Ecovation

Ecovation is the amalgamation of sustainable building renovation techniques and a concern for ecological processes. Its inspiration often follows a desire to live a lower impact lifestyle and renew homes with a higher environmental conscience. Ecovation stems from the modern mantra of 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle'- a commonly used phrase that prioritises reducing our waste over reusing or subsequently recycling the bi-products of our every day lives.

Ecovation in conversation:

"Do you want to know about ecovation?""Ecovation is basically a trendy term. Environmental renovation "."I recently visited a young couple living in south London who had bought a terraced town house in need of restoration and they want to reduce their bills (future proofing), grow their own food and create their hot water and make their house as energy-efficient as possible. They have done a lot of research and found really good sheep's wall insulation, reclaimed sleepers for raised beds, whole-house ventilation for wood-burners with smoke free fuel and so on.

Why the need for Ecovation

- Preservation of traditional sustainable building techniques (such as straw bale) - Reduced reliance on fossil-fuelled energy - Possible economic gain and/or increased profits from reuse, micro generation and more - Reducing the carbon footprint of your day to day life or the operation of your business

Ecovation in practice

Domestic dwellingsWorking environmentGovernment premises

Technologies for the implementation of ecovation

- Insulation - Rainwater harvesting - Microgeneration - Passive solar-thermal - waste management - Energy conservation - Water conservation - Sustainable farming/smallholding/grow your own

Instead of knocking a building down and rebuilding it from scratch the shell of the dwelling place remains and as many of the original features are preserved. However using the latest and equally old fashioned sustainable building techniques the house is converted to an energy-efficient, renewably powered, biodiversity-aware plot.

History of Ecovation

Over time it has been a popular activity to renovate houses using reclaimed materials. Renovation of this kind has included traditional techniques such as thatching, straw-bale building and dry stone walling as well as new developments in alternative technologies.The ability to follow the lead of people like John Seymour [John Seymour] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seymour_(author)] author of "The Complete Guide to Self Sufficiency" yet updating his "Good Life" mentality to modern building techniques.Other contributors to the Ecovation approach include John and Barbara in the BBC Hit series the "Good life", and more recently Kevin McLoud in [Grand Designs] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_designs] and other related eco-features on popular television shows.Being the realms of popular television a number of other initiatives that champion sustainable building include the [Centre of Alternative Technology] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_of_Alternative_Technology] , the Magdelaine Project and the [Eden Project] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_Project] to mention but a few.