Convert to a Luxury Eco House

By James Aug. 7th, 2012

The Finished Luxury Eco Home

Since the turn of the Millennium the trend of designer house interiors is to blend contemporary design with vintage furnishings. Given the tragic state of the current housing market in the UK, this trend may be applied to the exterior as well – or rather the entire building. Conversions have the potential to be the next “big thing” in the property market and by building a eco-house you will do you bit for the environment as well.

The conversion of old buildings is not a new concept. Barns, windmills and farmhouses have all seen a makeover in their time and developed an old decaying building into a modern home that sells for hundreds of thousands in the current climate. Property developers may even want to think about buying up disused warehouses for knocked down prices and developing luxury apartments.

Energy-Saving Luxury Homes

Building a new home from a building that would otherwise be rendered useless brings its own rewards; not just in design concepts, but with energy saving measures as well. Not only can you stamp your personality on the design of your home, but you can also give it your own carbon footprint.

New buildings are all required to adhere to environmentally-friendly measure that will reduce carbon taxes. It´s not just a matter of turning the running water off whilst you clean your teeth and buying energy-saving light bulbs, there are much more ingenious methods you can do to conserve energy with a build-it-yourself converted building.

You can start by using the elements. Harness the power of the sun in solar hot water panels and photovoltaic cells, use wind power turbines to create electricity and rain harvesting systems to water your garden.

Plan your conversion carefully

Before you go rushing headlong into converting an old building into your dream luxury home consider what house you really want to live in. Conversions are hard work and when you are investing emotion as well as finances you don´t want to be disappointed with the end result.

What you need to think of before even entertaining the idea of building an eco-home is the condition of the building in the first place. Historic buildings and barns are not going to be in the best of conditions in terms of foundations and cleanliness. There will be dust and possibly even left-behind rubbish to clear out first.

Then you need to consider the layout based on the amount of floor space and the height of the walls. Low ceilings may restrict your ability to build a second floor, width and length may restrict your hopes of a separate dining room, kitchen and living room. The forward thinking details such as ´where would you prefer to eat´ are more important than the colour of your walls. Something you can change!

The collapse of the economy may mean that the corporate world is biting its nails, but on the other hand it has presented creative’s with an opportunity to build a dream home at plan for the future with a clear conscience of protecting the planet.