Converting to an EcoFriendly Home

Index

Introduction

Climate change, caused by global warming, is a problem that affects us all. Yet the global environment is way too large for us to influence individually. On the other hand, the small part of the world in which we spend over half our lives is entirely under our control. Our home is also our environment; it is both shelter and sanctuary from the elements and the pressures of life. This book is about making small changes to your home, things that you can easily do to reduce the effect you have on the environment – your own carbon footprint – and things that will also create a healthier home in which to live.

One day, no doubt, we won’t have to think about making ‘green’ choices or increasing our environmental awareness, because those choices will have been made already and that awareness will have become second nature. The problem is that ‘one day’ may be some time in the future.

In the meantime, while adapting your lifestyle may not be easy, adapting your home is relatively straightforward. Simple alterations that improve insulation and lighting, cleanse the air, reduce water consumption and increase energy efficiency will soon pay for themselves. More ambitious changes can free you, in part, from the grip of power and fuel companies, setting you on the road to self-sufficiency and saving you money for years to come.

Most importantly, you will not only create a better environment for your home, but also a better home for the environment.

Light

An eco-friendly home is a home blessed with light.

Light brings with it security, serenity and good health. It reacts with chemicals in our skin to create vitamin D, feeding our bodies with calcium, but much more than that it engenders a sense of well-being that feeds our minds, and lifts our hearts and our spirits. It is no coincidence that when homes are judged for fitness under public health laws, the amount of daylight afforded to rooms is measured. A minimum of ten per cent window area to floor area has been considered the minimum for habitable rooms for some time, and if you’ve ever had to spend time in a basement away from daylight, you’ll understand why that is. With advances in glazing, such as Low-e glazing (see diagram, right) we can stretch that ratio to 33 per cent to give us the best possible exposure to natural light.

Improving natural light indoors

Of course the very best form of light is natural light, and to be truly green you would have to live by it alone, but that would be a little restrictive. For the times when natural light is insufficient for our requirements, we have to create light artificially, and it seems we need a lot of artificial light these days. But before we get into that, we can look to see if we are making the best possible use of the daylight that is free to us all.

When the first glazed windows were used in the 16th century, they were formed from tiny panes that were joined together with thick strips of lead. Daylight had a hard job to penetrate them. The Georgians made huge windows to accommodate the fact that small panes of cast glass were still being used between substantial timber bars, and it wasn’t until 1838, when the rolling process of glass manufacture was invented, that windows had more glass than frame. Rolling made it possible to make larger panes. The Victorians gradually increased their size in the styling of their sash windows, which once had contained as many as eight panes in each sash, leading to just two in the Edwardian era. Edwardian homes that haven’t since been modernized with plastic double-glazed units are flooded with daylight because of them.

Low-e glazing

Windows are still large to this day, but by a strange twist of fate, the method of supporting the glazing is still reducing the amount of light they let through. To avoid the chore of repainting window frames, we have switched from wood to plastic, and to improve insulation, double-glazing has become standard. The gap between the panes has grown progressively wider, and now two panes of 4 mm glass are used in most, with a 20 mm cavity between them.

PVC-u replacement windows have been installed at a phenomenal rate since the 1980s, but plastic isn’t as strong as timber, and to compensate for that the framework has to be thicker. The sections are deep and chunky, and on a standard double-casement window measuring 1.2 m wide by 1.05 m high, the glass can be account for less than 75 per cent of the whole area.

It is worse than you think. The single thin sheets of glass used by the Edwardians might have been terrible for keeping in the heat, but they were excellent for letting in daylight. Almost all ultra-violet light can pass through single glazing, but only 75 per cent can pass through a 20 mm double-glazed unit, while a triple-glazed unit offers significantly worse performance. Consequently, larger areas of glass are needed to compensate for that light loss.

To put it simply, we need bigger windows if we are to enjoy the benefit of daylight fully. The problem is that even the best triple glazing can lead to a significant heat loss compared to an insulated wall. At best, it offers an insulation value that is slightly worse than a cavity wall comprising two skins of bricks and no insulation. The best double-glazed windows are comparable to a solid one-brick wall in the rate of heat loss.

Floor plans of two identical terraced homes showing the extent to which daylight can penetrate rooms when different windows are installed

There is some balancing to be done here: as well as sizing windows, their orientation lies at the core of the problem.

In spite of the fact that light travels at a constant and incredible speed, it is easily deflected. Daylight arriving on vertical walls does so at an angle; some of it is reflected, some becomes distorted by double glazing and some makes it into the room just behind the window. High-level windows and windows that are tall rather than wide are much better for lighting a room, although ultimately a combination of both is best. Patio doors are great for letting natural light into a room, but traditional thinking in house design has restricted most homes to one pair, which tend to be stuck in the back somewhere and covered with a conservatory later.

My guess is that in most homes there is at least one window that could be replaced by a pair of glazed doors, without having to widen the opening or disturb the lintel over it. All that’s required is to cut out the wall beneath it, install the doors and make good the reveals. Of course if extra doors will prove to be an unwanted security risk downstairs, full-height glazing can be used instead with openable vents as required. Full-height glazing is in architectural fashion at the moment, and many new-home builders are installing glass that stretches from floor to ceiling. To do this in an existing home requires some structural alteration. Better to stick with your existing window openings and extend beneath them. Upstairs, you can do the same with fixed toughened glass or opening doors and a ‘Juliet’ balcony. If you don’t want to run to the expense of a balcony railing, a pane of 10 mm toughened glass fixed 1100 mm off the floor will keep you safe.

ROOFLIGHTS

Many of us have rooms where we have to switch on the lights during the grey days of winter, particularly in semi-detached and terraced houses where the windows are only at the front and back. There is only so much you can do to bring light into the centre of the home from two end walls, but you can look to the roof for light.

Light from above is better than light from the side. A rooflight, or skylight, that is half the size of a window will provide twice the light. Laid on the slope of your roof, a rooflight is likely to suffer from none of the shading obstructions that can bedevil a wall window, and since the light hits it more squarely, much more passes through.

The manufacturers of roof windows have targeted the loft-conversion market, and in doing so have developed their products for remedial installation rather than new build. For those of us looking to convert to greener homes, this is a happy coincidence. The windows are attractively priced, easy to fit into an existing roof and, to cap it all, have wooden frames rather than plastic. But why draw light into our lofts if we aren’t converting them you may ask. The answer is that while letting daylight into your loft is still a good idea, getting it down into a room is even better, and this is the objective. Creating a light well between the ceiling and the rooflight isn’t difficult in modern homes where the roof often has a shallow pitch.

Penetration of light through rooflights on flat and sloping roofs is enhanced by shaping the light well

Light wells are usually constructed from a timber framework that supports a plasterboard lining, and can also be insulated as necessary from the cold part of the attic. The rooflight and light well can be installed between the rafters and ceiling joists, or these can be cut back and the opening trimmed to allow a larger assembly to be fitted. Usually the trimming timbers are doubled around the opening to support the cut rafters and joists, but since this is a structural alteration, you should take advice from a professional. Building codes and regulations usually apply to structural alterations like this.

The angle of light through skylights

If your roof is made from a series of trusses, under no circumstances should you cut them without obtaining an approved structural design. Trussed rafters comprise a web of thin timbers, joined by metal plates, which work in tension and compression, and they can’t be cut and altered like a conventional ‘cut-and-pitch’ roof structure. Most trusses are set 600 mm apart, and slender rooflights are made to this width, which means that you won’t need to cut through the sloping rafters or the ceiling ties.

Kit form skylights are designed for easy installation

Using 50 mm x 50 mm softwood and 9 mm plasterboard to form the shaft will keep the weight of the structure down to a level that the trusses should easily support, but if necessary bearers can spread the load over several of the ceiling ties.

Pyramidal rooflight

Rooflight structure trimmings around opening

Of course some of the light will be lost as it travels down the shaft, so it pays to keep it as short as you can, installing the roof window lower, rather than higher, on the roof. If the shaft ends up more than 1 m high, you will start to lose much of the light’s brilliance. You can improve matters by painting the shaft white to reflect the daylight and splaying out the base as the ceiling joists allow to create a ‘bell’ shape that is wider at the bottom than the top. More than anything, a south-facing rooflight can bring a little sunshine into a dark part of your home, whether it’s over the stairs or in a bedroom.

Channelling the light down even farther to the ground floor can be done, but it requires either a larger well or a shaft with a highly reflective surface. A larger light well will take up valuable floor space upstairs, so instead pipes made from shiny metal sheeting can be used to create sunshine ducts, or light tubes, that beam the daylight down from the roof. In this case, the rooflight bit is little more than an acrylic dome or pyramid, while the pipes are only 300 mm or so in diameter, but they can be effective. The smaller ones have the benefit of fitting between floor joists and rafters without the need for cutting and trimming if you can get the alignment right, but they do tend to lose their effectiveness over a distance. I’ve planned to install a 300 mm diameter example, south-facing, that is about 3.6 m high from roof to ground-floor ceiling to boost the daylight in my kitchen, but I am aware that this is stretching its capabilities, and it may not prove as effective as I would like.

Conservation style rooflight

Cross-section shows a ventilated roof cavity maintained around skylight

Cross-section shows a thermal break between skylight and roof

INSTALLING A LIGHT TUBE

Light tubes, or sun pipes, are a relatively new invention. They appeared in the early 1990s and have occupied a very tiny space in the market since then, not least because of their cost. Of the hundreds of building projects I become involved in each year, I only get to see a handful of these being installed; mostly they are in school corridors, which is a shame because they have the ability to effectively channel daylight into dark parts of our homes – daylight that keeps us from switching on light bulbs. In schools, where daytime use is predominant, the payback time on light tubes is thought to be as little as six years, but unfortunately in homes, you could look at 20 years as being more likely because they aren’t very cheap to buy.

THE MAKE-UP OF LIGHT TUBES

Light tubes are little more than thin aluminium pipes that are pushed together in short sections to build a tube. The inner surface is highly polished and reflective, having either an anodized finish or a multi-layer polymeric film coating, which allows most of the daylight to bounce down the tube and into your room via a ceiling diffuser. Low technology to say the least, but they are effective. I have seen a 300 mm-diameter example, in bright sunshine, easily light a small internal bathroom. On dull and overcast days, the light level drops off rapidly, but for much of the time a tube of that size can light an area of 10 sq.m to a comfortable level. Some tubes look a bit like an aluminium version of the flexi-hose used for tumble driers and air vents, but although these are easier to install and are much cheaper, they don’t have the reflective qualities necessary to make them worthwhile. When you realize that some reflection of light is knocked back at the roof lens, then again within the tube as it travels down it and finally at the diffuser, you can see that you can lose a good percentage of daylight in the equipment. Hence the shorter the tube and the wider its diameter, the more daylight you will receive. These tubes come in diameters up to 750 mm, but few of us can accommodate such a large duct in our homes. If all you had to run it through was the loft space, it might be possible, but for most lofts, a tube no more than 2 m long would allow a 300 mm-diameter model to be used quite satisfactorily.

Light tubes are assembled from kits, in sections

Assembled light tube

Converting to eco-friendly artificial light

Having done all you can to improve the natural light indoors, it is time to improve the artificial lighting. It is quite possible to save energy here by rethinking the way in which you light your home as well as changing to energy-efficient lamps.

As a rule, we tend to have a poor understanding of our lighting needs and often choose the wrong fittings. As a result, we end up wasting power with needlessly bright lighting and incorrect controls.

CONVERTING YOUR LIGHTING

In terms of conserving power, converting the lighting of your home to more eco-friendly status is the easiest way to achieve results.

Lighting tends to be forgotten until it is too late to reap the full benefits of choice and design, but with any eco-conversion project, it needs pushing to the front of your mind – well ahead of the decorating. Don’t let your efforts stop at fitting a few low-energy light bulbs. You might also look at switching: an internal passive infrared (PIR) switch (see Glossary page 169) or a programmable dimmer switch may be far more efficient than a manual switch that always produces full power and tends to be left on after the room has been vacated. Spaces that we visit temporarily are prone to this. Bathrooms, hallways, stairs and landings that we pass through are all ideal areas for automatic PIR detector switching.

Fitting a PIR that can be adjusted for the time period it stays on after the area has been vacated is essential. I have one that switches on a low-level brick light in my en-suite bathroom. It produces more than enough light from a 10 watt lamp to use the room at night without disturbing anyone and switches off a minute after the room has been left, just enough time to use the reflected light to find my way back to bed.

What matters most about lighting is getting it in the right place and achieving the right effect. Light can be stark and even, bright with contrasting shadow, soft and relaxing, and a variety of hues if not colours. Deciding on what you want for a particular room will mean thinking about how you plan to use that room. In kitchens, adjustable and worktop lights should be employed as task lighting. Bathrooms, bedrooms and dining-rooms benefit from softer light to create a relaxed atmosphere, and lounges may need a variety of lighting options for reading, watching TV and so on. New homes often demonstrate an astounding lack of imagination when it comes to lighting, developers hanging a pendant fitting somewhere near the centre of each ceiling and leaving it at that. That is ambient or general lighting. It is the canvas on which you can create something better, something that is not only more energy-efficient, but also more imaginative and atmospheric. Eco-conversion work can give you the opportunity to install light fittings where you’ve always wanted them, to produce something unique, illuminating your home more effectively and efficiently to save energy in the process.

Energy-efficient lighting relies on three key elements:

•The right position

•The right light source

•The right light fitting

Position

Finding the right position for a light fitting might just be the hardest of the three. The lights in your home may