pleasant environment in which to live.

The Active House and other similar standards are different because they focus on providing a healthy and enjoyable quality within the building.

The Active House Standard Allows for Independence in Achieving Outcomes

Unlike the Code for Sustainable Homes which dictates for example “if you need to achieve A, then you must do B”, the Active House specification simply says that certain things, such as daylight levels and air quality, need to be achieved but leaves it up to the individual to decide how they wish to do it.

It is Early Days for the Standard But They are Hopeful of Greater Take Up

Now that the testing and demonstration phase is finishing, the Alliance are looking at ways of encouraging people to use the standard and are working towards developing a set of guidelines to help people understand how they would need to design the building and what they would need to do to achieve the specification.

There is a Danger That the Standard Could be Perceived to be a Ploy by the Manufacturer Members of the Alliance for Their Own Gain

Rory however believes that while it is fair to be mindful of where standards come from, the outcomes in this case are aimed entirely at the health and environmental benefits.

With the test of any standard being how well the building functions and the quality of the end user experience, the success of it can be measured in creating buildings that people like and want to live in.

The Aim Moving Forward Should be for Carbon Positive Homes

We’re still some way from that though, and Rory doesn’t believe we need to achieve that to achieve good quality buildings. The costs of achieving carbon positive homes are falling however and it wouldn’t be too difficult to manage on individual dwellings, however on high rise and high volume housing in cities it is virtually impossible.

Get Involved to Help Shape the Direction of Active House

Rory encourages interested people to go the website, activehouse.info, for further information and to sign up as members. With the standard being at an early stage of adoption he emphasises that the more people that get involved, the more they can help shape the direction of the standard from here on.

Find Out More

Visit the Active House website

Visit HTA Design LLP’s website

Follow HTA Design LLP on Twitter

Visit Rory Bergin’s personal blog – Sustainable Human Habits

Follow Rory Bergin on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Rory Bergin.

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September 3, 2014
HPH034 : Balancing Environmental Design and Low Energy Design – with Wilf Meynell
Architectural designer Wilf Meynell explains the concept of environmental design and why it is not the same thing as low energy design. He also shares how he has tried to balance these two approaches in one of his upcoming projects, Springfield House.

Interview with Wilf Meynell

Wilf Meynell studied architecture at Brighton University and then did a diploma at the University of East London. At the latter he was tutored by Sofie Pelsmakers, whom he credits for influencing him and developing his interest in environmental design.

We Are Losing ‘Direct’ Control Over Our Indoor Environments

Wilf was brought up in the countryside and has always had a good connection with his surroundings. However, he believes that as technology has improved and buildings have become better at monitoring themselves, occupants are starting to lose that link with the environment.

Whereas opening a window or putting a log on a fire is very much instigated by the user, modern buildings maintain good comfort levels largely by themselves.

Our Focus on Low Energy Design Could be at the Expense of Environmental Design

While low energy design is a very good thing, Wilf thinks it should not be at the cost of environmental design. It is just as important to get the right specification of locally-sourced materials, to harness the full potential of the sun to provide energy, and to look at the prevailing winds and consider natural ventilation. Low energy design and proper environmental design need to come together in future constructions.

Without a Strong Connection to the Environment We Lose Sight of What We’re Doing

Taken to an extreme Wilf believes that focussing exclusively on low energy design could distance us from our environment. There could be knock-on effects with things like recycling and landfill, where we just see our environment as a body in which to store things we don’t want.

Case Study: Springfield House

Wilf uses one of his current projects to help explain how low energy design and environmental design can work together.

Visualisation of Springfield House

The Site was Chosen to Get as Much from Nature as Possible

Springfield House didn’t initially have a site but this proved quite good from an environmental design point of view because they were able to consider locations that could have as much from nature as possible. The plot they chose is south facing with well-managed woodland around it. Therefore there is a good source of timber for the construction and it can also provide fuel (waste timber not virgin timber) for the house once it’s built.

Key environmental concepts such as this have helped push Springfield House towards Code for Sustainable Homes level six before even considering any green technologies.

Depth of Plan is an Important Consideration of Natural Ventilation

Natural ventilation, as the name suggests, is about supplying and extracting air to a building without the use of mechanical systems. Wilf says that one of the most important considerations in this process is the depth of plan, because with a very deep plan of building a lot of air has to be moved from one side of the building to the other. Springfield House is a ‘u’ shape so that the plan never reaches a depth of more than 4 metres.

A model of Springfield House (overhead view)

Other aspects that important are high ceilings in order to stop the heat building up at the top of the ceiling space and a high façade to pull a lot of air and wind around a certain area.

The Stack Effect Helps Drive Air Through the House

Due to differences in pressure – utilising the stack effect – air is driven through the house from a low point in the extremities, up through the core and out of an openable Velux window over the stairs.

Springfield House is angled towards the prevailing wind to get maximum use of natural ventilation but because of the stack effect no matter which direction the wind is blowing, it’s still going to pull air through the building.

Occasional Purging of Air is Necessary in Winter

Although the building does not need to be ventilated constantly, it will need to be purged every so often. For example in winter, you’d want to keep the windows closed most of the time in order to retain the heat. Opening a window for 10 seconds will wash all the smelly air out and bring the fresh air in without losing much heat.

Springfield House’s core also separates the two living spaces, which means the core can be purged independently.

Air Quality Can Suffer if The Structure is Too Airtight

In a naturally ventilated house there is no reason why it cannot be quite an airtight structure. However, if it’s too airtight one of the dangers would be that the quality of the air in smaller rooms on the extremities of the building might suffer.

More High Quality Components Need to be Made Locally

Springfield House takes a fabric first approach but Wilf is concerned that getting the right products comes at a large cost in embodied energy. For example, manufacturing of high-end Passivhaus standard products is done in Central and Western Europe, which must then be shipped in.

‘Low Technology’ is About Letting the Design do All the Work

Springfield House has two periscopic entities that look out over the site. This not only takes advantage of the views but it’s about the sun. The 1200mm overhang stops all the sun coming into the house in the summer whereas in the winter the angle drops to about 16º (in the UK) and most of the sun can then pierce through the building, heating it up. This low tech approach has been in existence for centuries.

Trees Provide Solar Shading

Using trees is another way to improve the efficiency of the building. In summer when the trees are in bloom less sunlight can reach the house whereas when once the trees have lost their leaves more light can enter.

Knowledge Needs to be Passed onto Successive Owners of the House

Wilf’s client very much wanted a house that requires a hands-on approach. As this is slightly different to other houses it’s important that the user understands how it works. So, if this basic knowledge were not communicated to a new owner then there might be a problem.

In the same respect, new occupants of a Passivhaus would need to understand the impact opening a window would have on the building dynamics.

Mechanically Ventilated Air is Different to Fresh Air

Wilf believes there is a big difference between fresh air and mechanically ventilated air. He uses the example of how he really likes the experience of feeling fresh air coming in through a window onto his face.

It’s also about losing touch with the environment outside because the air has been filtered of smells and so forth.

Upfront Planning has Been Key to Keeping the Costs Down

A lot of work has been invested upfront to try and source local materials and reduce the environmental impact of Springfield House. Wilf talks about three western red cedar trees from the neighbouring woodland that have been earmarked for the cladding. By using a mobile sawmill this will keep the cost down as well as the need to transport materials.

Wilf also gives another example of how the house will be built into the bank and the spoil will be used to re-landscape rather than sending it off to landfill.

The Thermal Mass Provides a Natural Control System for the Heating

Springfield house has an oversized concrete stair at the core of the building. While it is not ideal from an environmental standpoint, if specified carefully it can huge benefits as the thermal mass of the house. This will store the sun’s heat during the day, especially in the winter, and give back gently to the building. Also in the summer it will provide cooling because rather than that heat being in the air it’s in the concrete. As the core can be shut off from the main living spaces it can be quite a good way of providing a very natural control system for the heating.

The Timber Frame Sequests Carbon

Springfield House will have a timber frame that is a stick build. This means they are going to build it on site rather than importing a prefab frame from another country (for example). Part of the thought behind using a timber frame is that it sequests carbon. In other words, if the building lasts for 200 years the carbon would be locked up in the timber. Otherwise, in that same time, the tree would have started rotting and slowly bringing the balance of carbon in the atmosphere back down again, which is one of the problems we’ve got with global warming.

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Wilf Meynell.

Our Question for the Comments Section

Is your build guided more by low energy design or environmental design?

Cropthorne Autonomous House

Read the blog post about Mike Coe and Lizzie Stoodley’s autonomous house. Find out where they got their inspiration, why it means they have a stronger connection with their environment and how it puts them in a good position for the future.

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October 23, 2013
What is an Autonomous House?

Do you feel that you’re lacking a connection with your environment?

Would you like to live in a house where you are in control of the services?

This article is a case study of a couple who created an autonomous house. We find out why they did it and how different it is to live this way.

Autonomous Means Possessing a Large Degree of Self-Governance

Mike Coe and Lizzie Stoodley built themselves an autonomous house in Cropthorne, Worcestershire. Although being autonomous might imply no connection to the outside world, in their case this is not strictly true because they are linked to the grid (albeit to export more electricity than they use!).

If they were completely self-sufficient and off-grid in all respects they would have an autarkic house, but autonomous is a better description of their home. They have no gas supply, they derive their water from harvested rain and they deal with their own human waste.

Architects Brenda and Robert Vale Inspired Them

The initial seed of an idea came in the 1990s, before they had any plans to build a house. Mike was an ITV News cameraman and he was sent to Southwell, Nottinghamshire, on an assignment to do a story on a new kind of house.

Mike describes his visit: “Nobody had the faintest idea what it was. Only when I got there did I realise that it was fascinating. We did an interview with Robert Vale and he showed us around and I thought this is a really interesting project.”

The feature was never shown on ITV because another story broke, but Mike’s journey was not in vain. He had been inspired.

Many years later Mike and Lizzie were considering a long-term plan to leave London and live somewhere less hectic, when they returned to the idea of an autonomous house.

Increasingly concerned about what the human race was doing to the environment and with a strong desire to take action somehow, the ideas came together in their ultra low energy house. It would be based on the house at Southwell but would try to take everything to the next level, with improved materials and greater experience, etc. As this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they wanted to do this properly and take the ideas as far as was sensible.

In 2006 Mike and Lizzie bought their plot of land

Passivhaus Offered the Best Approach

Mike was convinced that the basic configuration of Brenda and Robert Vale’s house was correct. It had a very high thermal mass – based on a concrete core – surrounded by a huge amount of insulation, built as airtight as possible with super high performance windows. Although Brenda and Robert Vale’s house had a small wood stove, Mike and Lizzie believed they could create a house that didn’t need a heating system and just relied on incidental heat (body warmth, cooking, heat from appliances and so on).

While the house was designed and constructed using Passivhaus principles it hasn’t been certified, although this could (easily) be done at a later date. In fact the primary energy requirement of their house is between 3 – 4 kWh per m²per year, which is four to five times better than the Passivhaus requirement.

An Inverted Layout Takes Advantage of the Fact That Heat Rises

In terms of design the house is upside-down. So the living area is upstairs, taking advantage of the fact that heat rises. In a house with no heating it makes sense to live where it’s warmer during the winter. Also, during very hot summer weather, the bedrooms, being downstairs, stay cool and are therefore more comfortable.

If Mike ever builds another house he would definitely do it the same way again.

You Must be Adaptable to Live Like This

Living in an autonomous house requires more thought than a conventional dwelling. However, it’s good thought! The user needs to understand how the building works in order to get the most out of it. For example, controlling the temperature is about considering what to do with the heat. During the summer, Mike and Lizzie warm up the core of the house to a comfortable temperature. They make sure that they close windows and doors when they need to store up heat for the winter. Also, in autumn and winter the mechanical ventilation system is in heat reclaim mode whereas during the summer they don’t reclaim any heat.

Mike says: “You’re much more in touch with the seasons and the outdoor environment and you modify your behaviour accordingly. You have to be prepared in the depths of winter to wear a jumper.”

Responsibility for Resources is Back with You

In today’s world, so long as we have money we know (or perceive) we can have the resources. This not only shifts the responsibility onto somebody else – our service providers – but it distances us from what we’re actually doing to the environment. To live in an autonomous house it is necessary to be more in touch with the environment which Mike sees as a very good thing.

Mike and Lizzie have 17 tonnes of water storage in their basement, but they still need to modify their behaviour if they are anticipating a prolonged period of dry weather. This might mean not cleaning the car or taking showers less often.

“We derive all of our water supply from water that falls on the roof. We store it, we purify it, we drink it, we wash in it and we wash our clothes in it. And it ends up back in a soakaway in the garden.”

The same amount of water enters the site as would have done had the house never been built. All they do is borrow it.

Mains Electricity Makes Sense at the Moment

Mike explains that it’s not environmentally and economically sensible to go off-grid if you have access to a mains electricity supply. This is because storing electricity is not straightforward. For example they could use banks of lithium or nickel metal hydride accumulators but they contain a lot of chemicals. Plus, with this set-up there might still be trouble supplying the house at periods of peak demand.

So, at the current time there is little financial or environmental advantage. Instead they effectively use the grid as a battery!

Most of the electricity generated by their 2.3kW ground-mounted photovoltaic array gets exported because the energy demands of the house are so low. At night time they consume power from the grid, but it’s a small amount. The total electricity bill for the house is in the region of £350 per year and as the payment they receive from the photovoltaic array is about £900, they make about £500 income.

Mains Water and Sewage Systems are Not Efficient

There’s a lot of energy involved in providing houses with clean water and removing the sewage.

While doing his research Mike discovered that 30 – 40% of the water consumed in a normal house is used for flushing the toilets. In most cases it is also clean drinking water, which is of course very wasteful.

Human waste is actually quite a useful substance because it has similar properties to a fertiliser. Mike sums it up well: “What we normally do is we mix useful human waste with useful clean drinking water and we produce a problem substance called sewage, which we then have to pump several miles using energy and process it in a local sewage treatment plant.”

The composting toilet being installed

Composting Toilets Made Sense

With heating and lighting, adjusting lifestyle can often result in huge energy savings. However, when it’s comes to human waste you can’t really reduce the number of times you need to go to the loo! That’s why Mike and Lizzie were keen to bring all those services in house and provide them without using any external energy.

Mike explains how it works: “Every two months, with two of us living here, we have to maintain the chamber which means we have to drain out all the liquid compost and we have to take out the solid compost [that’s mixed with wood shavings], but by the time you come to do that it genuinely isn’t unpleasant.”

This compost then goes on the garden and this also means that they don’t need to buy any fertilisers.

In the Event of Fuel Shortages, They Would be Well Placed

Building an ultra low energy house is in a sense adding an element of autonomy, because you’re reducing your reliance on external fuel supplies. Reflecting on how their life would alter in times of scarcity or blackouts, Mike says they would stay warm because there’s no heating system to go off! There would be no issues with their water either. Electricity would be fine during the day but they might be inconvenienced with a prolonged power cut.

Running an Autonomous House is Rewarding

Mike and Lizzie have never looked back since embracing this way of living. Mike concludes: “The main thing is you have to think and you have to want to be responsible for your actions. That isn’t a hardship – it’s quite rewarding. I think it’s a good way to live.”

October 18, 2013