Log cabin home

[Mark Bolam]

Just crack on and build it Dean. If the planners say owt, just say you have Romany blood.

 

[RichardT]

We got pp on the basis of agricultural necessity - ie the house was tied to the establishment of a livestock business, and visible investment in the latter was required before the house build could start. (As it happens we didn't have the cash to build until we'd spent 2 winters in a static on site anyway, so it made no practical difference to the timing.) At least one other poster here is working through the same process, and another got pp and is building on the basis specifically of wood-based business activity on and around the site. So it can be done, but planners are certainly wise to development scams (build for business need, ditch the business immediately, flog the nice country house at a fat profit) and at the very least tend to write S75 type agreements into the pp.

 

Structure-wise, we though about solid log construction but for various reasons, speed among them, ended up using a SIPS system clad with larch. I'm sure they'd have equally happy with a log build .

 

As you can see it's mounted on springs for comfort:

 

[Dean Lofthouse]

I,m going to be perfectly honest and open with planning and going to see them beforehand and im not going for approval via some loophole.

 

Eventually I want three cabins on site, but will only apply for two to start, all heated from a single boiler run from arb arisings from the business next door, ie, my woodchip and logs, each building will also have solar panels and an electric heater backup and will be as near carbon neutral as they can possibly be.

 

I also intend to apply for a 10kw turbine on site, being that the buildings will be virtually carbon neutral, 90% of the energy produced will be pumped into the national grid and hopefully the purchase cost will be paid back in as little as two year.

 

In effect the buildings will have a huge minus carbon rating, I don't see how I can tick any more boxes for planning approval

Edited May 13, 2012 by Dean Lofthouse

[Peter]

Wish you the best of luck Dean, and I believe that if you own a piece of land you should have the right to build a house on it and live in it. Sadly the planning system is in place to prevent the countryside becoming littered with common peoples houses, and keep everyone penned up in suburbia.

[PhilBeech]

Guy I work with - http://www.wildfurniture.co.uk

 

Very talented!

[Peter]

linky no worky

[Big J]

I,m going to be perfectly honest and open with planning and going to see them beforehand and im not going for approval via some loophole.

 

Eventually I want three cabins on site, but will only apply for two to start, all heated from a single boiler run from arb arisings from the business next door, ie, my woodchip and logs, each building will also have solar panels and an electric heater backup and will be as near carbon neutral as they can possibly be.

 

I also intend to apply for a 10kw turbine on site, being that the buildings will be virtually carbon neutral, 90% of the energy produced will be pumped into the national grid and hopefully the purchase cost will be paid back in as little as two year.

 

In effect the buildings will have a huge minus carbon rating, I don't see how I can tick any more boxes for planning approval

 

Dean, rather than looking at the construction of your house from the point of view of environmental energy creation, why not approach it from the point of view of energy conservation?

 

For the most part, there is little need for heating in a very well insulated building. Passive house specification limits the heating to 15kwh per square metre per year and there are thousands of passive spec houses on the continent and an increasing number here in the UK.

 

My wife specialises in sustainable architecture, and through 30 years of research, it is the opinion of the practice for whom she works that the most effective way to reduce the enviromental impact of a building is energy conservation. Small scale energy production (PVs, wind turbines etc) are rarely self sustaining (financially) and are heavily reliant on government grant subsidy.

 

Focus on insulation, air tightness, quality of materials (in terms of their embodied environmental impact and their effect on your indoor air quality) and quality of design and you'll most likely end up with a cracking house. Don't fall into the trap of splashing out on 'eco bling' (amusing term for products that are generally perceived to be environmentally friendly, but in actual fact aren't, like ground source heat pumps for example).

 

Most importantly, get an architect! Too much is built in this country without any proper archtitectural imput

[Dean Lofthouse]

I am only looking into basic stuff at the moment J . I am going to employ an architect and throw all my ideas at them and let them work out what is good and what is bad. One thing I really want to incorporate is that heat recovery ventilation stuff and the central boiler using arb waste idea.

I had a look at the passive stuff at the grand designs show last week but that is really hard to get your head round, they said even the heat from a laptop can add to the temperature ??

[RobArb]

how was the grand designs expo/show thingy dean?

 

As good as the programs, and did you get to talk to kev:biggrin:?

[Justme]

I am going to employ an architect and throw all my ideas at them and let them work out what is good and what is bad.

 

Have you never watched Grand Designs? The architects get it wrong all the time. Make sure you check what is really good & what is bling.