...We have moved to our new, state of the art, eco-friendly
and very green headquarters in Bisley Gloucestershire...

...click here to view Stop Press history
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The innovative glass and timber building employs every green
technology under (and including) the sun. Warmcel - recycled
newspaper provides the exterior insulation, actually around £12,000
worth is sprayed into the cavities of the timber frame construction
keeping everyone warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
This recycled paper doesn't Burn, even when exposed to a blowtorch.
All interior insulation and soundproofing consists of Thermafleece
(manufactured from natural sheep's wool).

Air tightness testing enabled us to establish where any heat might
leak out of the building, so we were able to seal whilst the building
fabric was still accessible. The building is further insulated by both
green and brown roofing the majority of which is 'alive' with grass
and wild flowers. The brown roof area, which consists of excavated soil
from the site and includes a pond, will evolve it's own environment.
swift and bat boxes are built in under the eves so we will be watching
that space with great interest.

All lighting is low energy, high frequency T5 mounted and is attractive
as well as efficient. Roof mounted 5kw PV (photovoltaic) panels
provide electricity which is grid connected so feeds the surplus back
into the National Grid. Hot water is from solar thermal panels which
are wall mounted to minimize the summer gain (when the sun is high
in the sky) and maximise the energy gain from low winter sun.

In the summer, our only need for heat energy will be for hot water
but during the colder months, the solar panels will supplement the
building’s heating system. The development of new technologies like
the Consolar Thermal Store makes this possible. Further heat energy
will be put into the store as required by the integration of a
"batch boiler'. This is a boiler that is fired in short, efficient, burns
when the heat energy from the solar power is not enough. Due to
the thermal insulation of the building and the thermal store, this
relatively small boiler should only require one four hour firing each
week during a normal winter.

   The building is painted throughout with Auro natural paints including
'Airfresh', which acts as a biocatalyst. When this special formula
combines with light (preferably natural daylight) it splits up
pollutants into neutral substances.

As well as an, exemplar demonstration of our green technologies,
the building is to be used as a venue for courses on sustainable building
techniques. We will also be running our own training courses here.

Of course, Rainharvesting Systems supplied the
virtually maintenance free rainwater harvesting system
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