Can we make carbon neutral garden rooms?
We are not sayings that our garden rooms are carbon neutral at the moment, but it is what we are striving for and hope to get them certified in the future.
We are however, making this an overriding aim in our material and construction choices. Our garden rooms are made of over 95% wood-based product, from the frames, floors, cladding and insulation. The design is as simple as possible so that we can strip out as much energy usage as we can in the manufacture and construction.
Wood is an amazing material. It has good structural and thermal insulation properties. Most importantly it is sustainable meaning it can be grown and replenished. As it grows it also absorbs carbon dioxide – meaning that when we build with it, we lock this carbon into our buildings.
Our windows and doors are double glazed and argon filled to improve their thermal conductivity. The rubber roofing is made from predominantly recycled rubber car tires. The insulation is made from waste wood from the timber industry.
As well as considering the manufacturing process and materials we also consider the life of the product and have made it as energy efficient as possible – meaning it will need minimal heating in the winter and stay cool in the summer.
By locking up carbon in our garden rooms it becomes possible for them to be carbon neutral or even carbon negative. This can offset the emissions from the steel, glass and rubber used elsewhere in the building, materials which will always need to be used in some capacity.
