Whilst we were working out what the house would look like and how the rooms would fit together we were also working on a number of features to include in the house.  Many, if not most, of these arise from a desire to reduce the overall energy use of the house during construction and use.  We were fortunate to be able to secure a grant through the Design Advice scheme which resulted in us have a day's consultancy from David Olivier – an Energy Consultant.  This was a real boon and gave us a number of ways we could improve the design and keep focus during the build.  Not happy with generalities David also cajoled us into actually setting performance targets for the build.

The resultant list of features is as follows:

1. Heating will be provided using a ground coupled heat pump linked to underfloor heating.
2. All floors will be solid concrete beam and block. 
3. Walls will be solid blockwork. 
4. Insulation will be external and will be cellulose under render or PIC boarding where there is a stone external face.  Wall U values will be 0.16 W/m² K.
5. Roof insulation will be cellulose with a U value of 0.13 W/m² K
6. Windows will be double glazed, Argon filled with a low-e coating.
7. Air tightness – a target has bee set of 1m³/m²/hr @50Pa
8. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery will be used.
9. There will not be any chimneys.
10. Evacuated solar heating tubes will be used on the roof and other direct use of renewable energy will be made on the site – solar PVs and micro hydroelectricity.
11. Passive solar design has been incorporated as possible and all entrances have draught lobbies again to reduce heat loss.
12. Waste water will be treated using a reed bed.
13. A fire sprinkler will be installed