A big welcome to our partner Satellite Architects. Leaders in sustainable architecture, Satellite will be contributing their cleverness and knowledge to this blog from here on in. So you can look forward to learning about greening the home from the experts, from passive solar to self composting loos!
Enough said, over to you Satellite…
Good Architecture
Sustainability covers a broad number of issues related to buildings and each of our clients has its own focus and goals for engaging with sustainability. We have worked with a wide range of clients, from those whose goal is to be entirely self sufficient, to those who simply want to reduce their running costs.
Sustainability in buildings is a broad subject but can include: the systems used to heat, cool and light your home, how you supply and reuse water, where your waste goes, how you prevent heat loss and gain, where you buy your energy (Good Energy), the materials you put into your home and the labour used to build your home.
COST FREE SUSTAINABILITY
There are many things you can do to live in a more sustainable way that don’t have any additional cost. For example recycling food waste into garden compost or using public transport or walking instead of driving. In fact often the most sustainable choices can save you money and may even earn you money.
Sustainable buildings aren’t always about new technology like solar panels, wind turbines and biomass boilers. Many heating and cooling issues can be solved with good design principles which have been used for centuries.
Passive solar design
The Romans positioned their houses and baths to face south installing more windows (Maybe 'openings' is better as I doubt they had Velux then!) on the south side, making maximum use of the sun’s heat and light.
Stack effect
Since ancient times the Persians have used wind towers and stack ventilation. A ‘badgir’ is the term for wind tower which is a tall chimney that expels warm air in the day and traps cooler breezes at night. When there is no wind at night, heat released by the tower walls warms the air creating an air density differential and a reduced pressure zone at the top of the tower causing an up draught. (From the 2nd PALENC Conference and 28th Conference on Building Low Energy Cooling and Advaced Ventilation Technologies in the 21st Century, September 2007, Crete Island, Greece.)
Stack effect is a natural way to cool a building avoiding air conditioning. Stack ventilation is temperature induced. When there is a temperature difference between two adjoining volumes of air the warmer air will have lower density and be more buoyant thus will rise above the cold air creating an upward air stream.
Limit Waste
Limiting waste on your building site won’t cost you any extra and could save you substantial amounts of money. Currently, depending on where you live, you will pay dumping fees plus landfill tax.
Surplus
Using surplus building materials in another great way to save money on your building project and can be free if you are willing to pick up unwanted supplies. See www.builderscrap.com or freecycle.org.
Helpful information
Centre for Alternative Technology free information sheets:
www.cat.org.uk/information/info_content.tmpl?subdir=information&sku=info_is_ecobuilding/
