Green Building Forum - All Discussions

green western red cedar windows

Terry — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:02:53 +0000

A joiner has told me about windows he made from green western red cedar. He used it green as apparently drying it affects the durability?
As a popular cladding presumably durability is ok, but what about movement or any other issues with cedar in this application?

Filling the gaps in wooden floors

pdurkan@yahoo.co.uk — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:46:30 +0100

Hello - we want to fill the gaps between the boards of our 1930s house. I've been told of 3 different methods:
1 - Use "wood"-coloured silicone sealant
2 - Use a mixture of wallpaper paste & sawdust
3 - Use a product called Rubio mono-coat(?)
Has anyone tried any of these? Good or bad? Or can you recommend something else?

Cheers
Paul

Help please with backboiler linked to solar DHW cylinder

edwinvanek — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:22:29 +0000

I will be installing 4m2 of solar panels linked to a triple coild 259 solar hot water tank. The bottom coil will be connected to solar, the middle one to the woodstove with backboiler and the top coil to a new oil condensing boiler. The connection of the solar panels and oil boiler with cylinder stat is fairly straight forward. I am not sure yet how to connect the wood boiler. There used to be an open vented woodfired system in the past so I can use the old tank that is now no longer connected to anything by reconnecting it to the mains and the piework just outside the boiler. The bottom of the cylinder will only be 20 cm over the top of the boiler and about three meters away, I will therefore need to use a pumped system to get the hot water to the cylinder from the 800 or 10000 btu boiler. If I use a thermostat to allow heated water to be re-directed to a towel radiator if the cylinder has reached the desired temperature do I also need to include an additional heat sink radiator in the loft to comply with building regulations. How likely is it that this tower radiator will ever get hot enough?

Breathing Walls

albacore — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:46:01 +0000

Am I the only one to find this whole concept confusing? I thought I understood it to mean the wall structure itself can lose water vapour to the outside or cavity, preventing interstitial condensation. Reading through several of the threads on this forum I am now getting the impression that the concept refers to the the house itself losing vapour from the interior through the walls. The first scenario seems like a good idea in theory, the second seems to be asking for trouble in my poorly informed opinion.

Can anyone clarify this for me?

What size boiler do I really need?

William — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:34:54 +0000

My plumber tells me I need a 28kw boiler for my 100 square metre new build , 2 bedroomed detached hoose.
Thing is, a few on-line calculators say I only need 14Kw. What am I missing , should I spend the extra Â£300 on capacity I don't need and waste energy too?

PS: Ive got 280m of UFH pipe

Linking Solar Panels to a small swimming pool

sturharv — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:00:14 +0100

Dear all,

Can anyone let me know the usual method of linking an evacuated tube solar system to heat my small pool? Will I need a big HW store or will a heat exchanger suffice? Also, presumably there will be controls available for a system like this.

Kind regards,

Stuart:bigsmile:

Price of Sheep's wool insulation

tomsusweb — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:27:05 +0000

The consensus on forum posts that I can find is that sheep's wool insulation is much more expensive than cellulose (warmcel etc). Usually by as much as 3 to 4 times.

I have just received some estimates for a job in Ireland and the prices seem very comparable. The Warmcel installer wants â‚¬16 (Â£11.22) per m2 (including VAT and installation) to do the walls (145mm thickness).

I can buy sheep's wool from here:

http://www.sheepwoolinsulation.ie/products.asp?cat=11

for â‚¬17.50 (Â£12.28) per square metre at the same thickness. This price is even better than it seems as the warmcel price is total m2 and includes the area covered by the timber studs. The sheep's wool excludes the timber area. As I can install the insulation myself the sheep's wool works out about the same price in the end.

Am I missing something here? Is cellulose much cheaper in the UK? Has the sheep's wool got much cheaper?

Which would you use? I know that cellulose can potentially fill even the tiniest voids - but I worry about slumping and mould.

Comments appreciated

Tom

Sustainable roof construction, best materials etc

howdytom — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:36:06 +0000

I would like to ask all green builders what they think is the most sustainable/greenest/low carbon/environmental roofing solution for the 21st century ?. Slates/shingles from abroad are out, is there enough land to grow thatch in the uk for us all ? would local clay pan tiles be the answer?

Adobe/clay/rammed earth and straw bales are good for walls.

Whats your solution and why.

tom

Specifying boiler power

Rustychain — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:21:35 +0000

We are getting a new combi fitted in the next week or so. We live in a 50's three bedroom semi, with one bathroom and 11 radiators (due to an extension providing a kitchen, utility room and downstairs WC).

If I have understood what I have read on this forum, under worked high power boilers are less efficient than fully worked less powerful boilers. Have I got that correct?

The reason I ask is that I was going to spec a Vaillant ecoTec plus 837, due to the reasonable flow rate on the HW (needed for a shower) and the stainless steel heat exchange. But I wonder if this is overkill for my house and whether I could get away with a smaller model. The central heating outputs are as follows:
ecoTEC plus 824 - 6.7 - 19.0kW
ecoTEC plus 831 - 8.7 - 24.0kW
ecoTEC plus 837 - 12.0 - 28.0kW

Thanks

Sean

Heating an old farm in Portugal

lafamillemackay — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:43:28 +0000

Hi All, hoping some of you will be able to help me with a dilemma.
Working in Northern Portugal, we have decided to buy an old farmhouse, 2 storey. It dates from the mid-19th century, with thick granite walls. There is insulation on the attic but it has "original" rather ornate tall single glass windows which can't be changed for double glazed ones. The ceilings throughout the house are at 4m height or just over.. there is no heating...
We NEED to get some sort of heating in here. My father who lives in Sweden swears by heat pumps, going to fan units which blow hot air, the argument being 1) the efficiency (electrical) of the HPs and 2) that the fans will distribute the hot air in a room faster. Houses in Sweden are of course hermetically sealed against the elements, so I'm not convinced about how useful it would be here. A few thoughts/comments/questions for the discussion:
1. Although it gets cold in N Portugal, it rarely goes below freezing. The main problem is the damp, we are 1km from the Atlantic. The heating is almost more essential from the point of keeping the house dry.
2. HPs are really only in their infancy over here, a handful of distributors, but they have not got much experience under their belts, and then mainly for apartment/office blocks - it is predicted to increase... like in the UK.
3. One thing our builder is suggesting is night storage heaters.. my experience of these in the UK in the past has been terrible, they have "run out" of heat by midday following day and 5pm is icy, no matter what combination of input/output we tried... Has the technology for these come on in recent years?
4. I'd like to try to steer clear of fossil-fuel CH.. we have not got piped gas and I just don't like the idea of oil..
5. Am I crazy thinking about using fan-units rather than radiators? How does the energy needed to run the fan trade off against the extra time (=electricity) needed for radiators to heat a room?
6. What efficiencies of HP vs standard electricity use have other members experienced? 3:1? 5:1? less?
7. A long shot perhaps, does anyone have any contacts in Portugal for HP providers/contractors?
8. I'm an amateur, have done quite a bit of research on HP on the net, and have bought into the concept, but not sure if it is the appropriate solution for this particular house...?
9. If HP's are not, what is...?

If anyone has any advice, comments, help, I'd be v chuffed! (Please don't tell us to sell up though, it's a FAB house and will be so nice once brought somewhat into the modern age!)

Thanks in advance! Anna

SIPS - different types

albacore — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:36:22 +0000

We are considering using SIPS for our new bungalow. It now seems that there is more than one SIP construction - some companies use EPS for the "filling", some use urethane and other manufacturers don't specify (at least on their websites) what the construction is. I have been googling and can find very little information as to the relative benefits and implications of one material over another. Does anyone know of a source of independent information on this?

Many thanks in advance for your help

Peak Oil Wiki-book

biffvernon — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:25:10 +0000

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Peak_Oil:_High_Tide_for_an_Oil_Addicted_World

DIY Biodiesel

Peter A — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:35:01 +0000

Just wondered if anybody out there knows of a simple way to make your own biodiesel, I have looked at a few articles and it appears to be something best done in almost laboratory conditions, there is always a simple solution somewhere. Was thinking about this more a generator back up, then when diesel hit Â£1/ltr at the pumps it has got me thinking again about automotive quality biodiesel.
Before you say it yes I do know this is the green "building" site, but I do need to collect building materials from time to time and it would be nice to keep the carbon foot print down.

Legionnaires' disease and warm houses

Neil K — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:26:19 +0000

Has anybody looked into whether there are any risks (unreasonable risks that is) associated with the routing of the cold water pipes in a well insulated building?

The point is that in old buildings the loft was normally cold and the supply pipework was therefore running at low temperatures. This would mean that there was no 'cold' water sitting about at room temperature. We are planning to build a SIP house, so the envelope of the house will be warm. i.e. the roof space will also be within the insulated envelope and is likely to be at, or near, the living temperature.

Give that Legionnaires is known to like water around 20C I wonder if there is an issue with the routing of the cold pipes within the house. Should I, for example, run all the cold pipes in the ground below the insulated slab rather than through the warm loft? On the other hand does the chlorination in mains water deal with this?

Glad of a steer on this.

Searching for energy efficient solid walled homes - please help

DavidNEF — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:09:43 +0000

Two charities, The National Energy Foundation (www.nef.org.uk), and the Sustainable Energy Academy (www.sustainable-energyacademy.org.uk), have recently launched a campaign called â€˜Old Home SuperHomeâ€™. The purpose is to focus attention on the energy performance of the UKâ€™s 4.3 million solid (non-cavity) walled houses.

We are building an alliance of exemplar solid walled houses that have been transformed by their owners to typically reduce their energy use and carbon footprint by 60% or more. We are particularly looking for homes with insulated walls. We make the houses accessible to the public through arranging Open Days, so that others can learn how to save energy and be inspired. We support the Open Days through payment of a fee to the home owner, we publicise the Open Days and produce literature about the house for visitors to take away. A representative from NEF or SE-A can be present at the Open Days.

We already have 12 alliance members who have transformed their houses, and some have already successfully held Open Days.

If you have renovated your solid walled home to make major energy savings, would you be interested in joining this alliance to share your experiences? Or do you know of somebody else who may be interested? If so, please email me to discuss further. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards
David Hancock
(david.hancock@nef.org.uk)

Duct Insulation

Paul_B — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:15:06 +0000

Afternoon,

I need to replace the current fan in my ensuite urgently as it is broken and the level of condensation is causing mould. I want to use the existing wall grille and fit a fan to remove this moist air. Currently the ducting is thin flexible plastic (like tumble dryer hose) and passes into the loft which causes lots of condensation.

Whilst I am fitting the new fan I am thinking of replacing the flexible duct with rigid duct. Therefore, should I use plastic duct, metal duct, pre-insulated duct or insulated sleeving from the likes of Kingspan or Knauf?

Paul

roughcast render on OSB or Cementitious board

Niggle — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:36:25 +0000

I am building a superinsulated bathroom on a (1976) flat roofed extension to a roughcast rendered (1919) house. The outer sheath of this timber framed room can be OSB or Cementitious on 600mm frame centres, overall room size 4600 by 3000. As finish must match existing large stone roughcast, need advice on better board to use, whether expamet of fibreglass mesh is needed to improve adhesion and resist cracking

Retrospective Insulation of old stone building

Mike (Up North) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:38:09 +0000

Hi,

Can anyone make any suggestions to better insulate the following.

Draught proofing and effective use of energy are already being addressed. I need to increase the insulation in an old stone built cottage.

Walls are rough stone/rubble with possible lime mortar (100yr old property) ranging from 2 to 3 feet thick then battens then lath and plaster/pitch pine boards.

Please do not suggest ripping all out as it is being lived in and well itâ€™s just not do-able like that. Itâ€™s basically sound and original, but needs to be greatly improved. Even if it does not get the reqâ€™d thickness to meet current standards it will be a great improvement. External insulation is a non starter as well.

I have considered some sort of loose fill poured down the cavity between wall and plaster but the wall heads are not very accessible and the battening is haphazard (from past experience) so it might not go that far down. Also from looking at sub-floor level, Iâ€™m not sure whatâ€™s to stop it simply falling out the bottom. You canâ€™t get to the bottoms as from below the wall below floor level is much thicker (another couple of feet) so you canâ€™t actually see what at the end of the joists.

I have thought about some sort of squirt in foam (yuk) not ideal but might be the only solution as could be done progressively from the inside. I am worried this might cause damp etc as I imagine the walls can breathe a bit as is. Also this would further stop draughts within the shell of the building, but that in itself may be giving the necessary ventilation.

I have discovered from an internet search that there is a difference between the can foam from DIY stores (single component, open cell structure = porous) and that sold by others â€“ specialists (?) these being 2 part component, closed cell structure = non-porous.

Another problem in that living in the far north many esoteric or natural materials are not available without huge round trips.

Any ideas anyone? Suggestions?

Cheers.

flat roof insulation

snowy1988 — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:26:15 +0000

We have just had a Firestone EPDM roofing system installed to new plywood flat roof. This will form the roof over a new staircase, part of a major renovation project. We thought that we were getting insulation and vapour control layer installed under the EPDM but what we have got is the EPDM fixed directly to the ply. Can anyone advise the best materials to use under the flat roof to achieve good insulation and vapour control layer?
snowy1988

Downlights - green options?

Rustychain — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:48:14 +0000

I need to spec some lights for a new kitchen. I was horrified when I realised how much power is used by the average downlight set up.

What are the alternatives? Are there any decent/prven LED kits out there? Is 12v better than 240v?

Suggestions/feedback appreciated.

Heat loss of walls

tony — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:34:06 +0000

Do walls loose the same ammount of heat whether or not it is windy?

In other words are U values dependant on wind speed?

Heat is lost from the surface of a wall by; conduction straight into the air (this is small?), radiation ( this will be independent of wind speed ), and convection.

Convection losses can be increased by forcing air over surfaces, forced convection. How much of this goes of for walls?

Do hot box tests take account of any of this?

Heat pumps and SAP

Peter A — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 20:01:14 +0000

Has anybody tried running ASHP's thru the Part L SAP software? Air to water and you seem to be well on the way to Code for Sustainable Homes level 3, air to air and level 4 doesn't look that daunting. All that's needed now is to persuade planners that they are a renewable technology and move over biomass. Can this be right, they are after all powered by good old inefficient electricity?:wink:

China promises wind turbines with lower cut-in speed

Bluemoon — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:35:39 +0000

Found this today, seems interesting if you live in a windy place.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/chinese_mag_lev.php

Wind farms don't work.

ecoworrier — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 14:13:24 +0100

Found this in the Observer today. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2160765,00.html
Is it true?:neutral:

Deterioration in old oak

oiseaux — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:38:12 +0000

The old oak I am using for the cills to my garden room are needless to say showing a few "shakes". I am concerned about deterioration and wondering whether I should cover the exterior of the cill in flashband or something. Should I be concerned, does flashband sound really naff and if not would it actually offer the protection I am looking for. Also how long does it take for the cleaned oak to resume its grey colour, and what should I treat with if anything. Over here in France "les Halles" appear to be without treatment but I have been told that they are doused in woodworm / termite preventative. Thanks.

ASHP control - how is it done

andytk — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:50:10 +0000

Hi, Iâ€™m new to the forum. Excellent forum btw.

Does anyone know how the control on heat pumps work. In particular air source heat pumps.

Iâ€™ve been looking into buying a house and many of the properties Iâ€™ve looked at only have access to electric heating. Pretty much without exception these have been storage heaters. I ripped out the storage heaters in my last house and replaced them with normal convection electric heaters. This was much more comfortable and user friendly and didnâ€™t cost too much as the house was unheated during the day and was very small <45m2.

This time round the house will be bigger so Iâ€™d rather go down the ASHP path, but am wondering how it all integrates into the house.

I was planning to run a 8kW ASHP against a thermal store with a heat exchanger for direct potable hot water, and use the water in the thermal store itself for the wet radiator based CH system. I know the radiators will have to be oversized but this isnâ€™t a problem as new rads would be needed anyway.

My question is, how does the ASHP know what level of heat to deliver to the thermal store. In summer it runs on a timer and senses tank temperature and runs as needed within its time window. In winter youâ€™d need it to run at roughly the same heat output as the heating system is withdrawing from the thermal store. Is the ASHP a â€œdumbâ€ system. Can it only fire up based on thermal store temp (as this seems to be its only input to its controller).

If so wouldnâ€™t it run cyclically? If Iâ€™m drawing 4kW off with the CH system, then wonâ€™t it wait until it sees the tank temp dip and then fire up at 8kW (with a lousy COP) until the system is back to temp.

Iâ€™m looking at the Trianco range of heat pumps but havenâ€™t contacted them yet as I donâ€™t yet have a house to design a system for. I was just wondering if anyone knew how it was done. I know that heat pumps off all verities prefer to operate with large water tanks as heat loads. ASHP work with much higher COP when operating at part load (ie. 3kW from a 8kW system)

Also how would the system know what the heat loading from the CH system is? Essentially this is a system of two halves with the thermal store in the centre acting as a boiler/thermal dump.

I was hoping to fit up the system myself as with a vented thermal store self fit is possible.

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers

Andy

Insulation

Rogerward — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:08:38 +0000

I have a small room over the garage with a sloping roof that I wish to convert into an ensuite bathroom. The roof built in 1938 is constructed with "tarred paper" between the rafters and the external concrete tiles. The rafters are open internally with no insulation.

For insulation I wish to put Rockwool flexi slabs between the rafters, covered by plasterboard. I am concerned about interstitial condensation. Should I put a non-porous membrane such as polythene between the rafters and the plasterboard, or does the whole idea risk damp attack to the rafters?

Comments would be very welcome.

Western red cedar, wood cladding

peterhaywood — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:53:45 +0000

Does anyone know or tell me where to find the cladding support and restraint details for western cedar cladding also the wind load resistance

Unfired Bricks, are they as good as they sound?!?

Ben — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 12:45:15 +0000

I have seen an article about using unfired bricks for internal walls, see www.buildforafuture.co.uk/autumn05Unfired_earth_bricks.pdf

Does anyone have any building knowledge of these and what sort of cost per brick etc is involved. The article says they are not load bearing so any beams/joists would become a thermal bridge through the insulation behind the bricks but the breathability and health benifits of the clay sounds worth while!
Any oppinions would be much welcomed

Warm air heating

skenn_ie — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:22:16 +0000

Hi, I am considering installing an oil to air and warm air heating, and would appreciate comments about it's desirability, and design. In particular, I would like some insight into the design of the actual heat exchanger. I have found none that meet my requirements ... most being gas fired. I expect to buy an oil burner, and get the rest fabricated.

Wet rot in old oak beams

oiseaux — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:14:09 +0000

Apart from the obvious of curing the source of wet rot in old oak beams, will it now stop, is there anything one can do to hasten the drying process, what else needs to be done. Thanks

Improving a ten year old house

Paul_B — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 08:09:16 +0000

From reading these forums on and off the advice seems to be improve insulation and draught-proofing as the most effective way to improve the performance of a house.

Our house is a ten year old modern detached building with double glazing and cavity wall insulation. Therefore, where do I start the improvements? What would give the best return in terms of money and environmental benefit?

Many thanks,

Paul

Urban turbine trial

fostertom — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:35:25 +0000

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3098903&origin=BDweekly

graduate opportunities in the sustainable building industry

stroudy — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:59:03 +0100

Hello!

Iâ€™m an engineering student, just about to go into my masterâ€™s year, specialising in 'New and Renewable Energy'. Iâ€™m really interested in embodied renewable energy and would like to pursue a career in the sustainable building/small scale renewable industry, perhaps as a consultant or advisor.

Does anyone know any companies offering graduate jobs? As yet, I have very little relevant experience (apart from reading Building for a Future, and a week voluntary work at CAT) and so am looking for any work (voluntary or otherwise!) over the coming year(s) - could anyone suggest any companies who could offer anything? Iâ€™m based in the North East, but am happy to travel!

Iâ€™m not sure a predominantly electrical engineering degree is going to leave me in an ideal position to start a career in the industry. I canâ€™t really afford any more time at university, but could anyone suggest any courses which may help me to develop skills?

I would appreciate any help at all at this stage,
Many Thanks!

Tom Stroud

Vapour barriers and air leakage

oiseaux — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:00:13 +0000

Where and what materials should I use for a vapour barrier and to stop air leakage in the lean to tiled roof of my garden room. At the moment it consists of rafters, boarding, breathable felt, counter batten and tiles. Will probably use 240 mm fibreglass as insulation, (went off silver foil after recent posting replies and cost!!!!! )

Boiler woes

Paul_B — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:54:10 +0000

Our current boiler is starting to play up, I keep having to reset it
as it fails to run when required. I know it is a particuliarly bad
model as it has been on Watchdog, Potterton Suprima. In addition it
is non-condensing and the Energy Saving Trust state efficiency of
~75%.

So I am likely to replace it in the next few years, but this posses
some questions:

- Should I go the whole hog and change to an unvented system (what
are the benefits?)

- In the future I plan to install solar panels for hot-water and
also a wood pellet stove for the front room with a small back-
boiler. Therefore, the gas boiler will then become secodary heating
source just providing top-up to the renewable heating supplies. But
I need a system that can cope with this more complex setup.

- Any recommendations on manufacturer? I am thinking Viessmann as
they seem to have a good approach, German engineering and have good
controls and integrated with their own solar system. But I have also
been recommended Worcester Bosch and Baxi.

Any thoughts, comments would be appreciated.

Paul

Should all new buildings be round?

tony — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:23:27 +0100

The most energy efficient shape is round (or in my case hemispherical as I like to use the ground to keep me at a comfortable even temperature)

Should all new green buildings be round? It is the shape with the maximum volume but the lowest surface area, and therefore the smallest heat losses.

What do we think?

So called "Green taxes" ?

tony — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:44:33 +0100

These new so called green taxes. What are they? Taxes on ungreenness! So why call them green taxes then?

I strongly object to the name and for that matter the idea too -- to tax people for being ungreen just salves the governments conscience

Action not taxes is what is needed. What will the taxes get spent on? not on green things almost for sure.

Does it cost more to Build Green?

remashiach — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:03:05 +0100

I'm a Part 3 student and have been assigned an essay title which I would appreciate if anybody could shed ANY light on:

Q: Designing a sustainable building may involve innovation and new technologies, discuss how these are likely to impact upon project costs and how effectively the architect can propose, monitor and manage costs at all stages of the work.

The essay is 5000 words, so i'll have to go in depth.

Cheers!

Location, location, location

tony — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:44:38 +0000

In green terms this has to become, "Orientation, orientation orientation.

In the old days the upper classes used to have morning rooms these were warmed in the by the rising sun and faced east or south east. They were nice to sit in in the morning, similarly breakfast rooms often caught the morning sun too.

Now homes with mostly north facing windows are going to become far less desirable as orientation matters.

What effect does orientation have on heating bills and energy consumption I wonder. Certainly there must be an effect -- will this show up in HIPS ?

Offsite

GBP-Keith — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:26:06 +0100

Anyone planning on going to the BRE Offsite event in the 11th to 14th June?

SAP Software

OJ — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:33:35 +0000

Does anyone know of U-value calculation software or SAP analysis software which will run on a Mac?
Thanks, OJ

eco-house survey results on naturalhomes.org

naturalhomes — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:47:04 +0000

If you are thinking about building or buying an eco-house you might be interested in the results from the naturalhomes.org survey. It shows that there is a slight reluctance to buy straw bale structures compared to earthen structures in both Europe and the Americas but much more pronounced in the Americas. You can see the results here:

http://naturalhomes.org/oct07ecovote.htm

Regards, Oliver

underfloor insulation

Hugh Roberts — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:53:07 +0000

Hi,
I am renovating a victorian end terrace. I want to put insulation under the ground floor boards. There is a void with a [now] good air flow. My question is how to insulate. A foil backed board would be simple but expensive and I an unsure whether a vapour barrier between the boards and void could cause any problems. I have seen polystyrene boards without foil, these are cheaper but are they as efficient and are they breathable. The other alternative is fibreglass which would be cheap although a bit more tricky to prevent it sagging, but again is it breathable and does it matter? Any advise would be helpful.
Also the house has no loft insulation. Iam sure that this has been discussed many times before but does anyone know the recommended thickness of fibreglass or is it worth considering another product, unfortunately cost is a factor.
Thanks for any advice

Zero carbon homes - who's kidding who?

GBP-Keith — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:37:04 +0100

As much as I would like to praise anyone building affordable homes in an ecological fashion, how foolish do you need to be to believe in the concept of zero carbon homes!!

Press release.

Ashford Borough Council today announces groundbreaking plans for the South Eastâ€™s first â€œzero-carbonâ€ affordable housing scheme.

Working in partnership with Hyde Housing Association, the council has earmarked land off Beecholme Drive, Kennington, Ashford, for 19 eco-homes. The 13 houses and six flats would include 17 affordable units for rent or shared ownership

Ashford Borough Council executive portfolio holder for housing, Cllr Peter Wood, said: â€œThis exemplar housing scheme would place Ashford at the forefront of environmentally sustainable development and present a beacon of excellence for other local authorities and housing developers.â€

Carbon dioxide emissions in the build process and day-to-day operation of the homes will be balanced through sustainable and energy-harnessing construction practices and design features, including:

â€¢ High levels of insulation
â€¢ Biomass central heating
â€¢ Solarâ€“powered water heating and energy generation
â€¢ Domestic wastewater recycling and rainwater harvesting
â€¢ Reduced water usage appliances and fittings
â€¢ Sustainable drainage system
â€¢ Specialist energy management systems
â€¢ Construction materials sourced within 50 miles of the site.

Ashford Borough Councilâ€™s executive last night recommended handing over almost half a hectare of land for Hyde Housing Association to develop the scheme.

The Â£3 million development is subject to full council agreement, planning approval and a grant from the Housing Corporation. Hyde is investing Â£2.1 million of its own money into the project.

Hyde Housing Association has guaranteed that the scheme will be zero-carbon and achieve the Governmentâ€™s new Code for Sustainable Homes Level Four standard, Hyde will be aspiring to achieve Level Six. There are currently no other Level Four affordable housing schemes anywhere in the South East, while a Level Six scheme would be unique in the UK.

Job Opportunity - Sustainability Adviser, North West

andyB — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:07:21 +0000

Hi

Position: Sustainability & Sustainable Design Consultant

Location: Manchester / Accrington / North West

Salary: c.Â£25,000+benefits

Job reference: BSE1007

Vacancy description

A unique opportunity to join the core team of a new, young and vibrant environmental sustainability consultancy based in the North West. Blue Sky Environmental provides high quality expert advice on all aspects of sustainability to public and private sector clients, with a particular focus on sustainable design, construction design, construction, operation and performance evaluation of a range of buildings. Our approach is fact-based and research-led, and our core objectives are achieving and demonstrating excellence in sustainable performance, and working with organizations to achieve their sustainable visions. At present there is a particular focus on sustainable healthcare buildings.

Our ideal candidate

Will hold a good degree and/or second degree in an environmental or building related discipline

Will have training and/or experience in carrying out building assessments (BREEAM, SAP and/or similar), or a keen desire to undertake this training

Will be a motivated self-starter with excellent interpersonal and decision making skills

Will have some relevant previous experience and demonstrable ability to seize this opportunity

Please drop me an email to apply or discuss further

Best Regards

Andy (andy[at]fact-not-fashion.com)
Blue Sky Environmental

Natural Insulation

ewanogilvie — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:58:10 +0000

I am currently undertaking Honours Year of an M/Arch BSc Hons Architecture degree. The topic I have chosen for my dissertation is sustainability, specifically looking at natural sources of insulation.

My research so far has been very difficult as there appears to be very little information available other than that of retailers trying to sell their product.

Are there any journals with particularly good articles on these insulations?

If anyone has any information or advice on where to find information it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Ewan Ogilvie

Domestic energy certificates

ken davis — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:04:18 +0100

having just done the training to be a domestic energy assessor i have lots to say on this which may well fill a book but as my typing is so slow it may be best if i make a few preliminary comments and then respond to queries.
the main point i want to make however ( and i do believe in principle that energy certs are a good thing) is that people who are likely to put in higher than current standard insulation i.e you and me, into their buildings and then cover them over e.g i have insulated below all my suspended floors and have started insulating walls inside (in addition to cavity fill), will need to keep a record (photos) of the work and/or have a receipt from their builder because RdSAP (reduced data standard assessment procedure) will only recignise visible improvements e.g loft insulation and fill holes of cavity fill.

info: out of the possible 100 points achievable with RdSAP, double galazing willonly get you another 4 while a condensing boiler will add 15.

so any queries????

Container House

anajoly — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:08:43 +0000

Hi,
We are planning to build a container house in the UK. Does anyone have any idea how difficult it is to get a planning permission for it?
Many thanks,

Ana

natural air circulation

Oliver — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:30:11 +0100

i'm putting a natural ventilation/cooling system into the larder/pantry of a new build, simply a vent at low level on an external wall and a 'chimney' out through the roof (high vaulted ceiling space). I've also included the exhausts from the two fridge freezers on the outside of the larder released into the space at high levels. I'm confident the process will work but i'm unsure of the name of the process i'm using and i'm struggling to find a simple stainless steel 'chimney' with rain proof top. They all seem to be insulated for use with fires and thus expensive, does anyone know a firm who specialise in these bits and pieces? I'm also wondering wether I should incorporate a moving vent on the top of the 'chimney/tower' to maximise on the convection.. any ideas or comments?
cheers