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Living in a Green House
 Living a greener life has never been more fashionable. Organic foods have moved from the health-food shops to the supermarkets, and what was once considered ‘hippy’ has now become firmly mainstream. Bearing in mind that the house-building industry is one of the biggest polluters in Britain, the time is right to do something about the problem, and as Greg and Aled see in this edition of Y Tŷ Cymreig green thinking can go a long way to improve the situation.

Getting people to take action to ensure their houses are built more environmentally friendly is tricky because we don’t see the pollution that the production of materials like cement and plastic windows causes, and as they are the standard products that everyone buys it seems like it is acceptable to use them.

Greg says “If every new home in the UK was built to best practice standards, over 100,000 tonnes of CO2 each year could be saved and fuel bills reduced by around £12m. But it isn’t just a case of pumping in more insulation – house builders need to think through the environmental impact of their building from start to finish. Where do the materials come from; what damage was caused during their production; how will they be used in the end?”

This edition of Y Tŷ Cymreig takes a tour around five of the best examples of environmentally-friendly building, which hopefully will inspire you to see how you can improve your own home, or how to design your dream eco-house.


Cae Mabon
For those who want rustic simplicity there’s the example of Cae Mabon in Snowdonia, a collection of tiny eco-homes with more than a touch of hippie-styling. These buildings were constructed from locally-sourced organic materials, and were inspired by primitive building techniques.

New Development
At Clyne Castle in Swansea, a handful of modernist villas have been built by commercial developers according to environmentally-friendly building practices. They’re sited to take advantage of passive solar gain, they have flat sedum roofs and their timber frames are sourced from a sustainable managed woodland.

Cwm Einion
In Cwm Einion near Machynlleth there’s a barn conversion which has a wooden frame within the building which supports the roof. The water is heated by solar panels and there’s no need for a fridge as the pantry is placed outside the building’s insulation.

Green in the City
It’s also possible to build an eco-home in the city, as can be seen in this award-winning Cardiff home. Stylish and contemporary, it uses Wales’ own Glaster (glass plaster), has a heat recovery system, and produces enough electricity from its solar panels to send supply back to the National Grid.

Cenarth
In Cenarth, Criafolen Goch is 95% self-sufficient in its energy needs. Wind and water turbines produce power, solar panels heat the water, and the huge vegetable gardens provide almost all the food that they eat.

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