# Transcript

NARRATOR
This three-bedroom terraced house on an Oxford estate was built in 1982 and doesn't look much different from its neighbours. But it's had an eco-renovation makeover, although many of the changes are hidden.
MARK LUNTLEY
What fuel is used for heating the house?
ALICE BRANDER
That would be mains gas.
MARK LUNTLEY
Click on mains gas.
NARRATOR
Mark Luntley and Alice Brander started renovating this house soon after moving here in 2002. They wanted to reduce their carbon footprint substantially. Now they're using a carbon calculator to see whether there's more they could still do.
MARK LUNTLEY
This is the average electricity that we used.
NARRATOR
Mark and Alice are concerned about climate change and want to reduce their energy use and waste. They don't want to preach, but they do want to show people what can be done.
MARK LUNTLEY
Al Gore talks about people going from denial right the way through to despondency without actually stopping off in the middle to do something. And we really wanted to say, we want to do something about it, and do something practical and influence others to do the same.
ALICE BRANDER
I can't think of any sacrifice in having our particular lifestyle. On the contrary, I've gained more because of the greener lifestyle. We're five minutes from the shops and central Oxford.
MARK LUNTLEY
As you look around the house, you'll see that it looks a very ordinary house and it feels a very ordinary place. It just so happens that it uses about half the energy that it used to.
NARRATOR
Reducing environmental impact was a high priority in the choice of this house.
MARK LUNTLEY
The house was a trade-off. We deliberately chose somewhere that was potentially energy efficient in the centre of town. And that cut down on our transport costs. But it meant that it wasn't as large as it might've been if we'd have chosen a house in the middle of the country.
One of the advantages of this house is that it's a mid-terrace so it doesn't lose energy on either side. And it also faces south.
NARRATOR
The house was built to pre-1982 regulations, which had poor standards for energy efficiency. So Mark and Alice commissioned an energy audit to find out how best to improve its performance.
High on the list for energy saving was replacing the old boiler with a new energy efficient one. It's in the loft to save space.
MARK LUNTLEY
This is one of the first things that we did. It's our condensing combination boiler. This one's the smallest that we could find. It provides the hot water and the heating for the house. The old model was just about broken.
NARRATOR
Solar water heating panels were installed on the roof at the same time as the boiler was put in. They heat water and feed it into a heat store.
MARK LUNTLEY
This is the 100 litre heat store. This collects the heat from the solar panels and stores it. And it either provides hot water directly or it will preheat water that then goes through the boiler and then out into the taps.
NARRATOR
Good insulation is crucial to transform a cold house into a warm and energy efficient one. Mark and Alice installed environmentally friendly sheep's wool in the loft over the existing mineral wool insulation and then tackled the heat leaking through the walls, windows and internal garage of the house.
MARK LUNTLEY
We had the walls cavity insulated, because they were air gaps at that time. And that made almost – that was one of the least expensive things that we did. British Gas paid for part of the costs. But it made almost a noticeable difference. Within a couple of days, you suddenly realised that the house was warmer in the winter.
NARRATOR
Adding new double glazed windows to the existing secondary glazing reduced heat loss and made the house noticeably quieter. Building a porch onto the front of the house stopped cold air coming in in winter.
But the most expensive renovation was the addition of a conservatory at the back of the house, facing south. It's a luxury not everyone can afford, but it does improve the energy performance of the house, as well as providing a light-filled, relaxing space.
ALICE BRANDER
We were interested in having a solar room which would take the heat from the Sun, store it within the solar room, and then release it into the house when it was needed.
NARRATOR
There's no artificial heating in this room, only the heat from the sun absorbed by the tiles and walls in spring and autumn. But in winter, it also helps to keep the house warm.
ALICE BRANDER
The conservatory acts as a buffer zone in the winter. So it can be very cold outside, but the conservatory itself will never get less than 8 degrees.
NARRATOR
These energy saving measures reduce the carbon footprint of the house itself. Gas and electricity use dropped by about 50%.
Of course, when you think about carbon footprints, the really big changes have to happen at government level, and others at community level. But as individuals, we can still make a difference.
MARK LUNTLEY
What we found is that simply showing people some of the benefits of the house, the fact that it's quiet, the fact that it's warm, that it doesn't use very much energy. The choices that we've made mean that we don't have long commuting, that our life style is better as a result of this, and that it is something that people can do practically. People are attracted to that.