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Wednesday, 13th June 2007

Architecture Week: How green are you?

ZERO carbon, wind turbines, solar loss, solar gain, ground source heat pumps – confused? You are not alone.

The recent emphasis on sustainable living and using less energy to heat and power your home has left many people unsure about which changes are the most effective.

The theme of Architecture Week this year is How Green is your Space? and after you’ve changed your light bulbs, fitted double glazing and turned down the thermostat on your heating and hot water tank what more should you be doing?

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Alex Solk, is from architects Sheppard Robson, who helped design one of the eco-efficient £60k houses that are now being built at sites in the midlands and the south.

Here are his top tips for a green home:

If you want to add a conservatory beware of unwanted solar gain (heat). We are quickly approaching Mediterranean temperatures in Britain – would you build a conservatory to a home in the South of France? If you do build one, try a solid roof.

Build a porch to act as a buffer to the weather.

If you lay a timber strip floor or re-carpet the ground floor, lift up your floorboards and add insulation between the joists.

If you build a loft extension keep or add insulation at the new loft floor level. If you don’t, heat will rise into your loft room from downstairs which will be uncomfortable in the summer.

If replacing your boiler, consider one is fuelled by woodchips.

Add a solar hot water system. It will save more money than a similar priced array of photovoltaic panels or a domestic wind turbine. Just one or two solar panels can produce 80 per cent of hot water used by the average couple.

Make use of locally or national grants for make loft and cavity wall insulation.

Plant a vegetable patch in your back garden to provide fresh food and help you ‘be at one’ with nature.

Install a water barrel connected to your rainwater down pipe and buy garden plants that need little water.