Ecovation is the amalgamation of sustainable building renovation techniques and a concern for ecological processes. Its inspiration often follows a desire to live a lower impact lifestyle and renew homes with a higher environmental conscience.

Ecovation stems from the modern mantra of 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle'- a commonly used phrase that prioritises reducing our waste over reusing or subsequently recycling the bi-products of our every day lives.

Ecovation in conversation

"Do you want to know about ecovation?"
"Ecovation is basically a trendy term. Environmental renovation ".
"I recently visited a young couple living in south London who had bought a terraced town house

Townhouse

A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...

 in need of restoration and they want to reduce their bills (future proof

Future proof

The phrase future proofing describes the exclusive process of trying to anticipate future developments, so that action can be taken to minimize possible negative consequences, and to seize opportunities. For more on the process and practitioners, see Futures studies.-Data storage:Electronically...

ing), grow their own food and create their hot water and make their house as energy-efficient as possible. They have done a lot of research and found really good sheep's wall insulation, reclaimed sleepers for raised beds, whole-house ventilation for wood-burners with smoke free fuel and so on.

Why the need for Ecovation

• Preservation of traditional sustainable building techniques (such as straw bale)
• Reduced reliance on fossil-fuelled energy
• Possible economic gain and/or increased profits from reuse, micro generation and more
• Reducing the carbon footprint
  Carbon footprint
  A carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
  
   of your day to day life or the operation of your business

Technologies for the implementation of ecovation

• Insulation
• Rainwater harvesting
• Microgeneration
• Passive solar-thermal
• waste management
• Energy conservation
• Water conservation
• Sustainable farming/smallholding/grow your own

Instead of knocking a building down and rebuilding it from scratch the shell of the dwelling place remains and as many of the original features are preserved. However using the latest and equally old fashioned sustainable building techniques the house is converted to an energy-efficient, renewably powered, biodiversity-aware plot.

History of Ecovation

Over time it has been a popular activity to renovate houses using reclaimed materials. Renovation of this kind has included traditional techniques such as thatching, straw-bale building and dry stone walling as well as new developments in alternative technologies.

The ability to follow the lead of people like John Seymour

John Seymour (author)

John Seymour was an influential figure in the self-sufficiency movement. Precise categorisation is difficult: he was a writer, broadcaster, environmentalist, agrarian, smallholder and activist; a rebel against: consumerism, industrialisation, genetically modified organisms, cities, motor cars; and...

, author of The Complete Guide to Self Sufficiency, yet updating his "Good Life" mentality to modern building techniques.

Other contributors to the Ecovation approach include John and Barbara in the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Hit series the Good life, and more recently Kevin McCloud

Kevin McCloud

Kevin McCloud is a British designer, writer and television presenter best known for his work on the Channel 4 series Grand Designs. He lives in a 15th-century farmhouse in Frome, Somerset, with his wife Suzanna "Zani" who runs an online interior decoration business, and their two children, Milo ...

 in Grand Designs

Grand Designs

Grand Designs is a British television series produced by Talkback Thames and broadcast on Channel 4 which features unusual and often elaborate architectural home-building projects....

 and other related eco-features on popular television shows.

Being the realms of popular television a number of other initiatives that champion sustainable building include the Centre of Alternative Technology, the Magdelaine Project and the Eden Project

Eden Project

The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....

to mention but a few.