This new house in Perthshire was designed to test how green a house
can be built within the constraints of low cost housing. Favouring
natural local materials over complicated design or sophisticated equipment,
a high standard of construction was achieved with low environmental
impact.
The house was designed to create a healthy indoor environment, with
known asthma and allergy triggers avoided through the passive regulation
of relative humidity. The house is also very thermally efficient and
makes good use of natural daylight to reduce electrical demand.
The inner walls are built of earth masonry and finished with natural
clay plasters in an innovative approach that was monitored as part
of a 3-year DTI sponsored research
programme.