Pete Bevington

2 April, 2007

THERE'S a tradition in Shetland to build your own house. Usually folk do it after getting married but before any children arrive, and often it goes up next door to the parents.

Dorothy and Michael Rea waited until they were grandparents to build their first house and moved just about as far as they could from the south of England to do so.

But this is no ordinary house. The Reas, aged 64 (Dorothy) and 62 (Michael), have been planning this house for the past quarter of a century.

It's on Unst, Britain's most northerly isle where the winter starts in October and sometimes doesn't end until May.

It's practical - a straight forward, wooden framed kit house of the kind being erected throughout the country. The only difference is that theirs should be capable of being entirely self sufficient in heat, power, water and food, while leaving an almost non existent carbon footprint on the planet.

It will have a plug in car which, when fully charged, can go almost 300 kilometres without a top up, with a top speed of 75km/h. The electricity will be generated by a small wind turbine, which will also provide all the heat and light the house needs.

Out front will be a greenhouse where the couple hope to satisfy their vegetarian diet by growing their own food all year round throughout the last years of their lives, quite a feat in a part of the world where the only reliable crops grow underground.

The Reas moved to Shetland in 1984 after falling in love with the islands on their first visit. They bought a house called Batavia, where the oldest business on Unst first started.

It didn't take long for them to get a taste of how bad the weather can get in Shetland. On New Year's night in 1992 hurricane force winds killed two walkers on Unst, and demolished several buildings; including Batavia.

It's on this site that the Reas are erecting their zero carbon house, looking out over the gentle curve of Uyeasound bay.

"If we can do this here, anyone can do it anywhere," announced Dorothy proudly.

Their determination is impressive. They started work in the middle of one of the worst Novembers Shetland has ever seen, with non stop rain and regular 60 mph storms. It was in these conditions they put up the frame of the house. They had no choice. The suppliers, Scotframe, who are also sponsors, had sent up four men that week and that was the only week they could work.

"It was very windy when we were putting the roof trusses up," recalls Michael. "One of them got caught by the wind and fell to the ground. It smashed to bits, so we had to get another.

"It rained and rained and rained. At one point I fell over in the mud and I tell you, I had to have three baths that night to get all the mud off me."

Many local people observe such antics with a high degree of scepticism, much of which comes from being brought up in an extreme environment where many idealists have come and gone with their new fangled ideas in tatters.

Onlookers slow down as they drive past, commenting: "It will never work; it'll never stay up; it will never do what they say it's going to do."

But Dorothy points to the family tradition of her Mackenzie ancestors. "It's no accident that Canada's longest river is the Mackenzie. The Mackenzies were explorers; they would stick their neck out and say this is what we're going to do. And they would do it. We're taking a big risk here too."

This is indeed a pioneering project, but the interesting thing about it is that none of the technology is new. The windmill, air to air heat pump, heat recovery system, self contained sewage system, are all standard designs which have been on the market for years. The building itself is a standard timber frame house with added insulation and underfloor heating.

What's different is that the Reas have put all these diverse pieces of technology into a single building in a hostile climate, as part of an attempt to prove how simple it is to build a truly environmentally friendly house.

The companies they are using are big name firms such as Scotframe, Dimplex, Britmet Tileform, Wavin Plastics, and so enthusiastic are they that they're backing the Reas with sponsorship deals which are allowing the couple to stay within their £250,000 budget. Scotframe provided a team of labourers, others cover freight, for example.

The deals meant they could avoid applying for the many public grants available for this kind of project. But local government still managed to affect their plans, slowing them down so much they took four and a half years to complete.

"I have been waiting 24 years for this house to be built," admits Dorothy. "But it's just a standard house, an honest house, nothing fancy. It's a serious project in renewable design and energy efficiency, an experiment in joined up technology. But it's also a house we intend to grow old in."

Dorothy is an ex head teacher with a lot of experience working with special needs pupils. Michael has worked in various fields, but describes himself as an artist and sculptor, with a leaning towards technology.

Their idea has grown beyond just living in a "green" house. Out front they are putting up a 96 square metre greenhouse where they will have hydroponics growing everything from citrus fruits to celery. "We have already got 40 orange trees, 40 lemon trees and a cutting from a vine from the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. I'm looking forward to my first grape," Michael enthused.

Once up and running they hope the greenhouse will create employment on an island which has lost half of its population in the last five years thanks to the "draw down" of Britain's northernmost early warning system at RAF Saxa Vord.

They have already provided work for four local builders, including 21 year old Danny Witt. It's his first job as construction foreman and he's clearly loving it. "There's nothing complicated. Any building firm could put a house like this up. You just have to drill a few more holes for all the technology," he said. "But it's definitely the way to go."

The Reas intend the house to generate an income for them too. They will hire their knowledge and experience out as consultants and invite students to come and examine the principles they are working with.

They will also demonstrate the energy efficiency of their design by taking constant energy readings and making them available on their website www.zerocarbonhouse.com 

"We want a warm, friendly house that will keep us in our old age, but we also want to promote it because we think it needs promoting. If we're talking about being carbon friendly, rather than telling people just to change their light bulbs, wouldn't it be better to design carbon friendly homes that serious builders and developers could put up for sale. It could be as straight forward as putting catalytic converters into every new car.

"And it's no good saying to people up here in Shetland, we have this wonderful, environmentally friendly house down in Cornwall. It's the people with climate issues who need fuel efficient homes. And we're finding a way of getting around the Shetland climate!

"We are making a stand. We are making a statement, because global warming does worry us. And if it's something you feel passionate about, then the only way to demonstrate that it's achievable and workable is to do it.

"Next we would like to see houses like this spring up all over Shetland; and see the local community growing their own food, all year round."