Electricity and running water had never been a feature of the barn before its restoration so we decided to take the opportunity to make it as eco-friendly as possible. The distance from the nearest power supply prompted us to investigate alternative ways of generating our own electricity but this was just part of the quest to make Wills Barn a truly Low Energy Building.

This means that it is:

• Constructed with low-impact, sustainable and re-cycled materials wherever possible. The floorboards are all re-used from another building, for example.
• Designed to minimise energy usage
  • It has extremely high levels of insulation (in the walls, floors, roof and windows) to minimise heat loss
  • It utilises natural light wherever possible, so we don’t have to use the electric lights during daylight hours
  • It uses carefully-selected, low-energy electrical appliances
• Designed to only use resources that don’t damage the environment
  • We generate all the electricity used in the building through on-site solar panels
  • Waste wood sawdust (compressed into small pellets) is used to generate heat in a special bio-fuel central heating boiler
  • Rain water is harvested from the roof to flush the toilets so this minimises the need for mains water

For more detailed information, click here to download a PDF Factsheet