Sustainability elements for a house extension - what measures can the homeowner install

Sustainability of the house extension market is not as onerous on the land owner, homeowner or developer as for brand new homes so including for renewable energy devices and equipment is not yet a requirement for people extending their homes.

Therefore, at this current time it is up to each individual home owner to install any extra sustainability elements within their design for a house extension as they require or as their house extension designer or architect recommends.

The homeowner can have as much or virtually no sustainability elements within their house extension as they choose provided the minimum standards of the Building Regulations are still maintained.

However, even simply complying with the Building Regulations will ensure that your new works for the house extension will probably be far more efficient than the existing property simply due to the higher levels of insulations required for the floor, walls and roof.

Even the fitting of a new gas fired boiler to replace a 25 year old existing boiler for example will probably make the extended home cheaper to heat and use less energy than the properties current set up combined with the extra thermal insulation offered by the new house extension structure.

If the homeowner chooses to improve the thermal efficiency of the new house extension and install renewable energy fittings then this will help improve the so called ‘sustainability elements’ of the house extension project overall and be less dependent upon grid energy supplies such as natural gas, electrics and mains water.

The term ‘sustainable’ and all its off shoots and derivatives of the term has become widely abused by so called sudo experts especially with regard to local and central government bodies and departments alike. Seems like everyone and their dog has to incorporate the term within their mission statement these days.

Regretfully few people actually know what it refers to or its eventual aims. My own Local Council tried to define the planning jargon for sustainability as this…..use of resources for today’s needs and commitments that does not prejudice the needs and requirements for future generations - or some such set of similar nonsensical words.

Here is what one web said about the subject:-

There may be as many definitions of sustainability and sustainable development as there are groups trying to define it. All the definitions have to do with:

• Living within the limits
• Understanding the interconnections among economy, society, and environment
• Equitable distribution of resources and opportunities