Self-builders 'should prioritise sustainability

Self-builders 'should prioritise sustainability

Self-build projects that focus on improving the sustainability of the home will make it easier to afford living there in the future, according to an expert.

Eco specialist and author Tim Pullen told renovators and self-builders that making things like energy saving a priority from the outset of a scheme will give homeowners more control over reducing fuel bills, make the building cheaper to maintain and help it last for longer.

Additionally, he explained that making a home more energy-efficient should also bump up its price if the householder decides to put it on the market.

"If the house is going to last longer and cost less to run then you have added value to the house, so you have actually increased the value of the house just by building it sustainably," he said.

According to recent data released by AMA Research, 13,500 self-build projects are expected to be completed this year, with a predicted rise of 500 to 14,000 in 2010.

Providing a home with properly insulated walls and windows may be the most important part of designing an energy-efficient home, it has been claimed.

The Independent has identified the addition of measures such as wood-fibre cavity insulation and argon-insulated windows as "the biggest single thing you can do" in improving a home's performance.

Speaking to a homeowner who improved her property with green technology, the newspaper also identified features such as solar panels, sustainable flooring and wood-burning stoves as good ways of cutting the carbon emissions and energy consumption of a home.

The publication stated: "It is easy to blame big businesses for hefty carbon emissions, but in fact one-third of Britain's total emissions come from housing, so our green behaviour should start at home."

Earlier this month, the newspaper also claimed that new-build homes which incorporated such measures into their planning were simpler to make energy-efficient than renovated properties.

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