Episode Information Trade Secrets Carmarthen

Date Published:

16/06/2008

This week the Trade Secrets team revisit a previous Grand Design, the Carmarthen Eco-house, bringing you essential tips on creating your own toxin-free, efficient and cost-effective home.

Don't forget to check out our guide to eco building and Deborah's guide to finding an architect from this week's Trade Secrets.

Carbon neutrality is rightly becoming a desired feature of a new build home, just as a conservatory was twenty years ago or hot water a hundred years back. In designing this home, the couple were partially successful.

Inspiration was drawn from this beautiful home in Wiltshire, which features a dominating glass wall. This cuts down on energy bills by allowing a maximum amount of light into the house, but its benefits are twofold. Its orientation is such that the glazed wall faces east, allowing morning sunshine to stream in and warm the whole house.

The solid back wall prevents the house from overheating during the hottest part of the day, meaning that a simple and clever design allows the home to self-regulate its temperature using the renewable energy of the sun.

Duncan Baker-Brown took a wholly different but equally commendable approach when building his home in Brighton.

He has managed to leave the building materials exposed, displaying the polished concrete floor and clay walls. This cuts down on both costs and materials, whilst sacrificing nothing in terms of energy efficiency.

The chestnut panels are locally sourced, reducing the carbon pumped into the atmosphere by global transportation of materials.

This is an aesthetically risky approach and the results might not be to everyone's taste, but on the whole Duncan can be congratulated on creating such an environmentally conscious home.

If your penchant is for older buildings but you want to avoid the drafts and leaks that make so many older properties inefficient, take heed of this warehouse conversion.

Large solar panels have been fitted, providing a continuous (and free) source of electricity to the property. It has some simpler features too, such as mirrored walls to reflect the maximum amount of light, and even has some finishing features made from recycled cardboard. Admittedly these eco-gadgets come at a price, with an initial setup cost of £40,000 added to the project in order to provide these features.

However, it needn't be costly to improve efficiency in the home. From additional insulation to draft stoppers, from more mirrors to just switching off the lights, being environmentally friendly needn't cost the earth - no pun intended!