List of homes and gardens--Dates of open days--Location map--Products, builders and suppliers--Our sponsors--More on eco-renovation--Introduction

Summary

Anthony Lamb wanted to build his own home, because he was so unimpressed with developers’ efforts: ‘In recent years I have become more concerned about the environmental impact we humans are having on the environment and so want to build a house which has as small a footprint (carbon and resource usage) on the land as possible’.

It took well over a year to find a suitable site, but Anthony eventually found a South-facing plot, well above flood level. There was a battle to get planning permission for an environmentally sustainable house instead of ‘the 19th century pastiche’ required by Sedgemoor Council, but it was eventually granted.

The house will be built to near PassivHaus standards, which means that it is so well insulated and airtight that the house should not need any heat other than body heat and the that given off by appliances. If funds become available, Anthony hopes to have photovoltaic solar panels fitted on the roof.

As the house is not yet complete, visitors may be asked to wear hard hats.

Green features in place or planned

• Frame built with locally sourced Douglas Fir
• Straw bale walls rendered with lime
• Internal walls plastered using clay from the site
• 200 mm of Ecotherm insulation under the floor
• Warmcell in the roof
• Plinth wall contructed of stones from the previous house, with the inner leaf of Foamglas (a product made from recycled glass, which is good insulation and very strong structurally)
• Solar thermal panels for hot water
• Pantiles on the roof are recycled from the house that stood on the site originally
• Log-burning stove for augmenting the solar in the winter, and the passive solar heating
• Heat recovery ventilation system, for conserving heat in the house
• Biodigester for treating waste water
• Rainwater harvesting for supply of water to washing machine and downstairs loo
• Envirolet compost toilet upstairs
• Low energy lighting

Green features outside

• Small area of woodland with apple trees, walnut, damson and other trees
• Plans to grow organic fruit and vegetables, and keep poultry

Energy use

Figures not available yet

Suppliers recommended’ section with the following

Anthony Lamb recommends 02i Design Consultants, which helped gain planning permission for Daisy Farm.

To find out more

For more information about Daisy Farm, see the journal of its build on the Wedmore Green Group’s site www.wedmoregreengroup.co.uk. Anthony Lamb can be emailed at anthonylamb@bigfoot.com

Directions

The best way to approach the property is by parking at the Panborough Inn, and using the public footpath along with ridge to get to the farm, which is a 10 minute walk. The Panborough Inn is on the B3139, a 10 minute drive from Wells. There is very limited parking at the house itself. There is a bus running between Wells and Wedmore, and Daisy Farm is a short walk from Theale

See the calendar for open days and times