Britain's most advanced ecological house

Most people’s perception of an eco-friendly home conjures up images of wind turbines, grass roofs, and compost toilets. But Paul Lavelle has proved you can design and build a low energy luxurious home by using some very simple yet ingenious eco principals. Barnsley Hill Farm, a restored dairy farm, has had a £2m (2 million pounds sterling) makeover which includes a spa, cinema, and seven bedrooms so it is no ‘hobbit house’ but with its unique design it is expected to use just 10% of the energy required to run a conventional home. The most important aspect of the design of Barnsley Hill is that it is completely airtight. The walls and roof are sealed by a polyurethane membrane, so no air can escape and as a consequence, this dramatically controls heat loss. Some would argue this is the most controversial part of this design but Paul has resolved the issue to stale air by operating a sophisticated ventilation system throughout the house that allows a controlled amount of filtered fresh air to be brought into the house and taken out again every two hours. Ingeniously the design enables the stale air leaving the house to heat the fresh air as it enters; there is no contamination as the fresh air is channelled through an adjacent yet separate part of the device, whilst in summer the use of a bypass system ensures the incoming air is not heated. Other key design features include the underfloor and wall heating which is powered by solar panels. Heat captured in the 20 panels is stored in rocks in the ground and then distributed to the living space and swimming pool when required. Surplus heat is even taken out of the house in summer and stored in the rocks for the winter, providing for year-round energy supply. In addition, other eco components include a water recycling system, where water from roofs is harvested and stored and then delivered to toilets, washing machines and outside taps; and a sewage treatment plant which converts sewage into purified water. Paul believes there is nothing else like his design on the market​ but insists the energy-saving principles could be applied to any house. By implementing these simple principals he wants to show how easy it is to build amazing houses that are a joy to live in but can combine low cost and low energy.