Video: Eco House - the Victorian home of the future

The programme looks specifically at one five-bedroom, four storey Victorian semi-detached house owned by Camden Council, in a conservation area near Camden Town in London.

In partnership with University College London's (UCL) architecture department, UrbanBuzz, SEA the Sustainable Energy Academy, and Kingspan Insulation, Camden have given the house a makeover. The house is an experiment to see how far the carbon saving envelope can be pushed for buildings of architectural heritage and character.

With solid wall construction and other features typical of the era, the building had almost double the emissions of those built to current regulations.

Optimum methods for energy saving were carefully chosen, with measures which would add significantly to the cost, yet make very little savings, rejected. Overall the carbon use of the house has been reduced from nearly 20 tonnes per year to 3.8 tonnes, representing the desired saving of over 80%.

This programme

• To see the full version of this programme, go to NBS TV

More clips

• Eco-towns: folly or inspiration?
• Code for Sustainable Homes – Energy & CO₂ Emissions

BackToTop