"John Borman" wrote in message
...
Hi people, am just looking to pick peoples brains. After 4 year battle
with
the local planners we have finally got planning permission for the
conversion of a Barn into residential premises. Waiting so long we are
eager
to get things rolling, and will be seeing the architect in the next week
or
so.

If it's been fours years then the building regs have moved on so much the
original plans are obselete anyway. Insulation, damp-proofing, heating,
glazing, ventilation and a lot more will need updating to the latest regs.
You might have a shock at how much the cost has jumped due to this.


Reed bed sewage treatment

Big debate on whether these are legal or not. My authority will not allow
them no matter how much you plead with them despite the huge amounts of
cow-****e the reeds in our fields deal with.
Also septic tanks are discourage and they want Klaristers (sp?) installed.


Heat exchangers.

Definitely. And prices have dropped significantly. BES do individual ones
at a price that makes the whole house ducting not worth doing.


Other things I would look at are solar water pre-heat (still needs some
heating to get to usuable temp but does save energy), heat stores and rain
or grey water re-use.

Good luck.