Around an ongoing barn conversion project, this website draws together advice, information and references to aid all would-be and current barn and non-residential building converters and renovators.

Our approach takes on board 'healthy house', sustainable, ecological & environmental concepts to as great a degree as timescales and budgets allow.

my barn conversion
Latest Posts

Microgeneration installations now 'permitted developments' by mbc on May 6th, 2008

Transition Town Llandeilo by mbc on May 4th, 2008

My Favourite Things ~ ‘Stone Wall’ by mbc on May 1st, 2008

Building Progress ~ April 2008 by mbc on April 29th, 2008

Peak Oil ~ what is it & what bearing does it have on green building? by mbc on April 27th, 2008

Latest Comments

On Peak Oil ~ what is it & what bearing does it have on green building? by Transition Town Llandeilo | my barn conversion on May 4th, 2008

On Where have all the builders gone? by mbc on April 28th, 2008
That's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question miss dee ennis and obviously depends on location, the approach you take to the project (architect / main contractor / self-managed with sub-contractors etc.

On Where have all the builders gone? by miss dee ennis on April 28th, 2008
I am thinking of buying a barn for myself and would be gratfull if someone could give me a ballpark figure as to how much this is likly to cost .

On Project Management ~ Basecamp by Attention to detail… April 2008 update | my barn conversion on April 15th, 2008

On Heating & Hot Water - a solution? by Building Progress ~ March 2008, week 3 & 4 | my barn conversion on April 8th, 2008

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Cash Incentives for ‘Green’ Installations

August 28th, 2007 by mbc

A recurring topic that has kept popping into my consciousness over the past few weeks has been that of financial incentives to encourage of adoption of green technology in buildings.

Firstly, in relation to the incentives that are available in the UK from the government. I’m interested in an air-source heat pump to provide an easier-to-install alternative to a ground-source pump to provide our heating. Whilst the Energy Saving Trust website lists air-source pumps as being covered under the low carbon buildings programme, the Low Carbon Buildings site itself doesn’t! I guess these are the risks of being a (potentially) early adopter of such technologies.

German Government support for PassivHaus builders:
  • 100% mortgages at below base rate.
  • Grants at similar rates for renovation projects.
  • Further grants are available toward the cost of sustainable energy generation technologies.
  • Local & Regional councils often offer further incentives.

Secondly, when researching my earlier PassivHaus posting, I become rather envious of the seemingly generous financial assistance available in Germany, not only aimed at specific technologies, but at providing cheap mortgages to sustainable self-builders. If only we had similar support here.

Now I read on the BBC website that the a report from The New Local Government Network (whoever they are) says that planning laws should be relaxed and rebates to council tax payments offered to encourage take up of green energy generation technology. A great idea that I thoroughly applaud - to encourage energy saving through positive support rather than the usual negative approach of increasing taxation - but I can’t help but wonder if such support will ever see the light of day. There seems to be a great deal of ingrained negativity in government at all levels - a layer of civil servants hanging on to our money with all their might and at all costs.

I guess there is some support out there if you can navigate your way through the system, but I hope we’ll learn from others, take advice and really do something positive to begin to address the carbon challenge in a holistic, pragmatic manner.

If you enjoyed that post, then read these...

Gothic Grand Designs Redemption? on February 12th, 2008
I'm determined not to keep going on about Grand Designs, so this is the last I'll say on it (at least for the moment), but it was nice to see Kevin find his old critical eye again - I guess he lost it somewhere on the way to .

The Greener Homes & Buildings Show ~ Builth Wells, 8th & 9th March 2008 on March 7th, 2008
As I write the .

Peak Oil ~ what is it & what bearing does it have on green building? on April 27th, 2008
Peak Oil is a notional point in time.

How Green is Cement? on October 19th, 2007
Being about to pour several tonnes of concrete into the floor of our barn I was interested to read about the environmental impact of cement usage.

Transition Town Llandeilo on May 4th, 2008
Llandeilo has been grabbing headlines recently with talk of launching its own currency under the banner of being the first transition town in Wales.

Posted in News | No Comments »

PassivHaus

August 22nd, 2007 by mbc

One of the cornerstones of energy efficient, healthy, sustainable building design, the PassivHaus standard aims to provide comfortable year round living conditions through minimal energy expenditure.

These aims are achieved through:

  • An effective passive solar design that will provide the necessary heat gain (heating).
  • To manage the heat gain:
  • …very highly specified insulation,
  • …near complete airtightness.
  • Mechanical ventilation coupled with highly efficient heat recovery and ‘backup’ heating systems to manage the internal climate.

No additional heating systems are required.

The PassivHaus standard for buildings in Europe dictates that the building will consume no more energy than:

  • Heating & Cooling: 15kWh per m2 floor area per annum.
  • Total Primary Energy* Consumption: 120kWh per m2 floor area per annum for all appliances, domestic hot water and heating and cooling.

* Primary Energy is drawn from the national grid which is inherently inefficient, much energy being lost during distribution.

passivhaus.org.uk
passivhaus.org.uk

Visit the BRE managed PassivHaus site for further details of the specification.

If you enjoyed that post, then read these...

What is Thermal Mass? on August 6th, 2007
One of those frequently occurring eco-building terms, thermal mass is often mentioned but rarely defined.

Passive Solar Design on August 1st, 2007
Whilst a little late in the day for our barn (it was built 100+ years ago) the orientation of a building to the sun and the suns relationship with the buildings windows, doors and other openings are the focus of passive solar design.

Zero Carbon House on August 17th, 2007
A term often heard, but of rarely understood, just what does it mean? Some definitions: "within ten years every new home will be a zero-carbon home" Gordon Brown, then Chancellor, in pre-budget report 2006.

Posted in Eco-Architecture | No Comments »

Zero Carbon House

August 17th, 2007 by mbc

A term often heard, but of rarely understood, just what does it mean?

Some definitions:

“within ten years every new home will be a zero-carbon home

Gordon Brown, then Chancellor, in pre-budget report 2006.

When asked for further clarification, a zero-carbon home was defined as one that does not contribute to global warming - hardly a precise definition.

The zero carbon building produces no Carbon Dioxide and by combining all the available innovations can actually export carbon free energy back into the electricity grid.

http://www.applied-energy.com/ definition

Definitions can tend to ignore the CO2 emissions related to the sourcing of materials and the construction of the fabric of a building and in the initial provision of services and supporting infrastructure. A genuinely zero carbon building must be able to payback the carbon invested in its construction through generating and exporting zero carbon energy back into the national grid.

So where does that leave us. Personally, I am happy to use the catch-all zero carbon as an umbrella term incorporating both practical, real world low carbon design and an aspiration toward a truly zero carbon building lifecycle.

A zero carbon house is one that maintains ongoing CO2 emissions as near to zero as possible. The zero is currently aspirational.

Is the negative carbon house somewhere around the corner?

If you enjoyed that post, then read these...

Passive Solar Design on August 1st, 2007
Whilst a little late in the day for our barn (it was built 100+ years ago) the orientation of a building to the sun and the suns relationship with the buildings windows, doors and other openings are the focus of passive solar design.

What is Thermal Mass? on August 6th, 2007
One of those frequently occurring eco-building terms, thermal mass is often mentioned but rarely defined.

PassivHaus on August 22nd, 2007
One of the cornerstones of energy efficient, healthy, sustainable building design, the PassivHaus standard aims to provide comfortable year round living conditions through minimal energy expenditure.

Posted in Eco-Architecture | No Comments »

One small step….

August 13th, 2007 by mbc

Despite the various pieces of tinkering and potching that I’ve committed over the past months, I never really felt that we’d made a real start on conversion of the barn. That is until the last couple of weeks when the wall came down.
As dramatic as it sounds, the wall coming down entailed the removal of […]

Posted in Journal of my barn conversion | No Comments »

What is Thermal Mass?

August 6th, 2007 by mbc

One of those frequently occurring eco-building terms, thermal mass is often mentioned but rarely defined.
The thermal mass of a building is an assessment of the ability of its internal fabric to absorb and store thermal energy. Through absorption of heat, the temperature of a material increases - the amount of heat that must be absorbed […]

Posted in Eco-Architecture | No Comments »

Passive Solar Design

August 1st, 2007 by mbc

Whilst a little late in the day for our barn (it was built 100+ years ago) the orientation of a building to the sun and the suns relationship with the buildings windows, doors and other openings are the focus of passive solar design.
Through effective passive solar design we seek to harness the power of […]

Posted in Eco-Architecture | 1 Comment »