REBUILD VS RENOVATION

While renovating can be more sustainable than building new in terms of the quantity of materials and resources required, a new-build can be more energy-efficient in the long run. “In the end, you have too many compromises during renovation unless your renovation is a rebuild,” says Peter. “The great advantage of being able to do a new-build is that every step of the way you can be thinking, ‘Where is my house going to leak air?’, ‘What can I do to increase the thermal performance of the building?’ or ‘What can I do over and above the Building Code to get better performance?’. One thing we’ve done consistently in this build is to say, ‘Okay, we know what the minimum standard is – let’s go above that.’” •