Elbow grease and expertise - Richmond Homes gives CHAS fundraising office a facelift

Last month we received a DIY SOS from the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland’s fundraising office in Kinross. Their front garden and office entrance was on its last legs and needed one big makeover.

Never one to turn down a challenge, Bill Bonnar, our Construction Manager, surveyed the damage and set a four-day target to get the job done, organizing machinery and enlisting an army of skilled labour made up of Richmond Homes colleagues and local business associates.

With news of blizzards and artic conditions on the way, the undeterred construction team got cracking. Everyone had a clear role - we were in charge of coordinating and supplying the labour and machinery to create the new garden, front fence and rebuilding of the wall at the entrance of the building to give wider access. Bill approached Purvis Plant Hire at Lochgelly to supply the machinery for the work, to which they kindly agreed and Realm Construction, who are part of the Purvis Group, provided the manpower to create the mono-block design of the project. Fife based Beatsons Building Supplies, long-term supporters of CHAS, provided the stylish design and the materials along with Long Rake Spar, Kilsarn Paving, Pattersons of Greenoakhill Limited and Hanson Cement. Scotwaste supplied a skip for removal spoil that had to go off site, and Scotloo loaned a very handy and much needed portable toilet. Finally, Bill also contacted Scott and Simpson Painters in Glenrothes to re-paint the front of the building.

Richmond Homes first got on board with CHAS back in 2012 when we visited their hospice, Rachel House at Kinross. It’s a truly inspiring place and a vital resource for children and teenagers with life-shortening illnesses and their families who need much care and support. Children’s Hospice Association Scotland is the only charity in Scotland that provides hospice services for children and young people with these conditions. Their office on the High Street in Kinross does much valuable work to raise funds for the charity to support over 300 families across their two hospices at Kinross and Balloch, as well as their homecare service.

A whole lot of elbow grease and expertise later, Bill and the team hit their target of completing the job in four days. The end result is one happy fundraising office with a streamlined, tidy and professional looking front garden entrance. It’s now much easier to get into their office with offers of funds and support for their very important work – what’s stopping you?

Further evidence on the energy efficiency of new-build homes.

Everyone agrees that new-build homes are more energy efficient, but what does this actually mean in terms of saving money on energy bills?

 

Following its UK-wide research project into consumer attitudes towards zero carbon homes, the NHBC Foundation has worked with the Zero Carbon Hub to chart the energy savings that could potentially be achieved by living in different types of energy efficient new homes.  The research found that energy efficient homes could cut annual bills in half.

 

• New homes built to current regulations could cost 55% less to run than typical 'upgraded' Victorian homes
• Homes built from 2016 could save even more and be 79% cheaper to run

Luxury living does not have to cost the earth

A new demonstration house that showcases state-of-the-art energy efficiency and recycling has been built on the BRE Innovation Park at Ravenscraig in Lanarkshire. The three-bedroom house is one of the first projects of the Scottish government’s Resource Efficient Scotland programme, managed by Zero Waste Scotland, and built in partnership with Tigh Grian.

Richmond Homes wins a coveted Herald Property Award 2013 for 'Best Family Home'

We’re delighted to be the recipients of a Herald Property Award 2013 for our bespoke family home at St Andrews in East Fife. The five-bedroom house named ‘Auld Lang Syne’ won ‘Best Family Home’ with the judges describing it as “a beautifully spacious and unique property set in a fantastic location”.

A Return To Traditional Building Materials and the Eco-Revolution

A report this month by a Washington based market research consultancy predicts that the global market for green construction materials will more than double by the year 2020. Navigant Research provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. Their latest study points to a buoyant green buildings market that, despite the recession and general worldwide property downturn of the last few years, remains strong.

Offering a blueprint for zero carbon luxury homes

In the growing drive to conserve and protect our environment, many clients looking to buy a new luxury home are also interested in sustainability and eco-friendly design solutions.  Building a green home not only reduces impact to the local and larger environment but can also be cost effective with energy savings for the home owner.

The range of eco-energy solutions on the market however can be mind-boggling for the customer – from solar thermal and photovoltaic panels, to biomass wood pellet boilers, state of the art insulation options, rainwater harvesters and ground source heat pumps.  In the same way, for the construction industry, there is much to take on board when building a luxury eco-home, in terms of how these technologies work together to enhance the quality of the home, create a luxurious environment and reduce carbon footprint.

A recent guide from the NHBC Foundation called ‘Designing Houses for the 21^st Century - Lessons for Low Energy Design’ calls for a complete review of housing design and construction practise in order to achieve zero carbon homes.  This guide argues that too many houses are being built with green solutions “bolted on” later on down the construction process so that new eco-technology is not being given a chance to perform at the highest possible level.

This NHBC guide advocates a “fabric first” approach, where the insulation, air tightness and ventilation are considered at the very start of the process and thus designed to give optimal performance before any other green energy solutions are incorporated. The result is an eco home thoughtfully designed with the passive aspects of the house, such as the external walls and insulation, working in an effective partnership with the active systems like ventilation and heating.

At Richmond Homes we’ve been following this holistic approach for sometime in designing and constructing luxury green homes. Each new project is regarded as a whole with careful thought given to every stage of construction and design, working closely with clients to ensure their needs are understood and transformed into ecological solutions for everyday living.

We work with a very talented and reputable firm who produce sustainable eco-timber frames for our luxury houses, Rob Roy Homes. Their timber frames have excellent performance credentials and combined with their ULTRAwarm thermal and acoustic performance insulation, produce a home that has efficiently controlled internal temperatures, noise control and improved air quality. With these essential factors in place, the home is a blank canvas for a number of low carbon technological solutions to maximise reduced impact on the environment and energy costs for the home owner.

Find out more about eco live in luxury at our website

Inspiring future builders at Townhill Primary School

We were delighted to receive some beautifully written thank you letters from the children at Townhill Primary School after our visit in March.

It seems that Bill Bonnar, our Construction Manager’s talk on building eco-houses was a big hit, with many of the children now wanting to be builders when they grow up! Their letters, all hand written and well thought out, expressed interest in green issues and the dangers of being on a building site so they must have been listening well when Bill was explaining about constructing houses.

From Emily “Thank you for coming to us and we loved the answers. I never knew that there was two kinds of solar panels. I learned a lot about houses and homes. We made a garden or a house out of a shoe-box. Did you like some of our questions?”

 “Thank you for your answers Mr Bonnar, thank you for telling us all about building houses. I was interested to hear about the machines that are used. We went around the village to look for different kinds of houses.” Adds Rhynan.

The children were so interested in the ecological aspects of building homes as well as the technology involved, Bill was astonished by how much they knew already about what goes in to building a sustainable home.

They also enjoyed being celebrities after two write-ups and photographs featured in the local press.

Good luck to this new generation of house builders from everyone at Richmond Homes.  Here’s a last word from Ryan:

“Thank you for coming to talk to us. I know not to go on a building site until it is finished. I wonder what it would be like to be a builder. When I grow up I want to be a builder.”