Positive Footprints

What makes a sustainable house?

A sustainable house is simply one that makes effective use of resources and energy flows available to the site.

• It uses the sun to keep the house warm in the winter, heat the water and produce the power.
• It uses the wind to channel prevailing breeses to cool in summer.
• It collects the rain that falls, to be used efficiently throughout the house and garden.
• It uses the mass of the earth on which it sits to maintain stability of temperature.
• It uses the land to provide native habitat and human nourishment.
• It uses the soil to recycle wastes.

More broadly it minimises its footprint by choosing materials that avoid habitat destruction and are low in embodied energy, and technology that uses electricity and water efficiently.

And lastly, it is one that has a sense of sanctuary , connects the user to the environment, and is healthy to live and grow in .

See our design principles derived from this definition.

See our 7 points guideline on designing a sustainable house.

For a flyer of two (2) of our homes that have been opened to the public on previous Sustainable House Days, click on the links below:
Croydon house (220KB PDF)
Trafalgar house (204KB PDF)

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