Low energy home gives heat pump technology 2nd chance: A report from a new low energy house in the Edwardian suburbs of Cambridge. Having been occupied for a year, the energy readings provisionally suggest that its performance achieves Passivhaus standards of overall energy usage and the home uses a heat pump to deliver the very small amount of energy required. The ground source heat pump (GSHP) was a specification change from the gas boiler during the construction period, a decision prompted by a momentary leap in gas prices...

The house that Tony built: It is many people’s dream to build their own home. For Tony, this has recently become possible after about twenty years of trying to get planning permission. Popular Green Building Forum contributor, Tony Cowling, brings us the story of how his ecohouse finally came about...

The Green Man House When Jane and Peter Harris demolished redundant cowsheds in the autumn of 2007 they discovered a potential building plot with good views. Reducing their carbon footprint by building a low energy house had been an ambition of theirs for a long time and with the prospect of escalating fuel costs. It was an obvious decision to build themselves a house on their own land. Peter Harris reports ...

Adaptive thermal comfort - the 21st century approach: The challenge is to reduce our energy consumption. We therefore need to design and construct buildings that can keep occupants comfortable without the need for energy guzzling heating and air conditioning systems. Sue Roaf discusses thermal comfort ...

In the swim: James and Mary Atherton from Somerset report on how they built a natural swimming pool, with help from eco landscape designer Michael Littlewood and his essential new book- ‘A Guide to Building Natural Swimming Pools’...

Making the right choices for insulation - revisted: The article in the last issue (Vol. 19, no.2. page 44), by Phil Heath of Kingspan Insulation, questioned the importance of breathability in the building fabric. It has certainly sparked a good deal of debate in the green building sector. It has also prompted some of our readers to write in defence of the breathing wall concept. ..

Also:
Saving the Fulborurn Swifts
Embodied energy - is it a good measure?
How many cyclists does it take to power the average home?
Green building physics - moisture and humidity - part 1

And loads more.

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