Low impact house – and it's so cool

Talkemada, I'm sorry but that house is not eco-friendly, like most Scandanavian houses it is energy greedy. Few of their houses are triple glazed

???

Have you ever been to Scandinavia? I have, several times. Stayed in a number of houses, from traditional log cabins, to modern flats. All but the summer houses were triple glazed. When temperatures drop below -10, triple glazing is essential. In some of the more modern houses, large expanses of glass let as much light in as possible, which is good, as light is a precious commodity in winter.

I've seen quite a few places being built, and had a good view of how a modern family house is constructed. Energy efficiency is maximised, and careful use of materials results in houses that are toasty warm in winter, yet relatively cheap to heat, as well as being cool and well-ventilated in summer. I found it eye-opening, how much recycled material was being utilised, and how clever some of the energy saving methods were. The house I was fortunate to see being built, was constructed largely of sustainable timber, and used lots of natural materials as well. Even the paint used on the exterior was a much more environmentally friendly type than is used commonly in the UK. Norway (where I stayed) has strict laws on building and environmental issues.

You do know that the process of making solar panels is pretty environmentally destructive, don't you? 😉

Over the life time of the panel it produces about ten times the energy it costs to produce it, that's good enough for me. The water heating one is all recyclable. What else should I have spent the £19 000 on? A new car?

Most Scandanavian houses aren't new are they though. In Denmark I had a very good look at the houses of various generations and most are no better than the British housing stock – lousy. As you say, Triple glasing or double glazing with shutters is essential and they simply didn't have it. I never went through a double door and the walls were distictly brick.

Ah, but you're forgetting the waste products from their manufacture. Quantities of mercury and other nasties.

£19000 is a lot of money. It may well save you money in the long run, but it's a large initial outlay.

As for Scandinavia; I've not been to Denmark, and can only really comment on Norway, but most homes there are at least double glazed as a minimum, and many have triple glazing. Shutters and heavy duty blinds are used a lot too. As for the age of the houses; most seemed to be less than 50 years old, and many of the older ones have been updated extensively. They know how to manage the cold, the Norwegians, I tell you.

As for British housing stock, I'd say we enjoy a fairly high standard of quality, relative to many other countries.

I don't really understand your argument.

My argument follows from ealier posters. One said you don't have to live in a hovel to be eco-friendly and he's right. The other said we can improve the current housing stock and he is right. You provide an example which has just about everything wrong hence my gripe.

The idea that the British housing stock is a "fairly high standard of quality, relative to many other countries" is true but just confirms it is equally lousy. No worse than Denmark then! And in absolute terms compared with what can be achieved? Look at the average British household energy consumption £612 a year just on heating, and that with most households using gas which is as cheap as chips in the UK. 15-20 OOOkWh/year between gas and electricity is a figure I've seen quoted. Even the standards for new housing simply aren't good enough.

My panels are made by Solarworld[/url]. Not the cheapest but no mercury or other nasties in them.

Personally i think the so called "hobbit house" is fantastic, i wouldn't have a prob living in it at all but then again i do have a friend who's lived in his self built treehouse for the past 15 odd years, he started building it when he was still at school and it's an ongoing process as the trees grow but thankfully he had the foresight to build all structural joints using hemp rope and self made shackles (he's a blacksmith and glass blower here so when the walls/roof/beams etc start to get a bit squirrily he adjusts the frame or builds new walls to suit.

And for all the trolls on this thread?…….good try at a wind up, but i do think it's about time for you to crawl back under your steel reinforced concrete bridges….or return to the ugly cookie cutter artificial housing scheme where you so obviously belong.

OK, not eco friendly, but if I had to live in the woods this is what I'd want:

FFS, that looks like an AT-AT! Not really in keeping with the surrounding area is it? Besides the obvious trolling, it is funny to see how many people are really defensive about this kind of development. It's almost like you have a guilty conscience 😀

Frodo's attempt at destroying the countryside…

v.

A concrete plant's attempt at destroying the countryside…

I thought we where considering eco-housing? I'm not convinced you can big up Frodo's house by comparing it with an concrete plant.

somafunk – Member

i do think it's about time for you to crawl back under your steel reinforced concrete bridges….or return to the ugly cookie cutter artificial housing scheme where you so obviously belong.

Yank, in England its a Biscuit

Yank?….. Sorry to disappoint you Dales_rider but i was using grammatical prose to feed the trolls so the billy goats gruff could pass safely to their environmentally friendly shelter. I'm sure you'll agree the phrase doesn't sound quite as dramatic when you substitute "Biscuit Cutter" for "Cookie Cutter" and as i was using the term as a derogatory adjective to describe a lack of originality i stand by my original words.

So Pfft!

Not a yank by the way.

Have a nice day ya'll.

;o)

Yank, in England its a Biscuit

are cookies biscuits or cakes? using the courts ruling a cake is something that starts soft and if left out goes hard and a biscuit is something that starts hard and goes soft if left out.. (english courts re Jaffa cake and VAT)..

cookies go hard if left out so are they cakes?

Love stuff like this, and second the recommendation for the Home Work book. I'd say it's not so much the "hobbit" aesthetic that appeals to me, as the leap away from brick-and-mortar construction, which most affordable homes in the UK seem to be hidebound by.

The idea that you can build a house out of cob, or straw, or just the soil from your site, is heresy to most people, yet people have built perfectly serviceable, and in many ways superior, homes using these methods for thousands of years. The longevity of some of these places may be moot, but then you could say the same about the crappy Barratt boxes that infest our suburbs. For a slightly different take on building a home from found or reclaimed materials, check out Earthships.

On another note, has anyone else noticed that Fred is back, and as hungry for attention as ever? 🙄

Call me an old hippy but I am a fan of this sort of thing, don't get me wrong i'm not a fan of dreadlocks on middle class white kids that had overbearing parents, and other folk that still listen to old Levellers albums, they generally grate a little my general outlook on life. But i do like the idea of building your own house out of this that and the other, what's more damaging after all to society, pricing your average 2.5 bed semi out of the reach of 80% of the population that don't have any equity, or some guy in a grubby jumper building a permanent(ish) home for him and his kids and freeing up another council property for Vicky Pollard et al.

Good luck to him!

Anyway, it's all been done before and kind of makes sense in many, many ways. This one's a little Hobbity for my liking, but i like the concept! Check out the Aussie ones!

some guy in a grubby jumper

The guy in the OP was actually a photographer and graphic designer when he built that house. Not that they don't wear grubby jumpers.

If the entire population did this in the UK we would have a patch 4 x 4 Metres.

You mean like most of the people in big cities have then?

Mr Agreeable – Member

some guy in a grubby jumper

The guy in the OP was actually a photographer and graphic designer when he built that house.

That's as maybe Anthony, but it kind of ruins the 'visual' of my post! 😀

juan – Member

If the entire population did this in the UK we would have a patch 4 x 4 Metres.

You mean like most of the people in big cities have then?

May be more maths are probably wrong, something like 242,000 square Km and 61 million people

BTW someones put in planning permission for a bigger version in the Dales

dales rider yes very wrong indeed
242000 sqaure km is equal to 242000000000 square metres. That about just under 4000 square metre per head.

I prefer Earthships – although they don't quite translate from New Mexico to the south coast.

The assumption that kids living in a ore earthy way suffer "tummy troubles" – kids living in an endlessly disinfected way are made ill because of it, according to recent realisations – allergies esp are much worse when a healthy spectrum of background bugs is interfered with. I don't believe in having my house (and kids) overly clean, certainly not with the use of chemicals and disinfectants all ver the place.

And as for someone who would rather live n a tower block in Croydon! Jeez. Blimin' townies.

juan – Member

dales rider yes very wrong indeed
242000 sqaure km is equal to 242000000000 square metres. That about just under 4000 square metre per head.

So a patch of about 63 x 63 thats about as much as I've got already 🙂

although they don't quite translate from New Mexico to the south coast

Apparently they've built one in Scotland. 😯 http://www.sci-scotland.org.uk/earthship_centre.shtml

I prefer Earthships – although they don't quite translate from New Mexico to the south coast.

There is another in Stamner park in Brighton.

And as for someone who would rather live n a tower block in Croydon! Jeez. Blimin' townies.

Heh! I'll admit I was being deliberately obtuse (cos it's fun!), and I do think we all need to be 'greener'.

The bloke who's built this house should be commended for his efforts; it must have been a bloody difficult task. Hats off to him indeed. He is, in his own way, setting an example for others to follow. But, it is a bit of an idealistic hippyish dream, to suggest we can all live like that. I don't actually want to. I prefer my modern comforts too much. As for bugs and germs, his kids look remarkably healthy and happy.

As the (stupid)song goes, 'It's not easy being green'. It's not that cheap, either, as Edukator has proved. And there will always be an man-made impact on the environment. It's about managing that impact carefully and sensitively.

Personally, I don't think it means we all have to live in mud huts. But if some want to, good luck to them.

FFS, that looks like an AT-AT! Not really in keeping with the surrounding area is it?

I'd love an AT-AT, too. And I'd say it's perfectly in keeping with the surrounding area, in much the same way that Falling Water fits in with its environment.

Agreed it's not massively environmentally friendly, though!

I know that a number have been built here – they don't quite have that desert vibe thing going in Brighton or Scotland though do they? There was one on Grand Designs a couple of years ago – strange how that programme seems to have stopped now isn't it?

I guess I feel more of a link to that kind of house because I'm only one generation away from living in something quite a lot more basic. During the war (not forgetting, this only changed in the early fifties) there were thousands of people living in the countryside in whatever could be found. My mum's family had a house on Leith Hill with no amenities at all and a very basic shed-like construction. Immediately post war there were lots of families who moved into army nissin huts in the woods and they (and my mum's family) were rehoused eventually in rural council estates – like the one I live in now (actually the same one).

As I said in an earlier post, our addiction to and expectation of what we think is a minimum standard of warmth and chemical cleanliness is very recent – like this current generation recent.

There was one on Grand Designs a couple of years ago – strange how that programme seems to have stopped now isn't it?

Thank God. I loved the programme, just can't stand Monty Don.

Did this tax planever happen?. Living where I do I'll get about £7 000 of tax relief and the electricity company buys the electricity I produce at a price that means the return on investment is significantly better than the long bond.

I remember building something like that (on a smaller scale) in the woods at the back of my folks house when I was 10. It provided a nice habitat for all sorts of creepy crawlies.

What disturbs me more than anything about this type of project, is that given 6 months of not shaving, washing or having a haircut, I could look exactly like this 😯