Eco Retreat
There is now affordable technology that is capable of creating "off the grid" houses. After leaving the RCA I was asked to design one such retreat within a coastal plot in Waterford, Ireland.
One of the things we found is the house could be more ecological if it was connected to the national grid. Through a connection it allowed for the electricity generating parts of the building (such as photo-voltaic cells and wind turbines) to sell the electricity back to the grid rather than having to store it onsite in ecologically problematic batteries. The heating, construction and waste sides of the project used various ecological technologies. Unfortunately the project did not go ahead due to planning problems.
