Eco build guide
Photograph courtesy of Peter Saunders
Too much glazing can cause overheating and cold on winter nights.
prevalent, addressing old age and/or the eventuality Some guidance on external wall insulation of becoming incapacitated. For instance, ensure light switches are positioned low enough to be accessed from a wheelchair and if you introduce wall supports have them centrally located over the basin instead of at the sides to keep your centre of gravity aligned when using them. When designing your hallway make sure it’s wide enough to allow for the staircase to be fireproofed to rent upstairs in later years – this requires very little additional floor space to achieve as compared to a standard hallway width. Of course make sure corridors are wide enough for wheel chair access and that there are no steps down to access key rooms such as the kitchen. Overheating is an interesting topic as it’s not something at the forefront of most of our minds but it should be a consideration too. Day says one of the lessons he’s learned over the years is to be careful Over external insulation, climbing plants need frameworks/ wires as with the amount of south facing glazing (e.g. large sucker or rooting tendril species can destroy the insulation’s protective render. expanse of glazing on gable end) you’re introducing as it can get too warm in summer and chilly at night if there are no shutters. North facing walls are another interesting topic which he regularly comes back to; one option is to build a sheltered firewood store against it, another is to mound earth or judiciously plant climbers. In fact landscaping in general is fascinating territory; Day says that planting trees and hedges in your line of sight, on a diagonal axis, will lead you to believe the plot is larger than it is. Above all, maximise the amount of green you can see from the windows, as opposed to hard landscaping. Apparently in hospitals patient recovery times are greatly increased when there are green views available! External insulation carried down to the foundations minimises cold-bridging and partially compensates for inadequate floor insulation. Finally, the last section dealing with ‘Who’ is full www.SelfBuild.ie
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