Building Ireland’s most eco-friendly house?

Gloomtastic!

Hello Boardsies,

As a long-term resident of this place, I have shared my passions with other, equally passionate people on a variety of topics, mainly Food and Business.

But I also have plenty of other passions that I haven’t bothered posting about. One of those is the world we live in today, what a total mess we’ve made of things and how, if we don’t want to end up like the dinosaurs, we need to change.

I believe passionately that we have to stop consuming. The relentless buy, discard, replace that our governments pursue in the name of GDP growth is what’s making things worse for all living things on the planet.

All governments want GDP growth. Growth means more jobs, more money in everyone’s’ pockets, more consumption. They get to keep their very privileged positions.

Thankfully, on the horizon is Artificial Intelligence - AI. In 5-10 years time, 80% of us are going to be unemployed. The only people working will be those who want to.

The rest of us will be living on a form of Basic Universal Income where we get paid for doing nothing - like we did during COVID lockdowns. Bring it on!

So I’m planning for our retirement. I want to build a home for my wife and I where we can potter through our dotage years, happy that we have tried to leave the planet in a better place for our two kids and if they’re lucky, their kids too.

We currently live on the Northside of Dublin in a great 1920’s semi. I have just bought a very, very special site in the centre of Ireland - Athlone. It’s currently about a sixth of an acre I believe but there options to buy adjoining sites.

The site is predominantly a walled garden that belonged to a nearby castle, now in total ruins. It has two protected structures inside the walls - an Ice House and a folly. The folly is listed as a Summer House in the historical records. In the records, the garden is listed as a forested garden and sure enough, there are trees everywhere.

Just outside the walled garden is a row of old estate workers’ cottages and buildings. But the only access to these buildings is past the two Protected Structures and all the trees so no heavy machinery will be allowed. There were lots and lots of viewings of this site but in the end, I was the only bidder.

I now want to build somewhere that is, at least, comprised of 99% organic or recycled materials - Ireland’s most eco-friendly house. Can it be done? We can but try.

Let the story begin………..

Leg End Reject

Posting to bookmark the thread, I'm really looking forward to seeing what you accomplish.

Best of luck with it all!

Shoog

Straw bale ticks most of your boxes. It works as insulation and thermal mass so once you have it up to temp it tends to stay there. Straw can be sourced locally, winter wheat is best and a good straw supplier should be able to specify extra dense bales. Render with a high lime content render and the walls remain breathable which reduces the need for forced ventilation to a minimum.

SIP is a good candidate for roofing with a raised ridge final finish in galvanized steel.

If you pay attention to site drainage, DPC in your raiser walls and a good wide overhang this should make a high-performance durable home.

We built an extension based on similar principles around 20years ago, the straw is as good as the day built. We have extensive south facing glazing and we barely have to heat from Feb to Oct, if the rest of the house was as well specified we would barely need to heat at all. I would always design in MHRV to ensure the highest internal air quality.

For a slightly less natural approach at higher cost I would build all in SIP. Passive house performance is easy with SIP.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121445168#Comment_121445168

I would normally agree with you but the problem we have is space. There are 200 year-old walls (if not older) already in situ that I’m going to try and reuse. If we were to line the walls with straw bales, there would be no room for anything else.

We’re one week into what I think will be up to a two year process to get planning consent. Lots of things will go on the table.

Del2005

Have you talked to the local planning department to see what you can build? If it's a protected structure you may have to rebuild to original specs and you might not be able to build any other buildings on the site. I'd be seeing what is allowed before doing anything else.

Gloomtastic!

The ice house is prefect, we won’t be touching it.

The folly has no roof and the walls are a bit rough. I’ve tried searching through the Architectural Heritage Archive online but can’t find any drawings of the summer house. There may be drawings if I go in and visit them. They will dictate how we move forward. But if you are going to buy a protected structure in ruins, with a limited budget, then a one-roomed folly is as good as you’re going to get.

looksee

Making 'eco-friendly' and 'old stone walls with minimal or no foundations' work together is the challenge.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121445471#Comment_121445471

Yep. I’m looking at hempcrete. Hempcrete is amazing. 100% natural and if you want to knock it down, crumble it up and use it as fertiliser.

My architect may have other ideas. We’ll see.

Shoog

Damp control will be your primary issue when trying to reuse the old walls. There will be no DPC and if you try to isolate the internal structure from the old walls that is where the damp will develop and it will be bad for your health if not perfectly handled.

From experience old structures are a liability which takes twice as long to deal with than knocking and starting from scratch. Anyone who has attempted to turn a derelict into a livable home will tell you the same thing. Eco-friendly is the last thing the result is likely to be.

Hempcrete is great but you still have to deal with damp issues and it is fiercely expensive to get adequate U values.

Unless you were forced by planning to use the old walls I would be knocking.

KevRossi

Best of luck with it. I was one of those who looked at the site, but the time frame to get started was a bit too far out. Hope it works out for you.

Thread followed.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121445544#Comment_121445544

I hear you and it’s been worrying me too. I have up to two years to try and sort them but I’m loathe to tear down walls that are perfectly sound structurally.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121445617#Comment_121445617

I visited twice. Once with Mrs G! and the second time with a Grade 3 Conservation Architect. That was worth every cent.

I’m planning on retiring from one of my businesses in a couple of years so there’s no rush.

suvigirl

I listened to a short interview on the Moncreiff show awhile back, with a Stonemason named Frank McCormack. All about maintaining older homes etc, He was talking about old houses and how they don't necessarily work with today's methods.

'tips for maintaining your older home'

Might be of some interest to you.

looksee

Why not leave the old walls as 'follies' in the garden and build adjacent to them. I would be way more satisfactory than to try and incorporate dodgy foundations and floor into a new building. Or turn them into outhouses/sheds, a project that you could probably tackle yourself if you are any way practical.

I have an old cottage as part of my house and while the 25 year old house is warm and comfortable with minimal heating, the cottage is impossibly cold and somewhat damp - you can't leave anything up against the walls. It stands on rocks rather than foundations and a concrete slab has been poured (before my time) into what was a suspended floor. I suspect it would have been better left alone. It would need full time heating to keep it any way habitable, though I did live in it temporarily for a few months in the autumn, and I did have a stove going full time, which is hardly eco friendly.

HildaOgdenx

No advice whatsoever to offer but looking forward to seeing this develop, having seen it begin on the AH thread.

Best of luck.

Furze99

Might be a good reason that you were the only bidder! But if you've plenty of funds from businesses that depended on growth, you'll have plenty of resources to put into it!! There's a Facebook group called Natural Buildings Ireland which has people doing similar things, would be worth looking up.

blackbox

Going by your own sentiment:

"I believe passionately that we have to stop consuming. The relentless buy, discard, replace that our governments pursue in the name of GDP growth is what’s making things worse for all living things on the planet."

...wouldn't the most environmentally friendly solution be to stay in your current house?

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121446398#Comment_121446398

If I buy the adjacent site, that could be feasible. Thanks.

Thargor

Best of luck with it OP just posting to subscribe. I hope you do build a full standalone eco home instead of trying to refurbish ancient stone walls though.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121446698#Comment_121446698

As I said in the OP, access to the site with heavy machinery will be nigh on impossible. I’m not planning on using any heavy machinery.

I’ve a limited retirement pad fund, that’s it.

Thanks for the FB referral. Will check it out.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121446741#Comment_121446741

We have two now adult kids that are showing no inclination to move out of our current home. Us moving out and leaving them to it makes perfect sense.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121446877#Comment_121446877

you can subscribe to threads without posting - if on a full fat browser click on the icon that looks like a pennant on its side, to the right of the thread title:

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121446877#Comment_121446877

Will have a serious talk with the architect about them but I just plan on using them as supports.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121447328#Comment_121447328

You would have to rebuild them to ensure they could take the load.

gk5000

Hello OP, Interesting project. Post up a link to the advertisement if possible so can get a better idea - and am interested in this.

BTW - Industrial Revolution and Information/Computer Revolution have came and went - changed the nature of employment - but did not eliminate it for most of us - any more than AI shall do.

I have an old 2 foot thick rubble stone house, no foundations - that I'm planning to renovate. They just scrapped back the topsoil, spread a layer of burnt lime as DPC and built - and then then clay floors originally.

I think engineers don't understand old houses as they can't measure and their calculations don't work. Same for most builders. I'd be wary of conservation architects but you may have deep pockets and are more into the concept whereas I am mainly focused on the cost - with a bit of sentiment. Lime plaster and breathabilty seems to be the fad - back to the way it was - but they forget that would have included a roaring open fire - providing both heat and ventilation; and everybody would have congregated around that fire.

My house is elevated and close to rock so I don't think damp should be an issue, though may add french drains - leave the old walls the way they are, so some cement plastered, and some old lime plaster stripped back - and then just dry line with about 50 mm of modern insulation and a small gap. I think / hope that if the ground around the base is dry then the walls should be dry.

I'm also planning a to dig down about a foot on the inside for ceiling height, and to add an inset concrete retainer wall of about 100mm under the walls to compensate. This is the part I'm worried about for the damp - must check separately about waterproof concrete. I'm planning to do this myself in - cut through the rock/mud in alternate meter sections.

You might check with the eco village in CloughJordan as they have real life experience of living in eco houses, and I think there's at least one mud (straw/mud) house there.

gk5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121447953#Comment_121447953

Is the case equally that they may be perfectly capable of taking the load, except for the fact that nobody will certify it?

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058325358/building-ireland-s-most-eco-friendly-house

What are you allowed do with the site from a PP perspective?

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121448223#Comment_121448223

Entrusting 100s of thousands to an uncertified foundation seems foolish to me.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121446741#Comment_121446741

That option would only be valid if there was never any increasing demand for housing stock. As long as there is a demand for housing, building better will always be more environmentally friendly than the next person not building as environmentally friendly.

Op, there was a good "grand designs" episode where they used the old stone walls of a walled garden as their starting point. It might give you some tips and ideas

gk5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121448239#Comment_121448239

Maybe, but remember that the entirety of any old house is uncertified. My understanding is that the only way to get old walls certified is to do a full under pin - which is very expensive but also likely destructive.

My house is built close to rock (sometimes on, sometimes on shale type rock; broken rock/clay and clay). To underpin would need to shatter the rock so as to pour concrete - just so someone could certify; and the existing rock with no foundation is stronger and more stable than drilling/breaking which would destabilise the walls.

You see the conundrum - Kill it to cure it....

So please correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the issue is the competence of the engineering profession and regulatory authorities.

Gloomtastic!

Thanks all,

I don’t want to spend lots of money on this project but I firmly believe there’s a solution to every problem. you just need to find it.

So if any posters here who want to point out problems can you also please post a solution too? Don’t worry how insane it may sound. It’s a positive and this project will be all about positivity

We’ve no idea on planning yet. But the Walled Garden will probably remain a garden - exactly as it was intended. It will be up to the Westmeath Conservation Officer.