Your Favourite 'Green' Initiative?

Quazzie

Hi. This is my first thread but I have been reading the threads for a while. I'm in the planning and design stage of my own little self build. Its going to be a 3200 sq/ft storey and a half self build to a very optimistic budget of €200k (site already acquired & my father is a builder). I am very 'Green' minded and want to build my house to not only be eco-friendly but also to run on very low maintenance costs.

So I was wondering what is everybodies favourite 'Green' initiative that they have implemented in their own homes?

Do you find it good because it is 'Greener' or because it is overall cheaper to run?

How viable and efficient is it?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

sydthebeat

the whole theory behind 'green' houses is the conservation of energy and fuel.

Therefore the aim would be to generate heat from renewable sources eg, solar, biomass, metabolic etc + other such as heat output from machines etc...
Then, when this heat is generated, the aim is to trap and control this heat within the building... this is done with high insulation levels and high levels of air tightness, a direct result of best workmanship and material choice.

Individual 'green' initiatives incorporated without an 'overall' green aim is simply 'lip service'...... in my opinion....

Quazzie

Valid point sydthebeat. And i wholeheartedly agree, but as you seen I have a limited budget and every second person has something they 'heard' was the next great thing, but its hard to get to talking to people that have actually tried these things. like for instance, ICF versus standard blockwork. Terracotta blocks is another new thing. which is the best, economically and ecologically. Its hard to get answers. So basically I was just looking to find out has anyone tried anything new that they found worked pretty well. Me myself I am hoping to build using some passive solar elements along with extra insulation all round combined with a heat transfer pump and a wood pellet burner, and that seems to be all my budget will allow. Unless i hear of something thats good but doesn't cost too much more than the standard.

sydthebeat

I completely understand quazzie..... everyone has a budget.. so its all about getting best bang for your buck....

the different construction methods have been debated and compared on many threads on this forum... but it is most important to realise that whatever construction method you go for, all the other aspects of the construction have to suit this....

an example has been the practise of some people using UFH and rads on the same systems, this is a highly inefficient way to go because the heating source, usually a heat pump, has to work at highest (inefficient)levels to get the water at a high enough temp to us ein rads, whereas it then actually has to be mixed with cold water to cool it befor eentering the UFH system..... terribly inefficient...

My advice would be to (or engage a professional to) write up 3 or 4 different whole house specs to suit your budget... then get provisional BER ratings done on each spec and see which performs best.. ie needs least amount of energy, costs less, and emits least Co2...

everything has a cost, for example someone might want to incorporate a geothermal bored system with heatpump and UFH, which may cost them 15-20K....... its easy argue in comparison for a highly efficient condensing gas boiler with rad system, say costing 6-7 K... and spend the excess 10-13 K on insulation.....

I hope im describing my opinion that it has to be looked at from a whole house - whole project point of view rather than a comglomeration of individual 'renewable' installations....

Slig

I have seen some horendous examples of ICF and because of this would not use it. Terracotta blocks and slabs have been successfully used on the continent for decades now and combined with external insulation are the most common building method in most countries but in this culture they will cost a fortune to import, nobody will be able to use them and there will be corners cut resulting in poor workmanship. Underfloor heating(I know not technically a green technology) is something that if done badly cannot be fixed without serious headaches and is not responsive enough to be the only heat source for a house.
Solar panels and geothermal seem to be the top of the pile regarding heating and domestic hot water.

muffler

I think this thread will be more at home in the RE forum. Moved.

sinnerboy

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

Valid point sydthebeat. And i wholeheartedly agree, but as you seen I have a limited budget and every second person has something they 'heard' was the next great thing, but its hard to get to talking to people that have actually tried these things. like for instance, ICF versus standard blockwork. Terracotta blocks is another new thing. which is the best, economically and ecologically. Its hard to get answers. So basically I was just looking to find out has anyone tried anything new that they found worked pretty well. Me myself I am hoping to build using some passive solar elements along with extra insulation all round combined with a heat transfer pump and a wood pellet burner, and that seems to be all my budget will allow. Unless i hear of something thats good but doesn't cost too much more than the standard.

with limited funds - divert toward as much insulation as possible with best glazing spec possibe . and get a high (95%+) effeiciency boiler . And get hold of a good air tightness specialist .

tipperary

Slig wrote: »

I have seen some horendous examples of ICF and because of this would not use it. Terracotta blocks and slabs have been successfully used on the continent for decades now and combined with external insulation are the most common building method in most countries but in this culture they will cost a fortune to import, nobody will be able to use them and there will be corners cut resulting in poor workmanship. Underfloor heating(I know not technically a green technology) is something that if done badly cannot be fixed without serious headaches and is not responsive enough to be the only heat source for a house.
Solar panels and geothermal seem to be the top of the pile regarding heating and domestic hot water.

I know not necessarily for this forum, but could you elaborate on the horrendous examples of ICF. I am currently building with this method using supplier's installer having previously inspected his work. Are the bad examples ones where the installer had no experience of using this system

I too would be interested, as I have built with ICF and have had no problems.

Slig

There are a lot of procedures that have to be followed to ensure success with ICF. If you pour too much concrete into the formwork then the forms at the bottom can fail, if its not braced properly then it can warp and bend and there is the issue with DPCs and membrance and how they can be incorporated. The interior of the external walls should incorporate a services cavity (top hat sections and plasterboard slabs)
Because it is difficult to pour the gables(pouring at an angle or using pumps) some contractors build up the gables in jumbo stud and how they finish this can be suspicious. These are just my observations of some ICF systems and dont necessarily cover all the issues. Obviously if the system has an IAB cert then these issues should be resolved or at least there will be some comeback if there are problems

AckwelFoley

Insulate.

Underfloor

Heatpump

- Grant



Insulation is the most important of all.

cts

Three most important factors:

Insulation / workmanship
Insulation / workmanship
&
Insulation / workmanship