12 Clever Eco Tips to Steal From Our Houzz Tours
From natural insulation to recycled materials and biomass stoves, these eco-friendly homes have plenty of ideas to steal
Want to make your home more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly? Check out these clever solutions, shared with the Houzz community by architects, designers and homeowners who are passionate about sustainable living.
Let your walls breathe
An ideal home is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, so it pays to think carefully about the insulation you use. This beautiful octagonal house in west Wales is insulated with sheep’s wool, which regulates the temperature throughout the year.
Hemp fibreboard and lime plaster also add a breathable internal layer to the Douglas fir-clad walls.
Take a peek inside this compact home
An ideal home is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, so it pays to think carefully about the insulation you use. This beautiful octagonal house in west Wales is insulated with sheep’s wool, which regulates the temperature throughout the year.
Hemp fibreboard and lime plaster also add a breathable internal layer to the Douglas fir-clad walls.
Take a peek inside this compact home
Install a wood-pellet stove
An automatic wood-pellet stove can work out more efficient than an open fire or log-burner, as it uses a fan to spread heat more evenly around the room. Pellets are less messy than other forms of fuel and the stove can automatically top them up and turn itself on.
The primary source of heat in this Scottish prefab, designed by Stuart Duncan of build different, is a biomass pellet stove. The burner is also connected to a wet radiator circuit that heats the whole house.
Check out this timber-clad modern prefab in Scotland
An automatic wood-pellet stove can work out more efficient than an open fire or log-burner, as it uses a fan to spread heat more evenly around the room. Pellets are less messy than other forms of fuel and the stove can automatically top them up and turn itself on.
The primary source of heat in this Scottish prefab, designed by Stuart Duncan of build different, is a biomass pellet stove. The burner is also connected to a wet radiator circuit that heats the whole house.
Check out this timber-clad modern prefab in Scotland
Incorporate clever ventilation
When you’ve super-insulated your house, you might need to think about cooling it down in the summer. Sam Cooper of E2 Architecture + Interiors came up with a simple yet clever idea for this Blackheath-based eco house. To the right of the front door is a stainless-steel woven mesh that covers a ventilation panel. The strong mesh allows the panel to be left open securely. Air flows along the corridor and cools the house down.
Tour more of this eco haven
When you’ve super-insulated your house, you might need to think about cooling it down in the summer. Sam Cooper of E2 Architecture + Interiors came up with a simple yet clever idea for this Blackheath-based eco house. To the right of the front door is a stainless-steel woven mesh that covers a ventilation panel. The strong mesh allows the panel to be left open securely. Air flows along the corridor and cools the house down.
Tour more of this eco haven
Bring in some fresh air
A clever way to circulate fresh air around your well-insulated home is to install a heat-recovery ventilation, or HRV, system.
In this low-energy Cotswolds home, the triple-glazed windows ensure the property is airtight, but the air inside is kept fresh with an HRV system. Stale and damp air are removed and replaced with filtered clean air with no heat loss.
“It creates a very fresh, clean atmosphere inside the house,” says owner and designer Chris Seymour-Smith of Seymour-Smith Architects. “The first year we lived here, it was -15C outside, and there was snow right up to the house, but even then, inside it was a comfortable 19C.”
See more of this Cotswolds home
A clever way to circulate fresh air around your well-insulated home is to install a heat-recovery ventilation, or HRV, system.
In this low-energy Cotswolds home, the triple-glazed windows ensure the property is airtight, but the air inside is kept fresh with an HRV system. Stale and damp air are removed and replaced with filtered clean air with no heat loss.
“It creates a very fresh, clean atmosphere inside the house,” says owner and designer Chris Seymour-Smith of Seymour-Smith Architects. “The first year we lived here, it was -15C outside, and there was snow right up to the house, but even then, inside it was a comfortable 19C.”
See more of this Cotswolds home
Source locally
An easy way to keep your carbon footprint down is by choosing products from local producers and only using local tradespeople.
Wendy Perring of PAD Studio explains how it worked for the owners of this New Forest home. “The owners were holistically environmentally conscious and sourced everything locally or nationally. The roof slate is from Wales, not China, for example, while the timber cladding is English and the render is lime.”
Check out more of this home in the heart of the forest
An easy way to keep your carbon footprint down is by choosing products from local producers and only using local tradespeople.
Wendy Perring of PAD Studio explains how it worked for the owners of this New Forest home. “The owners were holistically environmentally conscious and sourced everything locally or nationally. The roof slate is from Wales, not China, for example, while the timber cladding is English and the render is lime.”
Check out more of this home in the heart of the forest
Make concrete work sustainably
Concrete might not be the first choice for a sustainable building material, but in his eco house, Sam Cooper made sure this concrete post had environmentally friendly credentials.
The concrete contains a high amount of recycled material and was left exposed to provide thermal mass to help regulate the home’s temperature. The surface absorbs the heat, stores it and slowly releases it.
Concrete might not be the first choice for a sustainable building material, but in his eco house, Sam Cooper made sure this concrete post had environmentally friendly credentials.
The concrete contains a high amount of recycled material and was left exposed to provide thermal mass to help regulate the home’s temperature. The surface absorbs the heat, stores it and slowly releases it.
Fit solar panels
Most of us are aware of solar panels and how popular they are for providing sustainable energy, but Stuart Duncan explains how efficient they can actually be. His prefab, timber-clad house has solar panels connected directly to the water heater.
“All solar-generated electricity is used by the house,” he says. “The fridge and all other appliances have the first priority. If that demand is satisfied and there’s still excess, then the second priority is the immersion heater. Once that’s satisfied, the third is the towel radiators. Lastly, any excess goes back into the grid. If the house is empty all day, then nearly all the energy gets diverted.”
Most of us are aware of solar panels and how popular they are for providing sustainable energy, but Stuart Duncan explains how efficient they can actually be. His prefab, timber-clad house has solar panels connected directly to the water heater.
“All solar-generated electricity is used by the house,” he says. “The fridge and all other appliances have the first priority. If that demand is satisfied and there’s still excess, then the second priority is the immersion heater. Once that’s satisfied, the third is the towel radiators. Lastly, any excess goes back into the grid. If the house is empty all day, then nearly all the energy gets diverted.”
Plump for sustainable wood
When sourcing timber for your home, make sure it’s from a responsible source and hasn’t been illegally logged. Managed plantations help to conserve trees, and ensure the wildlife and landscape around them is respected.
Of his east London home, for example, architect James Wright says, “The floors throughout the house are sustainably sourced Douglas fir.”
When sourcing timber for your home, make sure it’s from a responsible source and hasn’t been illegally logged. Managed plantations help to conserve trees, and ensure the wildlife and landscape around them is respected.
Of his east London home, for example, architect James Wright says, “The floors throughout the house are sustainably sourced Douglas fir.”
Hunt out recycled options
When designing his prefab, Stuart Duncan thought carefully about the materials he would use inside. This kitchen worktop is made from recycled glass. The manufacturer, GlassEco, collects old bottles, crushes them up and mixes them with resin to make worktops.
When designing his prefab, Stuart Duncan thought carefully about the materials he would use inside. This kitchen worktop is made from recycled glass. The manufacturer, GlassEco, collects old bottles, crushes them up and mixes them with resin to make worktops.
Live in a smaller space
The more space you have, the more things you can put in it. That’s all great until you realise you’ve consumed a lot of things you didn’t actually need just to fill up the space. Chris and Malissa Tack decided to counter this by opting for small space living instead. “We believe small living promotes living within your means,” says Chris. “That can be a wonderful option for many people.”
The couple built themselves a tiny, eco-friendly cabin and consequently got rid of a lot of their possessions. “It wasn’t as difficult as we thought it would be,” Chris says. “There were books and magazines of mine that we’d moved to Michigan, to New York City and then across the country to Washington. It seemed quite silly, if you think about it.”
They kept their treasured items and essentials and gave the rest away to charity or sold it online.
See more of this cosy cabin
The more space you have, the more things you can put in it. That’s all great until you realise you’ve consumed a lot of things you didn’t actually need just to fill up the space. Chris and Malissa Tack decided to counter this by opting for small space living instead. “We believe small living promotes living within your means,” says Chris. “That can be a wonderful option for many people.”
The couple built themselves a tiny, eco-friendly cabin and consequently got rid of a lot of their possessions. “It wasn’t as difficult as we thought it would be,” Chris says. “There were books and magazines of mine that we’d moved to Michigan, to New York City and then across the country to Washington. It seemed quite silly, if you think about it.”
They kept their treasured items and essentials and gave the rest away to charity or sold it online.
See more of this cosy cabin
Opt for low-energy lighting
When Nicholas Tye of Nicolas Tye Architects chose the lighting for this Cheshire-based home, he was aiming for a usable system that consumed as little energy as possible. He opted for PIR motion-sensor lights, which only turn on when someone’s using the room.
To ensure the owners had extra control over the lighting, he used a Lutron control lighting system as well.
Visit this cedar-clad home in the trees
Have you picked up any good eco tips from our Houzz Tours? Or do you have some other advice to pass on? Share your ideas in the Comments below.
When Nicholas Tye of Nicolas Tye Architects chose the lighting for this Cheshire-based home, he was aiming for a usable system that consumed as little energy as possible. He opted for PIR motion-sensor lights, which only turn on when someone’s using the room.
To ensure the owners had extra control over the lighting, he used a Lutron control lighting system as well.
Visit this cedar-clad home in the trees
Have you picked up any good eco tips from our Houzz Tours? Or do you have some other advice to pass on? Share your ideas in the Comments below.
If you want your home to be really well insulated, you’ll need to give the windows some consideration. The most efficient option is triple glazing, which uses three panes of glass, rather than one or two.
However, in a listed building or conservation area, it isn’t always possible to fit such heavy glazing. In his Victorian house, architect James Wright of Macdonald Wright Architects adapted the original 1893 sash windows.
“The glass is old and so distorts the view through it. I like that effect and we couldn’t have replicated it with newer windows,” Wright explains. So he had each unit removed and reconstructed with new timber and ironmongery where necessary. By carrying out this process of draught stripping, he managed to improve the thermal performance of the windows.
Visit more of this Victorian home’s eco makeover