Nina F

Our architect has been gathering quotes and scopes of work from the various consultants we need for the next part of our self build journey (RIBA 2-6) and the MEP and Energy consultants are quoting £7-8k for their part. We have no experience ourselves and understand we need specialists to create the electrical and energy strategy/ liaise with building regs etc but it just sounds like a hefty price to me. Anyone been through this process got any tips?

that's really useful, thanks

its in the May issue of Build It magazine ( I only have the paper copy) We are still in the early stages but i have been doing some research on U values for windows and doors.

thanks so much for your reassurance- we currently live in a draughty old Victorian house and its hard to imagine we will soon be in an efficient warm new build

Hi everyone! Based in the East Midlands and starting the journey to our dream house, we are at the planning application stage. We want it to be thermally efficient and use renewable energy where possible. We are going for a high insulation spec, and air source heat pump with underfloor heating plus solar panels. The architect has encouraged us to have porcelain, stone, concrete or timber flooring (not LVT) to allow the materials of the building to use the thermal mass more effectively. My concern is, I've just read an article about ASHP which states that they are prone to failure/inefficiency in the depths of winter because they have to work so hard when its really cold, and that you should have a back up heat source such as gas or biofuel boiler. This seems to defeat the aims. Anyone out there any experience of living in a house with ASHP and underfloor heating?