Build An Eco-friendly Garden Room
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If you want to make your garden room more comfortable, cheaper to run, more robust to future energy supply problems and kinder to your grandchildren, here are some environmentally considerate ways of achieving your aims.
- If you have enough space, orientate the garden room so that the largest windows face south.
- If you need ventilation, add a Velux roof window, not air-conditioning. When ypur garden room heats up in summer, open the Velux and the heat will leave the building!
- To reduce energy demand your garden room should be highly insulated and air tight. Make sure the heating is controlled by a programmable thermostat; make sure you’re not heating it too much when not in use, if you don’t work at weekends it can drop back to a frost stat.
- MOST important measure: don’t over-heat the office or garden room in winter. Assume you’ll wear a pullover in winter and set the thermostat to 18C maximum.
- Make sure the windows are the best you can afford – double or triple glazing made with high quality engineered timber and zero VOC microporous paint.
- Use paints and finishes that are made of natural materials and have zero emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The quality of indoor air is a huge factor in how comfortable you’ll be. Try paints by Auro or Farrow and Ball. Avoid synthetic carpets. . Avoid synthetic varnish (polyurethane) and choose water-based varnish made of natural materials – e.g. by Auro or many other suppliers.
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