You are here: I want to be eco conscious for my home extension - how do I convince my builder?

You might be onboard for building a green eco extension, but is your builder?
The heat wave of 2019 focused the mind of many environmentally conscious homeowners who know they need to make their buildings more energy efficient.

Eco-conscious extension
Eco-conscious extension

If you are planning a home extension, this is a great time to consider how you can reduce your carbon emissions, not just by using sustainable materials but also in your extension design, embracing new green technology to live more efficiently.

While finding a builder that shares your vision is important, finding one that has the knowhow and experience to carry through an eco-conscious build is trickier. For many builders there is still the fear of the unknown about how to create low-energy buildings. What is the best way to source newer, eco materials, estimate costs and hit eco targets?

Numerous eco-friendly building materials have emerged in the marketplace but identifying which ones are best suited for your extension or needs is not so clear cut. Do you want locally sourced materials or a material that didn’t require any fossil fuels to extract it? Which type of insulation is best suited for the climate it will be used in – what works better in a humid dry climate might not be so great in the wet and damp. The options seem infinite and a minefield for a builder starting out on an eco-build for the first time. For that reason, any estimated quotes might be higher than expected if your builder is using different materials and new suppliers for the first time. You will have to convince your builder of the benefits to the environment for using more sustainable materials and highlight that demand for eco-conscious extensions is a growing market. 72 per cent of British adults are now ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ concerned about the impacts of climate change.

If your builder doesn’t have a flexible can-do attitude and a genuine interest in the issues that are important to you, then it might be best to find someone who does.

The SuperHomes network and the AECB (Association of Environment Conscious Builders) both have directories of builders with experience of sustainable building practices. The SuperHomes My Green Builder directory contains details of energy saving pioneers who have achieved a 60+ per cent reduction in carbon emissions for retrofit renovations and builds, while the AECB is a network of green-minded businesses and individuals in the construction sector who apply and share methodology, training and research to promote green building best practice. 

They use the Passivhaus methodology, a leading international low-energy design standard, developed in Germany, which leans towards delivering 0% carbon builds. Draught free, super insulated, summer shading and lower energy bills are just some of the benefits of the Passivhaus standard.

Convincing your builder of these benefits shouldn’t be too difficult but it is a good idea to get your builder involved in the eco-friendly design process from the start. This way they can add their experience and help with any early negotiations in the budgeting and problem solving of a project.