PROPERTY
life
Seen to be
Green.
By Sam Biles MRICS FAAV - Creasey Biles & King
On the Isle of Wight, in line with
the UK there are an increasing
number of self builders. Many
are inspired by television
programmes such as Grand
Designs which have heightened
awareness about what can be
acheived in terms of up-to-date
technology and in making
homes more energy-efficient.
The single most effective thing
which we can do to save energy
is to ensure that our homes ar
properly insulated. Buildings are
the UK’s greatest energy wasters
and it is estimated that enough
energy to heat 3,000,000
homes for a year is lost through
our roofs and walls alone. So
why have we traditionally paid
little regard to this? Primarily
the answer is that fuel and
energy have been until recently
relatively cheap, however now
that the price of oil and other
fossil fuels is rocketing skyward,
more attention is being focused
on ‘green’ issues. It is not only
the energy consumed in heating
our homes and water but the
wastage of the water itself that
is relevant. On average we each
use 135 litres a day of which
half is used for personal hygiene
and flushing the lavatory. Energy
is used to purify, transport and
store every litre of water we use
in our homes.
Whether you are an 'eco
warrior' keen on reducing your
carbon footprint or even if you
think that climate change is a
big hoax, the simple fact remains
that wasting the ever more
expensive resources of energy
and water is going to cost more
of every household’s budget.
Energy performance
certificates, similar to those on
electrical household appliances,
are now part of every Home
Information Pack. As yet estate
agents have seen little evidence
of people selecting their homes
on the basis of their energy
performance but, as we become
more environmentally-aware and
as fuel prices rise, then this will
change. It is always easier (and
often cheaper) to introduce
new technologies into new-built
property than to fit them
retrospectively into older houses
but there are nearly always ways
www.wightfrog.com/islandlife
that buildings can be improved.
When energy costs were
low, the 'pay-back' periods
for installing measures such as
solar panels, double glazing etc
were considerable, however,
as costs spiral it is inevitable
that these periods will shrink as
people seek to cut their annual
bills. One technology which is
now taking hold in the UK is
the Gound Source Heat Pump
which uses solar heat stored in
the ground where, at a depth
of over 1m the temperature
remains relatively constant at
around 10 C. A loop in the
ground brings this heat into
your home where a heat pump which looks like a large domestic
fridge - concentrates this heat
to a higher temperature for
use in heating and hot water.
Efficiently each unit of electricity
used produces around 3-4 units
of heat. High installation
costs are offset by a
grant. Running and
maintenance costs are
low and make heat
pumps an option where
no mains gas is available.
So if you have solar
panels, sheeps wool
insulation, harvested
rainwater and a ground
source heat pump to
warm your eco home
will it be easier to sell in
today's more-challenging
market? It is difficult to
say but if these features
assist in your marketing and
gain you one more serious bu