ONE of the things that distresses me about modern building methods is that there will be no more beautiful ruins. Smashed concrete blocks and twisted steel structures may make hearts race at Tate Modern, but they will never grace a landscape, or even a city-scape, in the way of solid stone and hand-jointed timber, however broken and fallen.
Call me old-fashioned? I’m not. Rather, I am fed up with the graceless, faceless, skill-less tat thrown up in place of good-quality building.
Any idiot can make a square out of breeze blocks — I know, I’ve done it myself. Yet breeze blocks are not just ugly, they produce huge amounts of carbon dioxide in their manufacture and require heavy cement mortars to hold them together. The things may be faced with stone or brick, but once your inner shell is made of cement blocks you might as well be in a concrete apartment in the former East Germany.
How we build and what materials we build with is a huge environmental question, and one that is difficult to ask. Tell your average builder that you don’t want to use cement blocks, and he’ll go and work for somebody else. The first step is to find people who are skilled enough to be prepared to do things differently.
Out here in the Cotswolds I have worked with the same traditional building firm for 12 years, and when it came to renovating and extending my cottage they didn’t flinch when I said I wanted the cat-flap built into the stone wall — cat-flap complete with its own stone quoins — and so I decided to risk saying I didn’t want cement blocks either.
The builders were interested in the challenge of doing things differently, and they understood that there had to be a budget. We decided we couldn’t build the inner skin in rubble-stone, as it would have been done in the 19th century, but we could use Finnforest timber and have the inner skin built as a kit off-site and then bolted together on-site and faced with Cotswold stone.
Yes, this cost more, but even if you leave out the environmental pluses of using eco-timber and no cement, there were two further advantages: while the kit was being built elsewhere, the men were able to get on with renovating other parts of the house — so the process is economical on time. Just as good, and much to the disbelief of building regulations inspectors, we have achieved four times the required insulation (U-value) by packing the cavities with Tri-Iso Super 10, an insulating material that looks like layers of coloured Kleenex and shiny cooking foil. It is far superior to blown foam, and unlike using sheep’s wool you won’t find your whole house full of moths next spring.
I have to say that building regulations make anything green or eco as difficult as possible. Most inspectors know little about green building, and mostly don’t seem interested in learning more. In the years and years that I have been renovating property, I have never met a single one who even wanted to talk about what we were trying to do, let alone offer any help or advice. Perhaps it is not their fault. The Government is not interested in green building or eco-measures, and there is little incentive and no special training for local authority inspectors. If you are going to do things differently, you will soon be climbing your eco-walls in frustration.
The Government needs to take some initiative, but the simple fact that Gordon Brown and his Treasury hounds levy a full 17.5 per cent VAT on rainwater harvesting systems tells you a lot about the level of their interest in measures that are good for the planet.
I have installed my rainwater system — a tank sunk in the ground to collect and re-use run-off from the roof — and I can hardly believe the VAT issue, let alone that there are no grants available.
Even worse is the situation with geothermal heating — a series of pipes sunk deep into the earth and connected to a heat pump. This wonderful, simple idea, developed in Sweden, works like a fridge in reverse, and converts low-grade heat from the ground into high-grade heat for radiators and hot water. For every one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity used to boost the earth-core temperature, 4 kWh are generated; in other words , you cut your carbon dioxide emissions and your heating bills by a whacking 75 per cent.
In Cyprus (Cyprus!) there are 80 per cent grants available, and in France and Sweden there are grants plus zero VAT. In the UK, I have ended up paying full VAT because the reduced rate of 5 per cent is available only if the thing is supplied and installed by the same firm. As you need a groundworker to dig your trenches, a plumber and an electrician to fit the system, and a landscaper to sort out the mess where your garden used to be, one firm is unlikely to manage it all.
It took the VAT expert from Blinkhorns accountants finally to get an answer from the VAT man on the Government’s position on such energy-saving measures. The weasel words “supplied AND installed” mean that you can’t even buy your own solar panels and get them fitted at the lower rate. So much for new Labour’s commitment to reducing carbon dioxide in the environment and helping ordinary householders to take responsibility where they can. Why cannot all energy-saving measures simply be zero-rated for both purchase and installation? Extend that to green buildings, and timber frames could be tax-friendly, cement blocks tax-heavy.
Geothermal is fantastic, and works for buildings of all shapes and sizes, the only issue being where and how you site the pipework. If you are moving into a house with a decent garden, where you have room to dig deep in the earth, dig a bit deeper into your pockets and install this system. The heat pump and pipe work is around £8,000, and you will have to add another £5,000 for installation and making good, But with heating costs soaring it will soon pay for itself and you will be doing something really worthwhile for the planet.
Just don’t expect any help from the Government.
Ice Energy heat pumps, 01865 882202, www.iceenergy.co.uk
Geothermal Heating International, 024-7667 3131, www.geoheat.co.uk
TOP TIPS FOR TURNING YOUR HOME GREEN
We are all using more energy. Not only does this result in bigger energy bills but, more importantly, it causes an increase in climate change. Green Books has a new consumer guide with handy energy-saving tips to cut down your carbon dioxide emissions.
Heating:
Insulate, insulate, insulate. Walls, floors, lofts, water tanks and pipe. Loft insulation should be at least 270mm, and there are plenty of user-friendly materials. Water:
Take a shower rather than a bath, but bear in mind that a five-minute power shower uses the same amount of energy as running a full bath. Electrical Appliances:
Do not leave machines on stand-by; an average of eight appliances in every UK household are left on stand-by. LORNA BLACKWOOD
You can get a free energy check from the Energy Saving Trust: www.est.org.uk www.greenbooks.co.uk
Read our green energy webseminar
