8 minute read
HOW TO GO GREEN
Buying a country house increasingly comes with a desire for sustainable living
Words by Paul Miles
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“MANY MORE PEOPLE who live in country houses are striving to live more sustainably,” says Crispin Holborow at Savills Private Office. And, increasingly, clients turn to Savills natural capital services or Country House teams for advice on everything from improving biodiversity in their grounds to heating those historic houses in the most carbon-neutral way possible. “They usually come to us wellinformed,” says Holborow. “They know what they want to do, but they’re asking us, ‘How do we do it?’” This trend is true of many people who upped-sticks during the pandemic, and whose desire to do right by their rural surroundings is wrapped up in their search for a quieter pace of life or a view over fields from their home office. Holborow has also witnessed a change in attitudes among clients who have lived in the country all their lives. One example of this sea change is the walled garden – a staple of the domestic economy of the country house until the inter-war period, after which they were largely neglected. “The walls would usually be maintained,” he says, “because they were listed, but inside they’d be used as a football pitch at best, or perhaps for the chickens, while everyone bought their vegetables at the supermarket. Now most of the ones I see have raised beds again, as people are more aware of the health and ecological benefits of producing their own food. Keeping bees is another thing you see a lot of, which is good for biodiversity and also the health benefits of consuming locally produced honey.” However, if gardens and grounds can be transformed relatively easily, the country house itself can be a harder nut to crack, with “one of the biggest challenges being how to get homes off fossil fuels”, according to Chris Cummings, director of Savills Earth. What is possible varies considerably. If you’re building from scratch, you can strive to achieve that acme of eco-friendly living: the Passivhaus standard. But if you’re living in a listed stately home, it’s about the art of the possible – from moving away from that oil-powered boiler to ground-source heating or, an example Holborow cites, “having sedum roofs on the outbuildings, which might not be listed”.
THE PERFECT NEW-BUILD? The international Passivhaus standard is the fastest growing and most rigorous voluntary standard for energy efficiency. A home built to Passivhaus standard is so well designed and constructed that barely any “active heating” is needed, typically just one electric radiator in
Natural swimming ponds look beautiful, attract an array of wildlife and have the added benefit of flood mitigation
a four-bedroom house. This is possible thanks to highly efficient insulation, no unwanted draughts, no thermal bridges that conduct heat out of the building, a compact shape and a system of mechanical ventilation and heat recovery that provides excellent indoor air quality, as well as using waste heat from cooking, appliances and occupants to warm the home.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT MATERIALS If you are building new, the choice of materials requires careful consideration. The manufacture and transport of conventional materials such as concrete, steel and bricks creates a huge amount of carbon-dioxide emissions – their use should be minimised to create a home with a small carbon footprint. Instead, by choosing materials that have sequestered carbon during their manufacture, such as straw, timber or hemp, your new-build could be carbon negative. Engineered timber such as cross-laminated timber (CLT, also known as jumbo ply) is as strong as steel. Straw now comes in panels that are quick and easy to assemble, serving as both insulation and structure, while structural stone is an alternative to concrete, steel or brick, with as little as one-tenth of the carbon emissions.
REBUILD VERSUS RETROFIT Given the allure of living in a contemporary country home with perfect eco credentials, it might be tempting to knock down an existing building (if it’s not listed) and start again. But demolishing an older structure in order to build a new one will inflict a huge carbon footprint by wasting all the resources tied up in those bricks and mortar. The most environmentally sound approach, where possible, is to retrofit an existing property.
RETROFITTING AN HISTORIC HOME Even historic properties can be retrofitted to efficiency standards sufficient to ditch the gas- or oil-powered central heating system and rely on a small amount of low-energy electric heating. In what’s known as an EnerPhit (energy retrofit with Passivhaus components), windows and doors are triple-glazed and made airtight against unwanted draughts; and fireplaces are sealed up, not only to prevent draughts, but because they are no longer needed. If you want a real fire, you could install a wood burner that mostly heats water – otherwise, you will be overheating your newly refurbished, warm and toasty home. Heating might come from all-electric ground-source heat pumps or a water-source heat pump that uses the heat energy of a lake or pond in your grounds.
SOMETHING IN THE AIR “Old buildings need to breathe,” is a frequent response to the suggestion of making old country houses airtight. This is a common misunderstanding. A building can be airtight and still able to breathe. Breathability is about moisture – you do not need howling draughts through rattling windows. What you do need are natural materials that are vapour-permeable – the kind of materials from which most old houses are constructed. Wood fibre, rammed earth, straw and lime plaster are all able to moderate moisture that could otherwise rot timbers; modern plastic membranes and the like should be avoided. Instead, ancient brickwork needs to be made airtight but breathable, and insulation installed while thermal bridges are eliminated and a system of ducts is introduced to ventilate the home. Clearly, this isn’t a quick fix, and while it is possible to do the work while you remain in the property, it may be more convenient to relocate for a few months.
From left: this walled garden has been returned to its former productive glory by the Land Gardeners; a well-managed woodland, rather than one left wild, is generally better for wildlife; the Flat House, a zero-carbon new-build in Cambridgeshire, is made from natural materials, mostly hemp grown in the surrounding fields
LISTED AND GREEN “Old buildings have got to stay old buildings,” says Savills conservation architect Andy McRoyall, who believes there is sometimes a clash between the aesthetics of conservation and the practicalities of sustainability. However, although there are not yet many examples, a deep retrofit of a listed property is perfectly possible. There are several straightforward measures you can take to reduce heating bills and energy use, even if your home’s listed status stands in the way of structural changes. Unwanted draughts are the easiest: brush seals can be fitted around doors and windows, while heavy curtains dramatically reduce draughts from old windows and are an appropriate intervention in an historic home. Chimneys that aren’t in use can be sealed up, or temporarily blocked if used occasionally. Loft spaces and below-floors should be insulated. In other words, this is about working out what is possible and managing change. As McRoyall puts it, “A key thing to appreciate about historic properties is that they have a stable internal environment. Change things and you can cause shrinkage, cracking in the ceilings and so on.”
GREEN PASTURES Rather than pristine, manicured lawns around your country home, consider a wildflower garden. Insects, invertebrates and birds really need a wilder mix of vegetation. A pond or lake is a good start, as it creates a wildlife habitat, with flood mitigation an added benefit. A wild swimming pool edged with bulrushes will look beautiful, as well as attracting dragonflies, newts and frogs. Birds of prey and kingfishers will then follow. What’s more, flood mitigation and biodiversity plans are crucial for gaining planning permission for new-builds. There is much talk these days of rewilding, but counterintuitively, if you have a woodland area, then managing it, rather than leaving it unmanaged, is better for wildlife. This mimics the activities of long-absent species such as bison, creating open glades (good for butterflies), areas of young saplings, mature trees and dead wood. Felled trees can be left to rot, encouraging beetles and other bugs.
REGENERATIVE GARDENING There’s nothing more rewarding than growing your own fruit and veg – everything tastes better when freshly picked, and food miles are eliminated. But if you’re spraying chemicals, depleting the soil’s fertility and using lots of water, the local environment will suffer. The best way to grow your own food is to practise “regenerative gardening”, which will enhance the quality of the soil and restore its microbiome. If you usually use a rotavator to plough your vegetable plot, it’s time to retire that bit of machinery. Allowing pigs to roam some of your land can be extraordinarily beneficial. Soil quality is vastly improved by not tilling. Instead, you need to be adding as much organic matter – such as peat-free compost and well-rotted manure – as possible. Use mulch to reduce water loss and keep down weeds. And use companion planting, instead of pesticides, to protect crops from pests and encourage pollinators. After a few years, the soil health will improve dramatically and so will the yield and flavour of your crops. It’s the kind of virtuous circle that today is increasingly sought by the owners of country homes, old and new.
