Eco Houses Under Construction - mini events

In addition to the main “Eco Houses Under Construction” events, a number of mini-events will be held on site at the 1950’s low energy refurbishment. This gives people who are particularly interested in this kind of project the chance to follow it more closely and gain a more in-depth understanding from the architect and home-owner. The house and surrounding plot are quite small, so it is easier to cater for smaller groups. Email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you would like to join any of these mini-events.

19^th November 2011 – first mini-event

The first mini-event was held on a sunny November afternoon, attended by 3 members of the Eco House Group. With the lounge floor, the dining room floor and the floor of the new extension all at different stages of the insulation process, the event had a “Blue Peter” style “…and here’s one I prepared earlier…” feel to it!

Gil Schalom, the architect, started in the lounge. Floorboards and joists were gone, and bricks and rubble from elsewhere in the house had been used to raise the level (with addition of a little road stone). The plan is to use the old floorboards as the new floor in the loft conversion. Round the edge of the room, downstands of grey insulation can be seen. These will minimise heat loss through the walls into the ground.

Moving on to the dining room, the next step in the process was on display: 300mm thick sheets of silver EPS (expanded polystyrene) were in place, complete with wood chocks between them, and expaning foam protruding from all the joints.

Outside, the ground floor of the extension showed the next step: the expanding foam had been trimmed, a small upstand of insulation placed (and stuck down) around the edge of the walls, and the concrete floor slab poured on top.

For more on this project, go to http://eco-retrofit.blogspot.com/