The Zero Carbon House » Re-use http://zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk a carbon neutral home in Birmingham UK Fri, 18 May 2012 07:01:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The house that was http://zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk/the-house-that-was/04/2009/ http://zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk/the-house-that-was/04/2009/#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2009 09:36:14 +0000 Chris Duggan http://zerocarbonhousebirmingham.wordsforaplanet.net/?p=161 We think this is the only zero carbon house in the country built around an old house!

The design adapts and enlarges an existing Victorian house. As the technical challenges of adapting existing buildings to this standard are formidable, pioneering UK sustainable houses have all been new. But it’s more sustainable to re-use rather build new because considerable energy is used in construction. Standards set for new housing will result in only modest overall CO2 reductions if existing housing is not simultaneously improved. A version of the Code for Sustainable Homes to cover existing buildings is expected in 3-4 years time.

The original house was a semi-detached solid brick construction with a large space to one side (it seems that it was going to be part of a terrace which was never finished – there is a gap in the house numbering which suggests that space was a vacant plot for another house).

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