Wales’ ‘most sustainable building’ opens

Ian and Jayne Hall-Edwards: With ‘Restoration Man’ George Clarke

A COUPLE’S dream of creating the most sustainable house and training centre in Wales has become a reality after six years of hard work.

Ian and Jayne Hall-Edwards bought a derelict Victorian school in Pencader in 2010, with the aim of turning it into both a place of business and a home.

The property, which has featured several times on The Restoration Man on Channel 4, with plaudits from George Clarke, who stays in touch with the dynamic couple, was opened to the public on Friday (Aug 26). MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Jonathan Edwards,officially opened the centre.

What makes the centre stand out is the fact that it is a totally self-sustainable building; all of the green technologies work together to make this happen.

The Hen Ysgol centre in Pencader launches under the apt name of Totally Sustainable, and not only showcases eco-friendly systems but it also aims to inspire people to follow a better way of living for their homes and businesses.

Its features include biomass boilers and room heaters, ground and air source heat pumps, intelligent thermal stores, wood stoves and fires, and log gasification boilers.

It also has a green roof, rain water harvesting, a bio-digestive sewerage system, under-floor heating, permeable paving, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and low energy lighting technologies. All of the technologies are linked together to save energy and money.

The centre’s aim is to train and equip people, trades, and architects, to replicate sustainable technologies in the planning, redeveloping, or building of homes. Owner Ian Hall-Edwards of Totally Sustainable told The Herald: “We have created an environment that demonstrates how effective these products are in the home, as well as their ability to save the environment, and save people money. To help people take that step, we have a purpose built training room with courses available and it is our aim to educate and invigorate people and trades in becoming truly sustainable in the way they plan their homes and businesses.”

The firm also plans to offer accredited training courses in 2017 across a range of disciplines. The company has nine staff, the majority of whom have been trained in-house, as well as completing their apprenticeships in their chosen fields.

Leading Italian company La Nordica Extraflame has agreed to run training courses for their products at the centre, making Hen Ysgol the first location outside of Italy where that has happened.

Jayne Hall-Edwards, who set up the business with her husband Ian, said the centre will allow home owners and businesses to experience sustainable technologies in action.

“It has been a long journey for us. We lived in a caravan on site for a few years whilst getting the project finished. Now that the restoration has been fully completed, we can now officially welcome visitors. Our aim is to raise awareness of available and affordable sustainable technologies, and show them all working together,” she said.

The owners received a £67,500 grant from the Welsh Government’s Economic Growth Fund, and a further £80,000 repayable business finance from the Welsh Government. The couple have also invested over £440,000 of their own money in the project.

Jonathan Edwards, MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, commented: “I am delighted to be able to visit Totally Sustainable to open the new centre, and celebrate this incredible investment in renewable technologies here in Pencader.

“With a focus on delivering renewable energy systems and green-thinking, this new centre will play a crucial role in encouraging the uptake of renewable energy systems in Carmarthenshire. I was extremely happy to support this project throughout its development, and I hope that the centre will go from strength to strength.”