Green household winner: Paul Early (From The Argus)

Green household winner: Paul Early

5:10pm Monday 27th October 2008 in Search

When Paul Early moved to a typical terraced Victorian house in Hanover he decided that just giving it a lick of paint wasn’t enough.

Instead, he embarked on a complete eco-renovation, and received his nomination because of it.

While many stories of green home renovations involve spending many thousands of pounds Paul did it all on a modest budget of £20,000.

On doing it all with such tight purse strings he said: “The devil’s in the detail. You have to be willing to weigh up a number of factors and be honest with yourself about whether it is an environmentally responsible choice.”

Paul used recycled newspapers to insulate the floor, wool for the loft. Draught-proof doors and windows were a must, and a dual-flush toilet reduced the household water consumption by three-quarters.

Paul said: “I have always been interested in eco-issues. It’s just a natural extension of that.

“We did as much as we could in our previous home. It was a council flat so we were quite limited.

I just think we are very conscious of our energy and resource use.

“One of the aims with our new house is to make an exemplar of what can be done. Brighton and Hove has a lot of Victorian, solid-wall building stock which is problematic for environmental performance and health.”

Paul’s focus on insulation, low-energy appliances and generating energy through renewable technologies, such as solar, means he has reduced the total carbon dioxide emissions of his house by an incredible 50%.

Runner-up

Sigrid Stagl and Peter Kaufman

Dr Sigrid Stagl and partner Peter Kaufmann reduced their home’s energy emissions from 14 tonnes to 3.8 tonnes a year – a massive 70% reduction.

The social scientists at the Science and Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex used a combination of roof, floor and wall insulation, solar panels (for heating and hot water) and various water-conservation techniques. They also added huge windows to the south side of their house to absorb more heat from the sun.

It took the couple 13 months, £50,000 and four different planning applications, but converting a Victorian house in a conservation area was never going to be easy.

The technologies used are common in their native Austria but rare in the UK.

Sigrid and Peter hope their trailblazing ways will make it easier for others to follow suite.

Peter says: “We had to be very stubborn to see things through but we hope it will make it easier for others.

“Everyone who does things for the first time will come across certain obstacles and now that people are more familiar with ideas it will be easier.

“A lot of people don’t seem to understand that it is better in the long run to do things properly – not just think about the next five years or so.”