Carbon Positive Family Home: CB1

Thu 23 Sep 2021, 7:00pm – 8:00pm

This was an inspiring online tour of Andy’s home showcasing what can be achieved when building new attended by 33 participants. See video and slides of their tour below.

Meet your host, Andy: Andy spent 20 years living on a narrowboat (featured as an Open Eco Home in 2013). Once children, Ailsa (now 6) and then Teal (4), came along the narrowboat became a bit cramped and Andy and Kate made the decision to find somewhere bigger. As they didn’t feel like moving into a conventional house after living on the boat they decided to build their own. They completed the home in 2020 and it is now largely net carbon positive to run as it exports considerably more energy than it uses.

This free online tour of Andy’s home is a great opportunity to learn from his experience of building an eco home.

Andy says: “Our top tip is to do what you can! Firstly, get the fabric as high spec as you can so you use as little energy as possible – good glazing, insulation wherever possible. And keep it airtight to avoid ventilation losses.”

Key features of this home:

Airtight property plus mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery system (MVHR).
Structural insulated panelled walls with a U value of 0.11.
15kW solar PV supplying more energy than used in the property.
Sunamp heat store.
Rainwater harvesting tank supplying toilet cisterns, washing machine and garden tap.
Green roof.

Download the full case study here