apple blossom cottage Caroline Smith

Caroline Smith

Only a small percentage of people build their own homes, but whether you do or don’t, the building industry can switch to greener materials (like straw bale bricks over concrete). Straw bale homes are as safe as wood and naturally insulated, yet we burn colossal amounts of waste straw each year, which could be used to build clean cheap homes on brownfield areas.

If you’re planning to build your own home, find suitable materials from Ecomerchant and MicroLouvre (a woven fabric from scrap metal that lasts 60 years to remove the sun’s heat with no power needed – it’s fire-rated and can even be used to shade traffic lights). Good books to read are Green Home Building and Building with Straw Bales.

Where to Find Greener Building Materials

sugarcrete

Sugarcrete is a low-carbon alternative to concrete bricks, developed by a London university. It combines sugarcane (leftover from producing sugar) with sand-mineral binders, to end up with a brick that has carbon footprint six times lower than clay bricks. Sugarcane is the world’s largest produced crop, so there is substantial waste material. It also produces the Sugarcrete flooring slab, which is reusable and fire-resistant.

Ecobrix Woodcrete are made in the UK and easy to use and build with as blocks. Made from wood waste and cement, they are robust as bricks, but with the thermal advantages of wood. They also cost around a third less than traditional bricks.

Ecological Building Systems offers many green building products including insulation made from grass and recycled jute.

Reclaimed Brick Company offers nationwide delivery of reclaimed bricks, which are ideal for restoring period properties. They are cleaned to remove old mortar and debris, then repointed and sometimes resized for a quality and consistent batch. The same company offers:

London Reclaimed Brick Merchants also offers reclaimed bricks.

Salvage Reclamation Yards offer real finds, for period homes.

Low-Carbon Clay Plasters from Cornwall 

clayworks plasters

Clayworks (Cornwall) is a company that makes low-carbon clay plasters (with natural pigments and minerals) to plaster and colour walls in one. Founded by two experts who wrote books on cob building and natural plasters, find 88 ready-to-mix-with water colours sold in compostable bags.

All allow buildings to breathe and regular temperature, don’t use in wet or shower areas nor on doors that may be moved (read product safety info). If your house is already plastered, read the post on better brands of house paint.

Make Your New Home Energy-Efficient

border collie carol singers Caroline Smith

Caroline Smith

New homes these days have to to be energy-efficient so read up on how to affordably insulate your home (includes info on how to prevent birds nesting in chimneys – never install installation until they have moved on).

Radflek is up there with ‘England’s best invention’ and it’s a mystery why energy companies and the media don’t promote it more.

If using portable radiators, choose oil-powered ones that heat up slower but are more comfortable and safer than fast-blowing fan heaters (which can cause heatstroke for people & pets and cost a fortune to run).

For around £25 for a pack of three, these modern alternatives to sticking aluminium foil behind your radiator can reflect 95% of wasted heat energy that often simply goes out the wall and into the fresh air. No DIY skills are needed to reduce heat loss by almost half, and therefore your bills too.

Designed to last years, these are made with laminated aluminium foil and pays for itself within a year, but is designed to last at least 5 years. The booster simply hangs from the wall brackets, for radiators that have a gap between the radiator and the wall.

If you have unique radiators (like brackets that sit higher) their FAQ page has answers for best fitting. The company can also supply for commercial use (say for hospitals, hospices and care homes).

How to Renovate a Heritage Home

Dedham Essex Geraldine Burles

Geraldine Burles

If renovating a heritage home, CosyGlazing is an affordable lightweight alternative to glass , which is easy to remove and approved for most sash windows, to reduce heat loss by 70%. It adds a second layer, but you can still open the windows as usual.

Approved for Grade 1 and 2 listed buildings, it can be removed for cleaning, as it’s fixed with high-tech magnetic strips and be made to match colours. Plexiglass is shatterproof, and seven times more insulating than glass. Read more on conserving heritage buildings (including safety advice for thatched roofs and how to prevent birds nesting in chimneys).

Big Ideas for the Tiny Home Movement

the end of summer Caroline Smith

Caroline Smith

If you’re on a budget, an American idea that is becoming popular in England is the tiny home movement, where people build small but perfectly-designed homes (often on wheels) that feature on mod-cons, and you can take them with you, if you move.

They don’t ‘increase in value’ like most homes, but they are far more affordable, and are very popular in the US island of Nantucket (30 miles from Cape Cod) where most properties are over $1 million.

Read The Big Tiny. This is the story of Dee, an American who had spent years doing up a big dilapidated home in the Pacific Northwest. After having a heart attack in a grocery store  (age just 40), she sold it and built/built a tiny home.

Today she has a far better quality of life, it takes 10 minutes to clean her and her bills are around $10 a month. And in the evening, she sits on her (tiny) porch and enjoys watching the sun go down with her dog (and a cold beer).

Similar Posts