There's been a lot of information in this set of posts. If you're inspired to improve the performance of your home all year round, these resources may be of help- with the usual caveat which applies to all external links that we can't be responsible for any of the content of external websites...:
AECB- the Association for Environmentally Conscious Building at https://www.aecb.net/ has fantastic resources for building or retrofitting homes to energy efficiency standards, as well as very helpful people you can contact. There are quite a lot of things accessible for free, but if you're thinking of doing any significant changes to your home it's very, very worthwhile paying for membership to get access to their building details so you can use materials in the most efficient way and save money in the long run - and because a lot of building stores will give a discount to members, more than paying for the membership fee.
Energy Saving Trust https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/ - useful simple resources about energy efficiency measures. A good introduction to a wide variety of topics.
Passivhaus Trust https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/ Free information and resources about very energy efficient build and retrofit to the German Passivhaus standard in the UK, including lots of case studies.
BRE- https://www.bregroup.com/ including the Knowledge Hub which has in depth detail on various aspects of building. I usually end up on BRE pages when I google for information about different details of building, rather than using the website directly as I find it a bit of a tricky one to navigate.
CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology https://www.cat.org.uk/- resources on, as it says, alternative technology including renewables and eco build techniques- including CAT at home activities https://www.cat.org.uk/cat_at_home-families/
HSE, the Health and Safety Executive- https://www.hse.gov.uk/- indispensable for information on how to work safely on different projects. Really helpful to use the details to make sure that you're going to carry out jobs in a way which will keep you safe, especially if you're working at height or below ground level or with hazardous tools or materials.
Building regulations- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/approved-documents -useful if you're thinking of making any significant changes to your home. Building regulations are designed to ensure your home is safe to live in, so are really worth following!
Planning permission and permitted development- https://www.gov.uk/planning-permission-england-wales - it's worth checking that changes you make to your home are allowed under permitted development if the outside of the building is going to be changed- or worth getting planning permission if the changes are going to be outside permitted development regulations. Most small changes don't need planning, but if you're going to affect the appearance of the front of a building or if you live in a conservation area or in a listed building, lots of changes do need planning permission. The planning officers in Derby are generally very helpful if you're unsure whether you need planning or not.
...and if you have any queries about overheating, insulation or eco building that you'd like us to help you with, please do get in touch via our contact page!
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