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This house produces more energy than it uses

The one-bedroom home comes with its own semi-indoor garden.

A LOT OF the time, making a home environmentally-friendly can be achieved in phases.

In Ireland, solar or wind energy might be used to offset heating or electricity costs, but are rarely enough to make a home “energy neutral”.

Equally, bringing down a house’s carbon footprint can also be tricky.

It makes this structure by Australian architects Archiblox impressive then in that it actually manages to produce more energy than it needs, which the company say make it “carbon positive”.

carbon positive house - 1 Archiblox Archiblox

The prefabricated unit has a little more than 550 sq ft of floor space and its makers say it produces more energy over the course of its lifetime that it consumes.

carbon positive house - 2 Archiblox Archiblox

The home has a buffer zone between the outside area and the inside of the house, described both as “the lungs of the house” and “the food basket” – these are used for growing potted plants.

carbon positive house - 5 ArchiBlox ArchiBlox

Inside the home, moveable joinery allows for areas to be expanded or made smaller to suit the owners’ preference. Special considerations have been taken to ensure that fresh air is able to flow to “wet areas” and bedroom spaces.

carbon positive house - 3 Archiblox Archiblox

It has also been made airtight to allow it to retain as much heat  as possible.

Another energy-reducing feature are its “hard wired data lines to reduce electromagnetic radiation” – which includes the loss of visible light.

The building has one bedroom, a bathroom, a living area, a combined kitchen/ dining area and, a laundry nook.

carbon positive house - 4 Archiblox Archiblox

View the home on ArchiBlox’s website here. 

Read: Is buying a house abroad still a risky move?

Also: Not painting your house could cost you 10% of its value