Sustainable living without compromise

The Coopers talk about their sustainable self-build project in Henley-on-Thames 

We have always been passionate about environmental issues, which inspired us to push the limits with our new home. Our previous house was conventional 1990s high-end construction and while we improved its insulation and efficiency, there were limits to how green it could become. With the opportunity to build from scratch, our ambition was to create a home that delivers both luxury and exemplary eco-credentials.

A key feature of our new house is an indoor swimming pool, but rather than increasing our energy consumption, we set out to make our home zero-energy, or more accurately, energy positive. Despite enjoying all the comforts of modern living, including a well-ventilated and warm space, the house is designed to generate more energy than we use annually, making us genuinely energy-positive.

We achieved this by carefully selecting our site and design. The plot, once part of our two-acre garden, and full of mature trees, posed planning challenges, but keeping the trees was essential to us. Using Baufritz modular build system, we were able to crane the house onto the site with minimal disturbance. Our architect, Ralf Pflugfelder from Baufritz oriented the house southward, maximising solar gain with large windows and integral automated blinds to prevent overheating.

The house features visual axes from east to west and north to south, allowing sunlight to fill the interiors. The flat roof, reminiscent of a modernist treehouse, hosts a terrace with beautiful views. A substantial 22kW solar array feeds up to 16kW into the grid, and, instead of batteries, we employ smart automation to manage our energy use. Air source heat pumps and HVAC systems recover heat from the pool, further boosting efficiency.

Compared to a standard house even without a pool, our new home uses just a quarter of the energy and returns about 20% more to the grid than it consumes. The result is an elegant, comfortable, and genuinely planet-friendly home, demonstrating what is possible with thoughtful green design.

FOLLOW THE COOPERS' BUILDING JOURNEY HERE