Green Home Improvement Tip No.1

Six years ago we bought a run down Victorian 'villa' off a bunch of students and set about turning it into a beautiful and green home. It is now liveable in and we're currently planning phase 2, exciting stuff like a wood burning stove, solar hot water etc.

In the meantime, I will post experiences from phase 1, starting with:

Tip No 1. Get a sympathetic builder

This is the most important thing you can do. Good builders are like hens teeth and they're not renowned as environmentalists. We were v. lucky as our builder was very good and a friend of the family and could be persuaded to stray from white-uPVC conformity and take the odd risk with 'non conventional' materials. His brickie mate on the other hand hated working with recycled bricks as they're less regular in shape and take longer to lay.

Of course if you are stuck you can always do it yourself...