Features Archive: Environment

2008:

Considering Canada

02/12/2008 | Economics | Catherine Deshayes

Want to snap up a property overseas but undecided as to where to invest your hard earned cash? How about Canada, which was recently named the most affordable English speaking country in which to buy......

2007:

Wind turbines: Credible or cobblers?

25/09/2007 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Is it time for Brits to consider splashing out on a home turbine in order to reap the benefits of lower fuel bills...? ...

The 'Earth Ship' has landed

17/04/2007 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Imagine a house made out of car tyres and empty beer cans that heats and cools itself naturally. Welcome to the Earth Ship......

Beat this summer's hosepipe ban by getting prepared now

27/02/2007 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

February is not usually a month when we think about our watering the gardens, but if you want to be sure of beating a hosepipe ban this summer, now is the time to get busy......

How close are we to achieving zero carbon homes?

14/02/2007 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

The government has pledged that all new homes built in the UK must be zero carbon within ten years, but how close are we to achieving this goal?...

Portuguese Golf goes Norte

25/01/2007 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Portuguese golf already boasts a world beating reputation, especially in the Algarve region. Now, high quality courses are also springing up in the north, presenting canny investors with an opportunity to benefit from the Costa Verde's cheaper property prices, cultural riches and rising visitor numbers....

Misleading 'green' energy claims

16/01/2007 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

It's vital, if the government is to meet its 2010 CO2 targets, that households play their part. But consumer groups argue that until energy suppliers are up front with consumers about 'green' tariffs we aren't likely to respond favourably......

Is it worthwhile installing a wind turbine?

09/01/2007 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

The wind energy industry has admitted that householders should look at energy savings at home before installing home wind turbines and look very carefully at likely levels of reward too......

2006:

Is it time to fit a wind turbine to my home?

20/07/2006 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Microgeneration has been in the news again with energy companies being told to persuade households to be eco friendly plus the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill passing its final Parliamentary stage and receiving Royal Assent. We take a look at what's involved in putting a wind turbine on your property and what you could save in fuel bills......

UK houses that are really green

28/06/2006 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Buildings generate 75% of all carbon dioxide emissions, according to government figures, and houses can be good or poor in this respect. But how green can houses become? A few families in the Shropshire countryside are finding out......

Why waste your energy?

31/03/2006 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

With soaring energy costs and worries over climate change, is the solution not to produce yet more energy but to focus on minimising energy wastage? Many people think so......

'Green resolutions' for 2006

04/01/2006 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

For those who have not yet made their New Year resolutions, how about a few 'green' ones to clean up the planet......

2005:

Your house is threatening the environment

05/10/2005 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

A satellite in space picks up waste heat leaking from your home and later you receive a bill for harming the environment. Future fancy or the way of things to come? Either way, there are things you can do to your house now to protect the environment......

Allergies and the home

23/08/2005 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

As many as one in ten people will suffer from an allergy at some point in their lives but there are things one can do around the home to help......

Looking for a green home

01/06/2005 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Ok so you are a 'green' family at least you like to think so, but now you want to move home and are looking for a greener house to go with your green lifestyle not so easy is it?...

2004:

A new way to cool the home - and the planet

24/08/2004 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

As the planet warms up some people are fitting something rather different instead of conventional air conditioning systems…...

Container reuse - green homes with a difference

22/06/2004 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Take an architect with an obsession for cleaning up heaps of rusting containers and the current uneconomic value of recycling steel and what do you get?...

Is Japanese Knotweed in your plot?

02/06/2004 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Japanese Knotweed is so threatening to the environment that it is covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and you could be prosecuted for allowing it to escape into your neighbour’s garden or into the wild…...

Household appliances and how to read those labels

16/03/2004 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Energy efficiency rarely makes the headlines. But it is really important news. If you make your home more energy efficient, you save money and help the environment. So it is a win win situation.....

2003:

Concrete jungle or a city of biodiversity?

19/08/2003 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

The potential health benefits of more green spaces in cities are well established, but just how is the compromise between concrete and vegetation to be improved?...

Dealing with household pests ecosympathetically

23/06/2003 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

If you’re ecofriendly but bugged by thoughts of creepy crawly things running round your home then this is the place to look; or not perhaps, if you’re squeamish...

Why are we so blase about flooding?

06/05/2003 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

Who would choose to buy a property in a flood zone? Many do and it’s surprising how unconcerned people are about the issue.....

2001:

Wave goodbye to your beachfront villa

31/08/2001 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

As luck would have it, a giant Tsunami is certain to one day wreak havoc on coastal civilisations on both sides of the Atlantic.....

Coasting towards global disaster.

23/02/2001 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

The danger posed to low lying areas close to major rivers and their tributaries has been well publicised, but one of the areas most at risk is our coastline. But as this article highlights, our shores are under threat from more than just the rising tides...

2000:

Climate change and The Hague conference.

01/12/2000 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

We take a look at what could and perhaps should have been achieved at The Hague and examine what the effects of such continued failures will be on the UK environment as well as the UK homeowner....

  Flooding. Homeowners count the cost.

10/11/2000 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

As the worst floods for hundreds of years finally look set to abate this weekend, we take a quick look at the flooding phenomenon...

Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED)

14/09/2000 | Environment | Jaimie Kanwar

</font>Britain's largest eco friendly residential property development is officially open, but just what is all the fuss about...