To begin with, this house features:
• Air tightness
• Heat recovery system
• Heat thermal store
• Low-wattage consumption lighting
• Rainwater harvesting
• Sewage treatment plant
As the head and the features suggest, this restored dairy farm in Gloucestershire is slated to be the greenest of all homes in Britain. This Barnsley hill farm has a spa, a cinema and seven bedrooms. It uses ten percent less energy than what is required to run a normal house. It is hundred percent carbon neutral and has an under-floor heating that is powered by solar panels. And, it is up for grabs in just £3.5 m. It is a complete amalgamation of Eco and luxury, which of course, has a price to pay.
The best feature of this house is that it is completely air tight, which some even describe to be the most controversial feature. The walls are hermetically sealed by a polyurethane blanket, allowing no air to escape, but at the same time controlled ventilation system in the whole house filters in fresh air that does not allow the house to become stuffy due to the air tight feature. This ventilation system allow the fresh air to come in every two hours. A heat exchange unit allows the air leaving the house to heat the fresh air coming into the house, at the same time there is no contamination, as the fresh air comes through a separate part of the unit. In summers this fresh air is not heated with the presence of a bypass system.
The house also has a hidden solar park. Twenty panels capture the heat and store it in the rocks in the ground. This stored heat is transferred to the living space and the swimming pool, whenever it is required. In summers the heat inside the house is also taken to be stored in the rocks and the result is more and more energy everyday.
To make the Eco element more obvious, the house has a water recycling system. In this rain water is stored and transferred to toilets, washing machine and other taps. Well, moving on to a weird Eco factor, the sewage plant. It turns the sewage into purified water. Paul Lavelle bought this farm in auction for £1 million and has converted it into a master piece of Eco-luxury, following the parameter that you do not need to build a hobbit house to be Eco-friendly.
Builder Steve Barton maintained the basic elements of the farm. He restored the barns by using original stone and beams. The house also features a roof, costing £100,000, kitchen by interior designer Sara Anton, stone workshops and Gaggenau fridge, having electronic shelves. Nevertheless, with the kind of green features, the house promises to run cheaply and hopefully recover the damage done to your pocket. The house also promises to be an abode for gadget freaks, as it has a sublime presence of temperature-controlled wine store, integrated sound system and mood lighting. It is open to be visited on September 26 and 27 from 1-6pm, visit www.stonebee.co.uk.
Via: Telegraph
