“Don’t be afraid of renewable technologies. These are simply advances in the way we are able to build, heat and run our homes.
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better homes? (….and what does this actually mean?)
WHY SHOULD WE BUILD
by GREG WOODS, MANAGER, ECOHOMES
Too often, particularly on Jersey, homes are built to meet the minimum required standard under the building by-laws, with particular reference to the areas of insulation, airtightness and heating systems.
There is nothing wrong with this as the by-laws have been improved significantly as the years have gone by, but does that mean that we should be satisfied with basic compliance? In most situations the homeowner doesn’t have a choice as their home is either an existing building, or they are buying a completed house from a developer. For those of us that are looking to add an extension, or fortunate enough to be building our own homes, should we not be looking to build to a higher standard?
Eco Homes. Decent Homes Standard. Code for Sustainable Homes. PassivHaus…. There are so many terms and standards that are now spoken about with a seemingly endless amount of literature regarding them that it can all be very
confusing. The building by-laws have reached a stage where even the industry professionals find them cumbersome and restrictive. In the UK (and Jersey tends to follow the UK for by-laws) there is growing recognition that they need to be completely scrapped and a new format introduced that is far simpler and allows greater flexibility, with the primary focus being on the internal environment and energy consumption.
For the average person who is wanting to undertake an extension, or dreams of a new-build home, it can often appear that despite all the information available there doesn’t seem to be a simple explanation of what is right for your project. So how do you make the correct decision?
Homeowners generally want to
know that they can enjoy reduced energy costs (heating, hot water, lighting and appliances) and are best protected from the rising future costs of energy (electric, oil, etc.). A lesser recognised goal is that you need to create a healthy internal environment, but it is a very important consideration. There are a number of ways to achieve this, but the first thing that needs to be recognised is that the best solutions will be made up of a number of parts working together. Treating eco products as individual bolt-on solutions can often be a costly wasted exercise. A typical example of this is to replace a conventional boiler with a heat pump system in an existing property without undertaking any upgrades to the building’s insulation and airtightness levels. A single block bungalow with old windows and doors and very little
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20/20 - Our Environment
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