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 a 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 the new house is an indoor swimming pool. We wanted our home to be zero-energy while offering us all the comforts of modern living. The final house exceeds all expectation and even generates more energy than it uses, making us genuinely energy-positive.

We achieved this by carefully selecting our site and design. The plot, once part of our two-acre garden, with mature trees, posed planning challenges. Keeping the trees was essential to us. Using Baufritz’s modular building system, we were able to crane the house onto the site with minimal disturbance. Our architect, Ralf Pflugfelder from Baufritz, oriented the house southward with large windows to maximise solar gain, 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, accommodates a terrace with beautiful views. A substantial 22kW solar array feeds up to 16kW into the grid. 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 one without a pool, our new home uses just a quarter of the energy and returns about 20% more to the grid than it consumes. All in all, we are delighted to have an elegant, comfortable and genuinely planet-friendly home that is proof of what can be achieved with thoughtful green design.

FOLLOW THE COOPERS' BUILDING JOURNEY HERE