Chedbuild Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Hi all. We have planning permission for a 195 m2 eco home and have started to dig out on site. We are project managing ourselves and will be building using SIPs. We have a talented local builder to help us, who is hugely enthusiastic about sustainable buildings. We have a lot to learn but have already been helped out by other local self builders so want to be part of a community on this adventure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Welcome. Quick question (no offence intended) is using a plastic foam insulation panel commensurate with building an ecologically sound home? Have you thought about less ecologically harmful insulation materials, like cellulose, wood fibre etc? We've built a low energy home (I'd never call it "eco", although others do, much to my annoyance), that's CO2 negative, and emits no emissions to the air, and we went up an interesting learning curve when designing and building it. Our build is probably modestly sustainable, being built primarily of wood and cellulose derived from wood, but sadly we had to use a small amount of concrete, and some foam insulation under our passive slab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 I agree with @JSHarris above, we had to use concrete for foundations etc and a small amount of plastic insulation but other insulation is mostly rock-wall. I would not use lots of plastic insulation as it’s oil derived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Hi and welcome. Another one here who dislikes the term "eco" and much prefer "low energy" when it is used to describe a house that needs little in the way of heating input. We are all timber, and insulated with earthwool and wood fibre. But like most, concrete used in the foundations. We look forward to finding out more about your project and sharing your journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSS Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Could we perhaps at least let a fellow self builder settle into the community for a while before chastising them for misuse of the 'eco' word? ?. Welcome @Chedbuild, and hang onto that enthusiasm ? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 8 hours ago, Chedbuild said: [...] We have a lot to learn but have already been helped out by other local self builders so want to be part of a community on this adventure. That is the key thing. The sets of networks we build. The trick is to try and link them appropriately. And in 8 hours ago, Chedbuild said: [...] We have a talented local builder to help us, who is hugely enthusiastic about sustainable buildings. [...] you have at least one major element of your team in place. Good luck Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Walker Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Low energy is a negative expression, Good Energy is better, but is misunderstood by many, IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 9 hours ago, NSS said: Could we perhaps at least let a fellow self builder settle into the community for a while before chastising them for misuse of the 'eco' word? ?. Agreed. Most self-builders don't think much about energy use, so @Chedbuild is already well ahead of the pack. Welcome to Buildhub @Chedbuild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oz07 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 @JSHarris @joe90 why would you be concerned about using concrete? Surely in bang for buck terms it could last 500 years. As your houses well built and low energy surely this offsets any concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 26 minutes ago, Oz07 said: @JSHarris @joe90 why would you be concerned about using concrete? Surely in bang for buck terms it could last 500 years. As your houses well built and low energy surely this offsets any concerns. It's a good point, as the concrete may well last long enough to see off it's high embodied CO2. There isn't really a viable alternative to concrete for some key purposes, anyway, so we're pretty much stuck with it. 26 minutes ago, Sensus said: The arrogance and holier-than-thousism on this forum sometimes beggars belief. ☹️ I thought we were here to promote and encourage self-building, not to immediately snipe at any new member whose ideas do not conform totally to our own? There's another forum available for those who wish to throw stones from their glass houses (though ironically, they seem more tolerant over there). You're entitled to your opinion, just as I'm entitled to mine, but I can assure you that I was not either sniping or being "holier than thou" in any way. The word "eco" is, as you know, shorthand for "ecologically friendly". My view is that if something is being promoted as being ecologically friendly then it needs to have credentials that support that description. Those credentials need to include minimising the use of materials that have a high embodied energy and minimising the use of plastics and other petroleum-derived materials. Being more thermally efficient than required by building regs is also beneficial, but the ecological and environmental impact of low household energy use is reducing all the time, both by things like improvements to grid generation and from planned legislation to reduce or remove the use of some fuels. Building a house that's more thermally efficient than required by building regulations doesn't have such a big impact now as it would have done even ten years ago, although it's clearly a step in the right direction. As I've said several times before, I do not consider our build to be "eco", at all. We had to shift several hundred tonnes of soil, build a massive concrete retaining wall and import in building materials from hundreds of miles away, for example. I'm not convinced that there are many domestic houses that can justify the "eco" tag at all, the exceptions being a few, low environmental impact homes that have been built in places like Lammas. On the other hand, there are a lot of self-builders who are building low energy homes, and whilst they don't justify being described as ecologically friendly at all, they are at least having a bit less of an impact on the environment than some other homes. Whether that is seen as positive or not depends on your personal viewpoint. The forum you've highlighted is an interesting one, as it's sponsored by manufacturers of the devices that make the second highest contribution to air pollution in the UK, only a few percent less impact than all UK road transport. Whether that's considered to be either "green" or "eco" is also a matter of personal opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 34 minutes ago, Sensus said: There's another forum available for those who wish to throw stones from their glass houses (though ironically, they seem more tolerant over there). Are, the 'other place'. Probably more tolerant as the member on here stopped using it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Sensus said: The arrogance and holier-than-thousism on this forum sometimes beggars belief. ☹️ I thought we were here to promote and encourage self-building, not to immediately snipe at any new member whose ideas do not conform totally to our own? There's another forum available for those who wish to throw stones from their glass houses (though ironically, they seem more tolerant over there). I see no arrogance or holier-than-thousism on this forum at all only a wealth of knowledge. we do promote and encourage self building, there was no “snipe” about the word “eco” just an opinion that some of US do not like the word as (in my opinion) it’s more about bolt on “green” goodies than clever design. i used to use the “other” forum but found it lacking in the technical knowledge found here. The fact it’s sponsored as it is and comments deleted or altered at the whim of mods with no reason is why I stopped using it. 1 hour ago, Adrian Walker said: Low energy is a negative expression, Good Energy is better, but is misunderstood by many, IMHO Why is low energy a negative expression?, I built my house to use “less energy” and picked products that used “less energy” in its production. welcome @Chedbuild to this forum, a wealth of knowledge is to be found here and a very amiable bunch (usually!!!!) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Chedbuild said: Hi all. We have planning permission for a 195 m2 eco home and have started to dig out on site. We are project managing ourselves and will be building using SIPs. We have a talented local builder to help us, who is hugely enthusiastic about sustainable buildings. We have a lot to learn but have already been helped out by other local self builders so want to be part of a community on this adventure. Welcome. No need to worry about language, unless it interests you. Some of us - including me sometimes - enjoy debate about language. We do need to move from "eco house" being some sort of weird exception for hipsters and freaks, which gives an excuse for *not* building low energy houses, and to make such the norm and "non eco house" to be the eccentric option. But for any single project it is very much a side-debate. Personally I like the term "low energy house", though I would prefer "house", and a "high energy house" to be more like "gas guzzler" is for an inefficient car. Ask questions and enjoy building your house :-). F Edited October 8, 2019 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 13 hours ago, Chedbuild said: We have a talented local builder to help us, who is hugely enthusiastic about sustainable buildings. That is a huge advantage, we too had a good local builder that embraced new techknowledgies and he did us proud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpd Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 10 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: Welcome. No need to worry about language, unless it interests you. Ask questions and build your house. Totally agree, “words are wind’ good luck with your build and I look forward to some photos. C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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