Prince Charles is doing more than thinking about the upcoming wedding of his royal son; he's also making a strong push for eco-friendly housing that is attractive without screaming "Upcycled! Reclaimed! Repurposed!"
A bit of background on these floor plans, developed by The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment :
The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment has a five year partnership with MediaTen to work together at the Ideal Home Show. This is the second year, and this year we are building the Prince’s House at the Ideal Homes Show. The Prince’s House is a "version" of our Natural House, which is under construction at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in Watford. The Natural House seeks to achieve a high level of sustainability using only natural materials and methods. With HRH’s involvement, for the first time since 1935 a 'royal' house will be built at the Ideal Home Show.
Although price point hasn't been mentioned, the furnishings inside this eco-friendly house model (stationed to blend in with the suburbs) has pretty great looks. The homes have 7 points they adhere to for each build.
1. We believe in natural materials because they have a low carbon footprint, are durable and simple to repair, and are long lasting.
2. We believe in adaptable and replicable homes because solutions must be in order to effectively meet future efficiency requirements.
3. We believe in beauty and craft because if a building cannot be loved, it is more likely to be demolished within a relatively short span, and connecting people to craft connects back to traditions and cultures.
Check out the full list here and more photos from the home at UK Ideal Homes Show.
(Image: UK Ideal Homes Show)
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House(S) = not ecofriendly. How can more than one home = ecofriendly????
@Heidi the Architect, they're not his personal homes. Rather, they're floor plans developed by The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment for the Ideal Home Show in London.
Very cool - I hadn't known that Prince Charles has long been a proponent for the environment. Glad someone in that camp has their eyes open. Good for him, hope he does more. Nice house too.
He has built a whole village in Dorset - I drove around it years ago, can't remember the name...
I agree with Heidi - unless I'm misunderstanding, these plans are to build brand new homes? That can never be more eco-friendly than simply altering the homes already in existance.
I do appreciate the emphasis on not screaming how eco-friendly we are. Between companies bragging that they're "green" to baseball teams screaching that they're donating some percent to breast cancer research, I'm sick of it all. Do something good, then stfu.
The prestige of HRH's imprint gives this project a much higher profile, so more people know about it. The house is for an Ideal Home Show, which, most likely, is meant to educate the industry and the public at large about greener techniques. This house will draw a lot of interest, which equals lots more people learning all about many many wonderful green materials and techniques that they will want to implement in their existing home remodels so that they can say to their friends: "See? Just like Prince Charles!"
This is a good thing.
"these plans are to build brand new homes? That can never be more eco-friendly than simply altering the homes already in existance"
Actually it can. In many cases building a new eco-friendly building is a more ecological option that retrofitting an old building to the same standards.
The town mentioned by Tricia Rose is Poundbury (http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/designanddevelopment_poundbury.htm).
@idontdobeige Thanks for the link, but I disagree just a bit.
The fact that it's to the same standards does not mean that the overall impact is lessened. You have to factor in several aspects:
1. If we ditched all our houses instead of retrofitting them, think of the waste created.
2. How many natural resources does the new hosue use, as opposed to the retrofitting?
3. The old house is already standing; the new house is most likely going to take up natural land that could be forested.
There are two problems with the retro-fit argument:
1. Having lived in the UK, many people do not find the older homes as desirable as people here in the US do. I kind of get it - in England, old is not novel it's how everything just is; people WANT new builds, people want open designs and big kitchens. You may be able to retro-fit plumbing systems etc but you can't get around that many older homes have small rooms, high ceilings, and water closets instead of modern bathrooms with little space left to navigate. That's not what the market wants. Owning a home is a huge status symbol and an older home does always have the same status.
2. The UK does not have the same housing cycle dynamic that US does since many homes are row houses and other kinds of multi-family housing. Weather it's green or not, people are wanting to move to single family units and there is a market need for more of these kinds of homes. It is better to have the homes be somewhat sustainable than not.
@Emmi - I omitted a longer response in my original post, but new-builds can be more ecological not just in terms of insulation and energy usage but also in terms of higher density and better planning that results in mixed business/residential developments requiring less commuting as well as more walkable developments, better public transport and more community centered services and amenities.
Good new-build housing can be much more ecological in this sense.
@idontdobeige I certainly agree that new homes *can* be more ecologically friendly, I just want to make sure we don't ever *assume* that they always are. Which is what many people do when posts like these pop up.
Here are the situations in which new homes are more eco-friendly:
1. If the old house is knocked down and the new home is put in its place. This is crucial. If we're deforesting or destroying open land / soil or ruining wildlife corridors for a new home, no amount of energy savings will make it eco-friendly.
2. If, as you say, it's in a city. But again, increased development kills soil permanently and it's a myth that city living is more eco-friendly. It's a mixed bag at best.
3. If the resources used are sustainable (for example, reclaimed wood, not just FSC).
In each case, we must do what you and I are doing here: discuss the details. I fear people just assume very fast that something is Green just because that label is slapped on it. We must analyze and be thoughtul, which I think we are. :)