Shetlands eco-home may provide self build blueprint

An eco home run entirely on green energy that may provide a template for future self build home design has been constructed in the Shetland Islands, it has been reported.

Retired Wiltshire couple Michael and Dorothy Rea have constructed their home on the island of Unst - the most northerly inhabited part of Britain - for a cost of £210,000 and have been using wind and solar power to provide all its electricity, the Guardian reports.

The Scottish government is monitoring the performance of the house with a view to creating a zero carbon home blueprint.

Mrs Rea told the paper that the house was not just succeeding in generating its own off-grid electricity through being on a very windy island, stating: "If we can do this here, anyone can do it anywhere."

"It's just an ordinary house. It could be in Edinburgh; it could be in Chigwell."

Meanwhile, the use of straw bale in house building received a boost when such a home was given an award last week.

An eco home in Pembrokeshire won the Grand Designs Eco Home of 2008 award at the Grand Designs Live exhibition, the Green Building press reports.


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