At EKJN we take our responsibility to the environment very seriously. By constructing sustainable buildings we ensure your needs are met and quality of life improved, but without compromising the quality of life for future generations.
In practicality ‘eco’ design principles spread much wider than sticking a few solar panels or a wind turbine on your roof. This technology has a place of course, and we have successfully designed a number of solar and wind systems for clients in recent years. If you feel this is a step too far there are a whole host of other approaches that can save energy (and money) and preserve natural resources without you even realising it. It's your choice how far to take it. It could be something as simple as adding extra insulation to the walls and roof during construction, making sure your garden room is adequately shaded from the summer sun, or sourcing the timber floors from a local sawmill. If you want to invest in green technology we can help with that too; rainwater harvesting, solar arrays, heat recovery systems, ground source heat pumps and grass roofs are just some of the techniques we have used for past clients.
Read EKJN’s Sustainable Design Manifesto
Some examples we have been working on recently:
Beecraigs
eco centre.
This new building will be an education and visitor centre for Beecraigs Country
park in West Lothian. The building will show case all sorts of sustainable
design ideas, from very simple, passive principles to the latest in eco technology.
Click to see the full green credentials of the proposed building.
Click here to see the planning submission drawings
CSJ Headquarters – Wind turbines, Solar powered ventilation system, and rainwater collection systems
St Nicholas Primary School - Natural Ventilation, Solar control glass, passive solar design principles, high levels of insulation, locally sourced materials
Signorini House , Linlithgow – Solar panels to provide hot water
Dalgety bay dental surgery – heat recovery ventilation system, under floor heating, sun tubes to bring natural light to the internal spaces.
Victoria Walk - Green roof system to bowling alley
Shieldaig Bar and restaurant – recycled school lab benches for the bar, recycled copper sheeting, local stone paving.
Buckley House, Linlithgow - Solar panels to provide hot water
Avon Place Studio – Natural stack ventilation, photovoltaic panels, highly insulated, use of local materials (scottish larch cladding) heat pump, biodiverse landscaping. See picture below:
Useful Links for further reading
The Centre for Alternative Technology
Sustainable Drainage systems (SUDS)
UK Rainwater Harvesting Association
Sustainable Development Commission
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency