Building Regulations and Energy Efficiency
When extending your property, the following building regulations will have to be adhered to:
- Insulation (cavities, floors and lofts if applicable)
- Low energy lighting
- Thermostats for radiators
Energy Efficiency – Being Eco-friendly
There’s a fine balance between making your extension or conversion as eco-friendly as possible and staying within your budget. Your current property may not be compatible with sustainable principles. But you should be able to extend or convert and minimise waste, energy and emissions.
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Considerations for Energy Efficiency
Insulation
Add solid wall insulation and cavity insulation. Using Celcon foundation blocks or Fibolite blocks to support a new wall will significantly reduce heat loss from ground floors.
Underfloor Heating or Radiators?
Replacing a central heating system of radiators with underfloor heating will appreciably reduce your running costs and your CO2 emissions. Consider electrical underfloor heating or a water system, which can be cheaper to run.
Roof Lights or Sky Lights
The more natural light entering your extension, the less electricity you’ll need to light your new space. Natural light is something we all need and it’s free!
Solar Panels
Photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal systems are a great way of producing electricity from the sun to run your home, and you can resell any energy you don’t need back to the national grid.
A PV solar system installed on an average British home can save one ton of carbon emissions per year.
Sustainably Sourced Materials
Just a couple of sustainable building materials will reduce your carbon footprint. Considerations here include, sheep’s wool or Hemp insulation in the walls and ceiling cavities; reclaimed bricks for the walls; traditional lime-based mortar instead of modern cement and reclaimed floorboards.
Wood Fuel Heating Systems
Look at the best way to heat your eco-extension. Wood fuel will outperform the traditional gas boiler. Your boiler choice can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
Wood fuelled heating and Biomass Heating systems are now a viable and affordable option.
Some Biomass Boilers need to be manually monitored or loaded with pellets daily, so do bear in mind the greater effort to maintain one over a gas boiler.
Up and coming technology includes many other options for upgrading your boiler including Micro Combined Heat & Power (MCHP) boilers and Solar Thermal systems that exploit heat from sunlight.
Low VOC Paint
Another trend to look at is paint with low Volatile Organic Compounds which contain lower volumes of polluting chemicals.
Connected Thermostats & Controllers.
Control your entire home by zoning areas off using thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) and room thermostats so you are only heating the rooms you are using. Most will come with an app for your smart phone or tablet.
Exterior Wall Insulation
We all know that proper insulation will significantly reduce heat loss and energy bills. Check out eco-friendly products like SecilVit Cork, which is free from chemicals, synthetic resins and carcinogenic materials.
Lighting
Switching to LED lighting is a quick way to reduce energy consumption. Consider installing Sensor Technology that automatically switches off lights when a room is empty (which could reduce your electricity usage up to 30 per cent).
Daylight sensors will automatically adjust the artificial lighting according to the amount of natural light in a room and reduce electricity use by up to 40 per cent.
There’s plenty you can do to have an energy efficient home extension or conversion. We’re happy to help and we can put you in contact with tradespeople who can produce your dream eco-friendly space.
Call us for a friendly chat, 01707 393 971, to get the ball rolling for your energy efficient home extension.
and the HED Team
