Month: May 2007

  • ElectroPollution

    There is a growing body of research that suggests that exposure to electric & electromagnetic fields especially from high voltage sources may be detrimental to health. Electric fields are produced wherever and whenever there is a flow of voltage. This occurs through any electric cable or appliance even when it is switched off. Electromagnetic fields…

  • Colour

    The field of psychology recognises the affect that colour has upon us, not merely as a matter of subjectively favouring certain colours, but in terms of our base characteristics & responses. …Dr Ashley felt that colo(u)r has a great deal to do with the well-being of the emotionally disturbed. Nurse Diesel, High Anxiety, Directed by…

  • Planning Amendments

    We bought the barn with planning permission in place. The plans were very simple and low impact. The structure of the building remained unchanged, utilising existing windows and doors, with the simple addition of some small velux windows in the roof. When we came to readdress the plans with our designer, the opportunity presented itself…

  • Allergy Free

    An allergy is a hypersensitivity to what are normally innocuous entities such as certain foodstuffs, cleaning products, dust, plant pollen and so on. Whilst debate over the scale, change in scale and root causes of people suffering from allergies is beyond the scope of this article, consideration of how to minimise the impact of allergens…

  • Radon Report

    Until I started researching the Healthy House concept, I’d always taken such things as the need for a radon survey with a pinch of salt; as a necessary evil, a piece of unavoidable paid-for bureaucracy. Now I have a slightly differing opinion after developing an appreciation of the risks that radon presents. So when my…

  • Air Quality

    Air quality is determined by the composition of the volume of air under consideration. Generally, the normal composition of air is 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, trace amounts of other gases, and around 1% water vapour. Substances not naturally found in the air or found in the air at higher than…

  • The Healthy House

    It is only over the last few months that I’ve become aware of the concept of the healthy house. This is a design approach that focuses on the effects upon human health of the design, materials, building alignment & layout of our built environment. In the best tradition of ‘Top-10 lists’, here’s my ten key…

  • Brambling take 2

    There’s been some pay-back from the bramble clearing that we spent so many weekends doing. Nettles! …and where there are nettles there’s soup. Get over to mwnch ~ eat seasonally for the recipe and get cooking.

  • Oak Beams? ~ You must be barking!

    When working through the detailed design for the barn we decided to use oak beams to support the first floor rather than steels. That seems like a sensible decision; whilst costing more, from the perspective of aesthetics and ‘healthy house’ design the choice was clear. Now I’m trying to set the budget, the madness begins.…

  • Underfloor Heating

    From the Romans to present day, underfloor heating has been a good idea. Underfloor heating provides gently radiating heat from the whole of the floor surface. This radiant heat is similar to the heat from the sun, heating the occupants of the room directly rather than the air around them (must admit I’ve never fully…

  • No Stalling

    The old cow or chicken shed that is to be our new kitchen was furnished with three wood framed loose-boxes. They made it difficult to gauge the levels of light that we’d enjoy in that the darkest, north facing part of the barn and still retained the sweet odour of chickens, the most recent inhabitants.…

  • Lime Analysis

    Inspired to analyse the composition of my mortar, I improvised and placed a lump of mortar that I’d levered out of my wall in the strongest acid I could lay my hands on – white wine vinegar 8% acidity. The vinegar was surprisingly successful in dissolving the lime (with a rather attractive bubbling that makes…