Copyright © by Rob Collingridge Updated 26 Jul 2021
There are quite a few things to be considered when designing and building a new home, to plan for imminent impacts of climate change.
Minimising the carbon footprint of any new build is always a good thing but, the most significant savings can be made over the lifetime of the building, especially if it is a source of green energy.
My new home will feature local energy usage generation, including solar PV, solar hot water heating and a wind turbine. The goal is that be able to run 'off grid' but also contribute excess power generated to the grid. This is also assuming that it provides enough energy for our transport needs.
My new home will be extremely well insulated to handle extreme temperatures and to minimise energy usage usage. It will have Heating, Ventilation & Cooling (HVAC) that features heat exchanges and energy recovery, as well as air filtration and air quality management.
With fossil fuels, open fires, gas boilers no longer viable options for heating homes, I'm assuming I can heat and cool my home using clever passive techniques, heat exchangers, extremely good insulation, local energy usage generation and a ground source heat pump.
Location is important in any build but I plan to avoid the following areas:
The best way to minimise the amount of energy used to heat your home is good insulation.
When insulating your home, it is important to consider the glass covered areas such as door and windows. Triple glazing is one way to reduce the losss of heat through glass.
I plan to build my new home with extreme weather conditions in mind. This means a home that remains comfortable in temperatures down to -30°C and up to 50°C. My current thinking is that a 'green roof' provides the best protection and I will add smart irrigation to the roof (using rainwater harvesting), to handle long dry periods.
The design will be able to handle extreme rainfall (up to 50mm per hour) and extreme snow levels.
Extreme drought conditions are also a factor to be considered and extensive rainwater harvesting is planned to address this.
I plan to avoid large trees close enougfh that they could be blown on to our new home.
This is not something that is easy to guard against but as our climate warms, UK properties could become more vulnerable to invasive species of insects.
With extreme weather, a garage or some kind of car port is going to be essential to protect your vehicles.
Ideally, my new home would be able to use a local water source but this very much depends on the final location and environment chosen. It will feature rainwater harvesting and grey water filtration and reuse.