Green Building Forum - All Discussions

open vented wood burner

clynelish — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:54:57 +0100

Hi

I am hoping to fit a wood burning stove with a charging unit (laddomat 21) sending the heat to a 1500 litre accumulator, I am also going to be sending solar to this tank form an evacuated tube panel. My plumber is worried about "pump-over" in the vent pipe that rises off the hot (flow) side. Has anyone got a working installation like this ?

Thanks in anticipation

Cavity wall insulation concerns

jivingjon — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:04:33 +0100

I am renovating a 1958 semi detached house and am thinking about cavity wall insulation. I have had seen so many different ideas and opions that I getting more confused. So here are some more questions to add to my confusion.
My main concern is created damp spots on internal walls if I go ahead with cavity wall insulation.

My upstairs windows do not have lintels. There are however a concrete slabs across the front and back of the house which acts as window lintels and includes the outside gutter that I think goes across the cavity and becomes part of the internal wall. Firstly could these blocks be part of the inside wall? Does this become a cold bridge into the house and thus becoming a place for vapour to condense? If this is the case is there any point in using cavity insulation?

Secondly I am guessing that there a metal ties between the 2 walls. By introducing insulation could I increase the likelyhood of condensation created on the ties dripping on to the plastic beads of the insulation and then get carried into the internal wall? If condensation does get created on the ties won't this just rot them away?

Any thoughts are welcome.

jon

Erlund House proposed

Bluemoon — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 23:26:12 +0100

My wife and I recently stayed in a large Erlund House, and we were very impressed with the look and feel of the building. So much so that we are planning to sell our late-18thC stone cottage in Wales, much extended but now that the children have gone/are going, it's not the right home for us.

I have trawled the Internet looking, largely without success,for other people who live, or have lived in one, to give their views on them. Though it seems to be an expensive kit, as is their assembly service, the insulation standard is superb, and low running costs are important now we are getting on. Can anyone assist?

Merton Rule Debate

sallyh — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:26:02 +0100

The UK Green Building Council invites you to the following debate on:
'Beyond Merton: local planning for cutting carbon'
Speakers:
Philip Wolfe, Renewable Energy Association
Adrian Hewitt, Merton Borough Council (TBC)
Chris Twinn, Arup
Dan Labbad, Lend Lease
Chair: Paul King, Chief Executive, UK-GBC
Date: Wednesday 17 October
Time: 10.00 to 11.30am (refreshments available from 9.30am)
Venue: The Building Centre, Store Street, London WC1E 7BT
Please RSVP to: beyondmerton@mission-21.com
The UK-GBC is committed to facilitating dialogue between government, industry, and other stakeholders, to achieve radical change in the sustainability of our built environment. The 'Merton Rule' and its role in the upcoming Planning Policy Statement (PPS) on climate change has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks. The aim of this debate is to understand how we learn lessons from the practical application of Merton-style rules, and build on this to deliver maximum emissions savings from our buildings, by the most effective means.
For more information contact Susie Hartley
T 0845 226 0803
M 07854 462 092

Warmcell installer in Cornwall?

sye — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:49:12 +0100

Anyone know of one?

ta

Europe loves straw bale building

naturalhomes — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:57:50 +0100

During September 2007 naturalhomes.org ran an ecoVote asking what sort of eco-house construction method would you like to use to build your eco-house.

The results are published here http://naturalhomes.org/sept07ecovote.htm and show that in Europe there is a strong preference for straw bale construction but in the Americas cob and straw bale share 1st place.

Naturalhomes is running a second vote for October asking,

"If I were to invest in an eco-house I would buy a..."

Oliver

Green Building Magazine - London Stockists...

ben0v — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:30:12 +0100

Any ideas where I can buy a the latest edition in London?

Wind generator heating an accumulator tank

John11668 — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:54:40 +0100

I have a customer with a large wind generator, high in the pennines and whenever I visit it is whistling away.
The control system "dumps " surplus power via a large heater element on the back wall. The oiler fired Rayburn 368K is not sufficient to heat the house and supplementary heating is needed. It occurs to me that a couple of good sized commercial immersion heaters in an accumulator tank could let the excess energy be utilised. The house heat losses will be high on a windy day when the machine will be producing too much power so feeding it back into the house seems logical
Does anyone have experience of this type of installation or links to any useful sites?

Do a job you love...

Bright Green — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:45:51 +0100

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Edit/Delete Message

Cavity wall insulation - to fill or not to fill?

juliahm — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:53:11 +0100

One of our current projects is a renovation/residential conversion of a 1950's Hop-picker's Barracks. This is a long narrow building, with solid gable ends and long sides of repeated doors and windows. It has a single brick thickness shell wall, of common brick. We want to bring this up to AECB Silver Standard.

We plan to line it with 100mm medium density block work. NHBC specifies an air gap between outer shell and insulation, but would it be satisfactory to completely fill the cavity with 100mm of polyisocyanurate (Celotex GA3000z), as this will be much easier for the Self-Builder to install? Exterior cladding on the long walls will be vertical cedar, and brick slips below windows. The gable ends could be clad with better quality brick, with or without an air gap between these and existing brickwork. Attention will be paid to cold bridging.

So, can we have a fully filled 100mm cavity, and still meet Silver Standard?

I have posted this on AECB site, but you guys have interesting opinions too! Advice will be welcomed!

Thermal Store or Accumulator tank

albacore — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:32:02 +0100

After 18 months of battling we finally have planning permission (on appeal) for a small bungalow on the south coast. Having not dared to think about it for months, we are now gathering information like mad, in the hope that we can start building in the new year. I am likely to have a lot of questions, despite keeping tabs on this forum.

For starters, can someone please explain the difference between a thermal store and an accumulator tank? Is it just a question of size, or do they have different applications?

We are thinking about incorporating a backboiler with the woodburner already planned. Is there any way of controlling this at the stove - i.e. can a choice be made as to whether the backboiler is heated or not? I have always understood that if the fire was lit the boiler part was automatically heated but perhaps that is out of date.

Screeding Over Underfloor Heating Pipes and Types of Insulation

EdF — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:42:52 +0100

About to lay 65mm of screed, but I'm a little confused how to mix it, wettish or dryish? I've seen both done (after the event). If it's fairly wet I expect it will be easier to put down and level. Should I put a retarder in it to help out, how about a plasticiser?
I discovered that 'almost everybody' in my area lays Kingspan or similar insulation under UFH. Apparently this is not ideal, extruded polystyrene is better, such as Dow Floormate or Knauf Standard Floorboard. The proprietor of the biggest UFH specialist in my area advised me and showed me samples. Kingspan etc is not so resistant to compression and can crumble, the two I've mentioned don't, he said. Probably better if there's a lot of big footed contractors going to walk all over it before it's screeded.. I found Sheffield Insulation were cheapest where I live, also Warrens in Chesterfield were not bad.

100% Airtight passive house â€“ insulation, windows etc. advice needed!

steveleigh — Mon, 28 May 2007 11:35:38 +0100

Copper, and a plumbing puzzle

Bluemoon — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:05:21 +0100

I'm a DIYer who does plumbing once in a blue moon. I ordered flexible tails to connect the bath filler, and the bidet mixer comes with them included. Here is the puzzle, why have I installed 22mm copper tube to feed the bath, when the bore of the tail is only 13mm? Similarly, the basin has 15mm pipes but the tails and mini valves have a bore of around 8mm. I wonder if the fittings had clear bores designed into them, we could all use smaller pipe? Or is it me? Copper is very expensive at present due partly to increased demand. Smaller pipe would use less metal, and be greener due to less energy used in production and carriage.

Rainwater harvesting trade off against drain requirements

richy — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:42:01 +0100

The 20 sqm cabin in the woods is to have little more elaborate than a water butt for rainwater harvesting and watering the garden, but the drainage requirments to keep BC happy are to be 2.5m cubic M soakaway. Can I reduce this by getting more serious about harvesting?

Recycling/Re-using building waste

Mike George — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 07:05:09 +0100

How much building waste goes to landfil each year and how much could be re-used/recycled?

Where I live the council will not allow 'vans' to use their amenity tip unless by prior arrangement. Even if you were to do so there is still the legal requirement to be a licenced waste carrier.

Is it time for governmant to provide monitored facilities where builders could pay a nominal fee to take some of their waste? This could be limited to easilly recyclable/re-useable materials.

Re-usable items such as timber sections and bricks could even be sold back to other builders.

Is this a feasible idea?

District heating pipes - beware

GBP-Keith — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:54:28 +0100

Anyone planning on using some district heating between buildings beware of the systems that use pulled through insulation. I think they must stretch it with the pulling process as I've just been servicing the entry/exits of the piping and have discovered that the internal insulation has completely vanished down inside the ducting!

If you are going to use this type then I suggest that you extend the tails so you can shorten the ducting and bend the insulation out over the tail and clamp it on with jubilee clips.

In the picture you can see that the one on the left is devoid of inner insulation. A tape measure pushed down the pipe revealed 4mm and probably still shrinking. All I can do now is restrain the outer one as suggested above and pour something like polystyrene beads down to hopefully fill the void.

Shading to windows

tony — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:17:07 +0100

What angle of shading should be used for south facing windows.

Should a window be fully shaded by slats or a canopy/ verandah at mid day from June to the end of August or what and how?

combi hot water from thermal store solar and wood stove

martinlta — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:05:22 +0100

Hi

Is it possible to connect the output from a mains pressure hot water supply (Heated by a thermal store - solar + wood stove input with plate heat exchanger PX for the mains pressure side) to the input of a Puma combi gas boiler on the hot water side. The Puma manual states mains pressure cold water input, but if I turn down the hot water temperature output setting on the boiler to low (40-50C), and kept the mains pressure hot water input from the Thermal store PX to no more than 70C, would the combi not fire up until the temperature of out put dropped to <40C. The Combi has the std overheat stats in addition to the output hot water temp control stat.

Any thoughts

Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

Iain — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:24:07 +0100

I'm in the process of writing an article on the above topic and wondered if there was any anecdotes people on here would like to share?

On speaking to BMS providers I've found that they're more than capable to sub-meter mains supplies to circuits but less knowledgable about embedded supplies. Surely the performance of these technologies needs to be fed back into the design process to assist developers and planners select the best performing system?

Have you found installers to be poor in metering their systems? Are their systems easily integrated into larger building energy management software?

Any comment much appreciated.

Self Build Books

Iain — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:20:32 +0100

I've recently found out that I own part of a field in the north of Scotland. Being an industry professional I've always wanted to get my hands dirty and build my own house, my only problem being my lack of experience in small scale construction matters.

Can anyone recommend book that'd give me a crash course in the process? I'm well versed in my field there are gaps in my knowledge especially when it comes to choosing one construction method over another (e.g. double skinned brick with cavity versus timber framed).

Any help appreciated.

Also, has anyone built their own house and documented the process? I'd be very interested to read these. Again, many thanks. :smile:

Ridge Tiles

tony — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:34:05 +0100

It would be very interesting to know how many readers have had to have a ridge tile re-bedded onto the roof of their house. I suspect that many readers, some of whom live in quite new houses, have had ridge tiles blown off their roofs at some time during the past few years. Certainly it would be true to say that far too many ridge tiles have been coming adrift in recent years. Why is this? There are several reasons:-

One reason is that, in my view, all ridge tiles should positively mechanically fixed in addition to cement mortar or other bedding which is used. The majority of ridges are still put on roofs using mortar and although many specifications say â€˜fully bedâ€™ this is very rare to find. I feel that we should be using ridge tiles that weigh about twice as much as they do at present. It should be borne in mind that most Victorian ridge tiles havenâ€™t moved since the day they were laid despite the fact that the mortar under them has turned to dust.

We must therefore mechanically fix down ridge tiles in all locations in order to provide longevity to our roofs.

Roof insulation for existing flat roof extension

nkmanglam — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:38:18 +0100

Hello All,

I have approx 30 sq m kitchen area and a double garage as flat roof extension. This house was built in 1968 and very poorly insulated. What is the best option for me to insulate flat roof? I would prefer if insulation can be done externally.

I must mention that i have future plan to build above this extension. Total floor area of this extension will be apporx. 100 Sq meter. Its in two level. Kitchen one is higher and garage is lower.

My main aim to reduce my tota energy requirments.

Thanking You

Kind Regards

Niraj

Beit and Braces examples of wastefull overkill

tony — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 08:27:10 +0100

In the days when we first started to use wire ropes for lifting loads we used to pass the rope through an eye or cleat and fix it back to itself with a wire rope grip (a u-bolt with a flange) The trailing free end of the rope would be tied onto the rope to keep it out of the way. This worked well but after a couple of mishaps where the u-bolts were not inspected and they either were damaged or worked loose through overloading it was decided to use two wire rope grips should be used in case one failed between inspections. No problems ever occurred but someone eventually decided that three would be better than two and this was common safe practice for many years. That was until some safety manager in an office saw a picture and thought that we should halve the risk by using SIX; this became law!

How much of this kind of thinking is wasteful of resources without adding benefit?

Insulation problem in 1968 built dormer house

nkmanglam — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:20:37 +0100

Hello All,

I have joined this forum today. I have been reading postings oin this forum for quite sometime now and finally i got time to share my house renovation problem.

I have lived in this detached 4 bedroom dormer house (buit in 1968) since october 2005. I moved in this house in 2005 winter, it was very cold even when we had central heating on for 24 hours, which increased my gas bill to almost Â£200 a month. This house didn;t have cavity wall insulation, i got this done in january 2006. Soon after that i got central heating quote and got whole of central heating replaced (indluing all old radiators). After getting new central heating installed, i thought my gas bill would reduce drastically as i have condesning combi Worcester Greenstar Highflow 440 instaled now. But contrary to my imagination my monthly gas bill is still close to Â£150 a month, but i must admit this house has become habitable now.

I was reading on internet that if i have undefloor heating done it will reduce my gas bill further as ambient temperature for UFH is only 19 degree compared to 21 degree for convetor heating. I am told my my ocal building inspector that i will have to use 50 mm underfloor celotex insulation because i have suspended timber floor. I have decided to exceed this isulation requirmenet and put 100 MM celotex insulation board. I have been told that wet under flor pipes should be cliped on celotex insulation between timber joists. And to increase thermal mass i should use 25 MM sand and cement screed to cover UFH pipes which will keep the floor warm for longer duration.

My question relating to Under floor heating is that does it really reduces energy requirements ? will 19 degree will be ambient temperature if i have UFH? Do i ned a joiner or a builder to put these insulation board and UFH pipes ?

My Next worry is that i on first floor carpet floor gets really cold because and in windy days carpet gets lifted upto 1/2 inch due to wind coming between ground floor roof and first floor flooring. i had roof repairer coming and they claimed that they fixed the problem by changing felt. BUt i can still feel the cold air coming under my first floor carpet and whole carpet is very cold. though OVERALL TEMPRATURE goes tro around 21 to 22 edgre when we have our central heating on.

Both side of my house has dormer roof which is below window. I have feeling that both sides dormer roof need repairing. Do i need this dormer roof repaired from inside or outside?

Both side of dormer has not got brick wall but rather it has plaster board which is very very cold in winter.

DO i need to get both side of dormer roof changed ? Behind this dormer roof there is only single brick wall.

What is the best method to achieve below 1 U value for my house?

Do i need to contact a structural engineer or an insulation consultant ?

Because one side of roof felting was repaired by a local roofing company and charged me Â£700 and said he has insulated external wall so to prevent any wind coming under my first floor. This company gave me 10 years gurantee and i rang them to complaint that I still have wind coming through my floor and i was told that this
roofing company is no longer in business now.

Is it norma to leave ventilation for joists on the first floor between ground floor roof and first-floor floor?

I have my roof well insulated with fibre glass. Do i need to insulate inside of roof frame with celotex board?

My house is on seaside and its very windy in winter.

I am quite reluctant to contact local builder before i really know what needs doing in my house.

I will be grateful for your help and advice.

Thanking You al in advance.

Regards

Niraj

Do you live in an Eco House?

greenesthomes — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:51:26 +0100

ARE YOU THE PROUD OWNER OF AN ECO-HOUSE?

Cineflix Productions are making a series for Discovery Planet Green and HGTV called "World's Greenest Homes". If you live in or helped design a home which is not only architecturally stunning but has strong eco-credentials, we would love to hear from you. Your house can be anywhere in the world.

For more information please contact Nicky Huggett, Assistant Producer on nhuggett@cineflix.com or call 0207 428 7430.

Thank you!

Should I fix very wet green oak rafters

oiseaux — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:43:50 +0100

Hello, I am slowly (very) constructing a garden room with a tiled roof using old oak for glazing and main frames, and green oak for the rafters. It appears to be extremely wet and I guess very new. I have read on this forum that green oak will shrink by 10% and I am concerned that my 3.5 metre long rafters will contract and take other frames with it. Should I leave the rafters in postion and covered but not fixed until they seem to have dried out. Your comments would be most appreciated.

rotten window repair

hippychippy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:28:31 +0100

I am replacing the bottom rail and lower section of the stiles on 2 largish - ( 1280 X 540 ) & elaborate victorian casement windows .The plan is to join the old & new stiles with a glued and (brass) screwed splice. I am not entirely sure that this will stand the test of time, which I would like it to do. however, my time doing the work is relevant and this method is simple . Can anyone suggest an alternative method ? Observations or options welcome

Zero Carbon building in Wales

ted — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:07:58 +0100

The Welsh Assembly Government are hoping to enforce zero carbon new build in Wales from 2011 by devolving control over new Building Regulations.

There is some public consultation in process and you can make your views known by responding to the questionaire available for download from here: http://www.assemblywales.org/sc-consultation_letter_web-e.pdf

Written responses are due by 19th October 2007.

This consultation is regarding households only. Later consultations will cover transport, industry and public sector, agriculture, energy production, and planning.

Causes of damp

pdurkan@yahoo.co.uk — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:02:50 +0100

When we moved into our house, there were some woodworm living in the cupboard the stairs. A surveyor attributed this to damp due to vents blocked by a dining room extension; covered the wood in boron & installed two vents in the dining room floor.

However, the hallway with the cupboard under the stairs smells awful musty & I'm wondering if we still have a problem.

Does anyone know if there's a cheap way of checking for damp? Is there any way of telling if floor vents & external air bricks are letting enough, or too much, air through?

Cheers,
Paul

New roads -- no more needed?

tony — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:59:24 +0100

Do we need ant more new roads?

Floors - major feature in Winter GBM

GBP-Keith — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:21:44 +0100

The main feature of the next edition of Green building magazine will be on floors. Anyone wishing to propose an article or even write something for us on their favourite design, practical experiences or theory then please get in-touch with me well before October 25th please.

Thermoplastic roofing membranes

Mike George — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:11:12 +0100

I am overseeing an extension which requires a flat roof. The above has been suggested to me. The problem is that I know nothing about it. Anyone help? Is it good bad or ugly? Is there a better solution? Roofcrete? Fibreglass?

Retailer wanted for quality wooden roofshingles in GB

sindelkatus — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:20:20 +0100

Hello

We produce wooden roofshingles from quality pine and spruce and we are looking for a retailer in GB in long run. The agent/partner would have some experience and knowledge in roofing. In case You or perhaps Your friend would be such person, we would be very glad for being contacted to vihmand@hot.ee
Our production capacity is at the moment 120 000 shingels per month which equals at least 1600 square meters of fine-tuned roof.
Conditions flexible.

Excavation on tricky site.

richy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:18:36 +0100

I have a job coming up hand digging some foundations for a cabin at the top of a small hill in the woods. The 4 -5 cubic metres of earth which is removed will need to be taken away from site, there is no choice, the owner insists. Getting it to a skip will involve negotiating a wheel barrow over drystone walls and down bankings.

I just came up with an alternative idea; to rig up a zip wire or arial runway from a tree at the site down to some scaffolding sheer legs next to the skip and making a sort of hopper or scoop out of a plastic barrel. The idea being to fill the barrel by hand shovel and then let it wing it's way 30ft or so to the track where another line pulls it into the tip position just above the skip! Then it's gets hauled up by a line for the next load.

Sounds wacky and will cost about Â£100 in kit to try it, but it will have minimum impact on the surroundings compared to dumpers or tracked vehicles.

Will it work? Anyone any experience of anything similar? I'm hoping it will save a lot of really hard work!

constructing a cellar

howdytom — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:45:00 +0100

I want to include a cellar in a barn conversion project, but whats the best construction.
It would be nice not to use concrete, my subsoil is mainly boulder clay 16foot on limestone. The site is fairly level so digging a drain would be impossable unless I go 300 meters !. I used to live in an old house with cellars it had limestone walls but I have no idea what they used behind as a water barrier... maybe nothing. If I dug it out cast a concrete floor with DPC , built limestone walls, what would be best for the roof ?. I would hope to end up with an internal size of 3meters by 5meters:confused:

Fitting wooden windows to a timber frame house

smallcog — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:29:00 +0100

I'm in the process of building a timber-frame house in the west of Ireland ( photos can be seen on http://awoodenhouse.thisbetterworld.org ). The initial frame is up, all stud work in place, with openings in the studwork for all doors/windows. The studwork is then sheathed by OSB with a membrane wrapping the house outside the OSB. My question is concerning the installation said doors and windows and how to ensure that all sills casings etc. are perfectly waterproof. I hope to install the doors/windows before doing the final outside layer which will be hotizontal timber nailed on to vertical battens. I don't want to use concrete sills and since I'm not plastering I'm wondering about the options. Do "kits" exist for the flashing around timber windows ? Any recommendations on whether I could do the lot in timber and lash on the sealant all over the place or whether its a better idea to look for aluminium flashing ? Any potential pitfalls if I went for a no-sill solution and had the windows flush with the outside wall ?
All comments welcome / Colm

foam vs rockwool

mitchino — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:33:33 +0100

I am framing and lining cavity walls internally. The cavity will eventually be filled. I am about to insulate between the frames which will then get a vapour barrier and plasterboard. I can either insulate with 50mm rockwool batts, which I already have plenty of, or I could order kingspan or equivalent and use that. The frames are 40mm thick, so I can squash the batts in, but the kingspan would have to be 40mm or under.

What I want to know is, will it make a big difference in terms of heat loss if I go the easier route and use the batts?

I just got planning permission for my nursery

Katymac — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:01:56 +0100

I am so happy

It was unanimous

So serious planning starts here (plus advertising)

Rammed Chalk

TracyS — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:37:03 +0100

I have just bought a rammed chalk house in Hampshire and am struggling to find a builder who will take on renovation work. Does anyone know how I can find someone with the expertise? Surveyors have not been helpful.

Why inward opening doors?

Henry Sears — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:36:36 +0100

Not exactly a green building issue, but I think this forum's got some intelligent heads participating, so here goes.

I'm renovating a timber house at the moment, and two external door frames need replacing, having rotted out at the bottom due to water getting into the joints at the bottom of the frame.

It would seem to me to offer several advantages to hang external doors to open outwards (although i can see the difficulties when they're at the top of flights of steps).

Weather sealing would be more easily achieved, and the bottom cill could have a nice flashing that stood up behind the bottom of the door. Also the door wouldn't encroach on indoor space when opened.

And bailiffs would find it much harder to force entry!

So why do Brits always hang 'em to open in?

Add a natural homes map to your blog

naturalhomes — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 04:13:18 +0100

Low-impact bloggers can now include the natural homes map in their own blog. You can include the whole collection of homes in the register, with all the links back to the owner's website, or include only the home type you are keen on like straw bale or earthship.

I've never published a blog before today, so mine is pretty much empty at the moment but here it is http://ecooliver.blogspot.com It shows the straw bale map version of the natural homes map and gives you a link to natural homes where you can collect the code to include a map in your own blog.

You can collect the code directly from here http://naturalhomes.org/naturalhomesmap.htm if you like.

I'd love to have any feedback from anyone...

Oliver

Eco Insulation Thickness

mitchino — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:14:22 +0100

Do any of the eco loft insulation products like thermafleece et al come thicker than 100mm? I know I can double/triple up, but would be easier if I could start thicker!

Heavyweight verses lightweight construction

Chris Wardle — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 20:00:07 +0100

Did you hear the guy from Arups on the news today? They are claiming we are building housing which will be inappropriate for the warmer world we will be inhabiting later this century because it is increasing lightweight timber frame and doesn't have the thermal mass and passive cooling traditional in warmer areas like the Med. He thinks we will all be sat in plasterboard boxes with the aircon on...

I thought they might have produced a report but I can't find anything on their website. What do people think?

Past the magic 1000 barrier

GBP-Keith — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:39:43 +0100

I would like to say a big thank you to all who have joined the green building forum and have made it such a great place to discuss our pet subjects.

Now we have over 1000 members, we really do have a green building community that is happy to share, discuss and promote our ideas. Well done to everyone.

Tricky Loft Insulation Installation - What's best?

mitchino — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:20:00 +0100

I have just cleared out my extensive loft area, removing a lot of patchy very thin rockwool, vermiculite, bits of carpet etc. The loft is of a very complex, multilevel construction as our house has had two different extensions. There are some bits with 100mm joists, some with 200mm joists, some areas have 200mm joists with 100mm joists on top at right angles. Most of the roof is at a very low pitch, and I won't be able to achieve much thickness at the eaves.

I want to insulate effectively up to 300mm, but using batts or rolls will be very difficult in some areas. I may need to use a combination of fibre insulation and loose fill.

How should I approach the job? I was thinking about using warmcel up to the top of the joists (so in some areas it would only be 100mm deep) then cross laying batts to get the thickness up.

I'm also concerned about natural insulation and mice - we always have a lot of mice in the winter, I've heard they just love to nest in the likes of thermafleece/warmcel, is this true?

Lost in Transmission

biffvernon — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 21:28:32 +0100

Lost in Transmission is a report just published by the Sustainable Development Commission concerning the future organization of our energy supply industry. Perhaps tangential to Green Building, but with 46% of UK CO2 emissions coming from buildings, it's an important document for anyone with an interest in the energy use in buildings. The matter of household generation and grid tie up is particularly addressed.

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/ofgemreview.html

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/SDC_ofgem_report.pdf

Powering down a 1960s property.

SimonH — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:37:55 +0100

Iâ€™ve been looking at ways to make a 1960â€™s house that Iâ€™m in the process of buying as energy efficient as possible. Iâ€™ve not reached any conclusions, but this seems to be the place to startâ€¦ Insulate, insulate, and insulate. Loft, walls, floor and windows. If I get this right first, then I can think about which heating system to go for. Given the house is mainly brick cavity with suspended timber ground floor Iâ€™m considering the following options. Any ideas for better ways to do things would be appreciated. Also any books that specialise in opportunities/problems while "updating" properties â€“ Iâ€™ve read the bibles and whilst filled with info, they focus mainly on new build.

Floors
Get the floors up, affix under panelling, fill with warmcell. Or is it better to go with a 2 ply expanded foam over the current boards laid to stagger the gaps. (Losing > 100mm of room height?) Iâ€™m considering underfloor heating for the downstairs so this may make more sense. What thickness is effective? I.e. Iâ€™ve seen the UFH companies now have 15mm insulation containing the channels for the pipes. Doesnâ€™t seem thick enough to me!?

Walls
Get the cavities filled with expanding foam with the least GWP and 0 ODP. This should provide a more air tight seal than beads or blown fibre â€“ correct? Once this is done I should end up with a U value of 0.5-0.6 so not good enough. Therefore I need to consider external insulation. This will be expensive but could get me down to a U of 0.15. (Been playing with spreadsheets to work it out). As I have a 60â€™s house with some cross wall type panelling, now replaced with UPVC :-( I think I will need external insulation anyway as itâ€™s canâ€™t be cavity filled. I think I have 2 problems with external insulation, 1) Changing the appearance of the house. 2) Getting the detailing correct. Probably need to engage a designer to see what the effect will be like. Would be nice to sell / give away the upvc panelling and replace with cedar/larch etc. However itâ€™s on an estate and may stick out a bit!? I have considered using brick slips, to stick on the insulation, trying to keep it as it looks now, but is that just bonkers? Maybe not for the front, and then render everywhere else. I donâ€™t mind having unpainted wood in the infill sections as I think that looks quite nice. Is it cedar that eventually goes to that nice silver grey colour?

Interested to hear from anyone who has used external insualtion on a private house. I know itâ€™s common on prefab council houses, but not sure on cavity construction, and how it would work with downpipes, window openings etc. I think this is where the costs will creep up - way above the costs of the actual product . i.e. in Labour, so is ti possible to fit on a DIY basis? Or even take the installers course and then do it myself?

Loft
Top up to 300mm with warmcell. But, how can I keep the space for storage? Use I beams laid at a cross to the current joists? Use kingspan insulated flooring boards?

Windows.
Currently uPVC standard glass double glazing. Consider adding a secondary glazing pane (to make it triple) with a low-E pane or I could try the stick on Low E film.

Is it possible to retrofit cavity closers or is the work involved not worth the effort?

Flat roof extension. :-(
Built in the mid 60â€™s so guessing it has no insulation. This either requires the mess of insulating from inside and finding a way to fill with warmcell, or going outside, and having a new warm roof construction built. (Maybe topped with grass?) Alternatively â€“ would it be cheaper to go with a new pitched roof?

This really onlly leaves draft to sort. I'll be taking out the 60's gas fire chimney, and replacing either with a sealed flue wood burner, or nothing. Need to convince myself on wood yet, but it may make a nice feature - even if it's never used. Adn would provide a backup if the leccy is ever off.

Hopefully having done all that, Iâ€™ll be left with a house that needs less than 5kw when itâ€™s freezing outside. Rather than the current 20kW it takes now. You should see the size of the radiators something that made me think theyâ€™d be ideal to run with a heat pump â€“ but thatâ€™s another story.

Is anyone aware of any software (free!) that lets you model your house? Something thatâ€™s a bit better than playing with spreadsheets and can let me input costs of each method to work out cost effectiveness. Or do I need to get a SAP expert in. I should add â€“ Iâ€™m an Accredited Domestic Energy Assessor (donâ€™t start!) â€“ but the software we use it too limited do this kind of â€œwhat ifâ€ analysis I need. It doesnâ€™t let you enter your own U values, and doesnâ€™t have any specific costing â€“ other than an average amount for each type of thing you can do. Hence why itâ€™s called â€œReduced Dataâ€ SAP. RDSAP for short.

Cheers

Simon

wood burning

ciderman — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:09:24 +0100

i feel that there are a lot of eco warriors who would have us all wearing rabbit skins and living off grass, and, at at ambient temperatures. come on, think a little, manage your own environment and look to your neighbours.
we can others can't. work from home- reduce your mileage-take a drop in salary. sadly, most will not do that.
oh dear , i could go on........

Pex tubing safe for drinking water?

scotts66 — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 23:39:43 +0100

I am wondering about the safety of polyethylene. Looking to get new plumbing installed in my home and my plumber recommends using Wirsbo Pex tubing over traditional copper pipes because of the difference in cost. Existing pipes are iron. Some may know that Pex tubing is made from cross-linked polyethylene and meets code for potable water plumbing applications. I wonder if the material may leach into the water though.

Any information/expierience with this product would be helpful.