Anthony Seymour
Project Manager and Director, ECOS Building Solutions
As consumers become more environmentally conscious throughout all aspects of their lives, housing is becoming an increasing area of focus. We must move towards making better renovation choices for the environment.
At least once in our lifetime we will either renovate, extend or build a forever family home to make the time we spend at home happier and healthier. Sustainability, energy efficient and eco-friendly are words not always commonly thought of prior to the building and renovation process.
Combining extreme energy efficiency and sustainable natural and non-toxic materials will not only help make huge savings on your energy bills, but it will also enable you to do your bit for our climate to protect our children’s and grandchildren’s future.
Refocussing buildings environmental impact
In 2021, 166,000 new dwellings and homes were built in the UK. With a rise of almost 50% of planning applications since 2020 in the UK, only a small percentage have considered the impact a building has on the environment. Building biology means creating homes that are healthy for the occupants as well as the planet, by ruling out anything that could potentially be harmful for human health.
Sustainability, energy efficient and eco-friendly are words not always commonly thought of prior to the building and renovation process.
Anthony Seymour, Project Manager and Director at ECOS Building Solutions has noticed how things are now changing: “Homeowners’ receptiveness is increasing during their evaluation process, to understand the benefits of eco-friendly and green building solutions over traditional building materials.” Wood fibre, sheeps wool, cork and bamboo are just a few insulation types which are becoming extremely popular. In addition, triple glazing, air source heat pumps and photovoltaic tiles all provide great alternative and cost-effective energy.
Better education and awareness needed
There are still major improvements required to educate and create awareness of sustainable and greener solutions. As we have seen recently with the Government’s £1.5 billion green homes grant being scrapped early, homeowners needed to be much better informed and the Government failed to push the message through the right channels.
We have all seen the improvements in the food industry, with more eco-friendly, recyclable and reusable food packaging, which have improved our oceans, this must transition to the construction industry. We have seen significant changes in our weather and climate over the past few years which will only increase if we don’t change the way we construct and build new homes.
Implementing green, energy efficient and environmentally friendly materials will not only have a positive effect on our climate but also on the cost of our energy bills and most importantly, on our health. At ECOS, we believe homeowners who are considering making changes to their property should self-educate and understand the impact of a more sustainable and greener home. An overview of sustainable materials and products are widely available online, including Green Home Systems.
ECOS is a building contractor focusing on providing homeowners with exceptional outcomes whilst deploying a range of sustainable, energy efficient and green building solutions. All works carried out by ECOS are covered by the UK’s most widely recognised provider of construction contracts, JCT.