Carbon Neutral House in Shetlands

The UK Times Online has done a story on a couple who live on the Shetland Islands who live a carbon neutral lifestyle. Their house has a zero-carbon footprint and the couple who live in it do so “off grid”.

The house has double glazed windows filled with argon gas. The insulation in the house is 140mm of expanded foam. Power is supplied by a 2.5kW wind turbine. The house is so well sealed that little cold and moisture get in while no heat escapes.

The house uses a fuel cell and under flooring heating is created by an air-to-water heat pump. Heat recovery is used to recapture 90 per cent of the heat generated within it helping to provide constant warm indoor temperatures.

Contrary to the belief of many that it would cost an inordinate sum of money to maintain a house like this, the cost of the four bedroom cottage was around £210,000.

Apart from the fuell cell to heat the water tank, all the other items that go into making this house such a brilliant carbon footprint defeater are available off the shelf.

Owing to the size of the carbon footprint that is produced by such a house, this project taking place on the Shetland Islands is generating quite a bit of interest around the world.