Presenter of Grand Designs goes live
McCloud hosting event which aims to inspire and inform about eco-friendly homes
They say charity starts at home – and in many ways, so too do our efforts to live more planetfriendly lifestyles. This year’s Grand Designs Live, which returns to Excel London tomorrow, will feature a new Green Living Live area, which will highlight latest innovations in things like insulation, sustainable materials and energy-saving technology.
They’ll also be showcasing a lowcarbon home – created with energysaving in mind – to inspire and inform consumers about the future of eco-friendly home design.
‘It’s got good insulation in its bones,’ says TV’s Kevin McCloud, who’ll again be hosting the event.
‘So it doesn’t leak heat and therefore it consumes less.’
Insulate and ventilate
For McCloud – known for his passion for eco-builds – good insulation and ventilation are both important and ideally go hand-in-hand.
‘This means double secondary glazing, extra insulation in the loft, more insulation in the walls, if you can get it,’ he says.
‘Insulation under a suspended timber floor, over a cellar, draft proofing, and all the time making sure the air changes are good, the air quality isn’t being compromised, and you’re avoiding condensation.
‘All of this is actually very easy to do in a new home, it’s slightly harder in an older home.’
Recycling heat
Having a recycling bin in your kitchen, and looking at ways to reuse materials before chucking them out is one thing. But what about recycling and reusing heat?
It’s something that’s increasingly being looked at – on a bigger scale, as well as via smaller home technologies, such as heat exchanger/recovery fans for kitchens and bathrooms.
‘For example at the exhibition, we have a number of technologies designed to extract waste heat from the home, which is mechanical ventilation and a heat recovery system,’ says McCloud.
Next level tech
When it comes to home tech, McCloud says one of the newer options is a monitor that tells you about the the condition of your home’s air quality – such as the Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor (£52.99, Amazon).
‘It tells you what the nitrous oxide level is, or the carbon monoxide level, it tells you to open a window and explains why you might have a headache,’ says McCloud.
In fact, consumers have more options than ever to engage with home tech via apps – lighting is another example.
Energy efficient household appliances
The Energy Saving Trust, which will be offering tips and advice at Grand Designs Live, suggests looking out for the energy label when buying new household appliances.
Appliances are tested for how much energy they use (during typical use) and given a rating on a scale of A to G – with A being the most efficient product in its class, and G the least efficient. Some appliances use an older scale, from A+++ to G.
Designs are evolving too in a bid to create appliances that are more energy efficient than their predecessors – such as instant hot water taps.
Grand Designs Live returns to Excel London from April 30 – May 8.