15 ways to achieve a sustainable self-build

For a time, building a green home was seen as a somewhat unnecessary expense or perhaps the reserve of the minority; the eco warriors among us. Indeed, we remain firmly rooted in debates about cost-effectiveness and length of repayment when it comes to including elements such as green technology or natural building materials in self-builds and less inclined to think about the long-term implications of failing to include them.

Commercial housebuilders do little to readdress this balance, either: happy to typically mass produce houses that meet, but rarely exceed, Building Regs’ standards that have mostly failed to reflect the ever-changing (and worsening) state of the environment.

Humans’ impact on climate change is, despite the noises of powerful men across the Atlantic, undeniable. Sustainability is the new watchword. Fortunately, most self-builders are not only pioneers (indeed as early adopters of renewable technology, for instance, self-builders have helped to push this tech into the mainstream), but the vanguard of change.

While we often use terms like ‘ecofriendly’ and ‘green’ interchangeably and variously, there should be renewed focus on the six Rs of sustainability: rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, replace.

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