It's hard making choices - which are better?

[Katymac]

I am having to reduce my spending for the nursery and green stuff will be the first to go

Solar panels & rainwater harvesting are postponed as these are easy to retrofit

But I need to make decisions

Linoleum at £6000 or lino at £2000?

Softwood windows or UPVC?

Cess pit or septic tank (water treatment plant is long gone )

Still struggling with how to heat the sodding thing

I hate making sacrifices

Decisions are hard. Have you tried working on a Cost/Benefit Analysis for each one? If i remember, one of the nurseries main philosophies natural/ethical/environmentally sound one - be careful not to lose your main values when deciding. For instance, wood windows and upvc can be fitted for nearly the same cost nowdays and even if you find they are more costly, try to find another area to cut back in such as stationary/branding or some such thing. I am sure you have already done this though..

CBAs can be beacons - especially if you put at the top of the sheet that you work the decision out on the main value that you are working towards....

But which is better

A green nursery I can't afford to build
or
A nursery that will be as green as I can make it - with green additions at a later date - but some "bad" stuff to enable it to happen

Which do you think?

I'm going with option 2

There is no point having option 1......is there

Now it's just deciding which to dump

katy i am assuming you have looked into grants, yes?

Unfortunatley yes

I can get 30-50% of my generation costs - but that's all

Do you know anything about drawing layouts??

ah i thought you probably had but...

ah well

I take it you've looked into using recycled materials eg floring from the reclaimation yard/those schmes that take office excess etc? That would be eco-y?

I am sorry if this is bloody obvious, btw.

What's the diff between linoleum and lino, katymac? (In green terms, I mean) Could you just have polished floorboards or would that cost more?

How much more are hardwood windows than UPVC? (Softwood require sooo much maintenance)

is lino not the pvc-esq one and linoleum the real stuff, biodegradable and so on?

how about just sanded floorboards?

I will be for the office furniture/staff room & kitchen equipment

But the flooring is quite a large space so needs to be one piece

Roofing is a possible recyclable

oooh can you have a turf roof?

where is this wonder btw? am i correct in thinking its norwich?

if so, I warn you, i shall come an oogling when i vist PILs

Linoleum is woodchip & linseed oil & natural

Lino is vinyl

So I think Linoleum is my only option

Flrro boards are possible - but they don't foirt well with UF heating & cost a fair amount in them selves (by the time they are fitted, sanded & treated)

Hardwood = £20K
uPVC = £7K
Softwood about £12K (ish I am having difficulty getting an online quote)

About 20 miles east of Norwich

Come & have a cup of tea...I'm fairly normal aren't I Jan?

Have you looked into rammed earth or straw bale building yet?

(wants to see option one on the list again.. )

Oh, OK - when I was little, lino was linoleum, we had it in our kitchen (pre-vinyl), thought there'd been a change

What about real-wood (not laminate) clip-together flooring, how much would that be, and how green? I know real lino is really expensive.

What about using reclaimed windows from a salavge yard? Would that be possible?

Oh yes, I can vouch that katy is almost entirely normal

No but I am currently printing a doc about externally insulating with straw bales.....will that do?

Marmoleum (trade name) I can get fitted at £30 psqm

That's really cheap

Wood would cost similar (sanded/treated) - or the clicktogether you need underlay

I am so struggling with the layout atm grr

BTW Squidette my Architect says I am about £140K over budget atm....so I need to lose a lot

Where are your main areas of overspend, apart from windows, flooring and waste water?

(sees much motivation and determination here despite having to make changes....)

I have on paper cost of about £100K

He says I need to spend £240K

I don't know where

I have £110K but that must pay for architect (not that one), building regs & planning permission plus house my contingency

240K? How big is this build? It must be HUGE.

Thinking about windows - upvc need little attention, maybe there is a company that makes upvc windows out of recycled upvc?

You will have a lot of windows - any wood will need taking care of - i think about the energy needed to make the brushes to protect the wood, the energy used for the little man to come and maintain the windows, the energy used in producing the varnish or whatever you use on the wood - the trees that were cut down.

Do you have to buy the land that this build is going on?

See i can see that solar power will cost you money but the money it will save - a turbine would be better maybe - grants can be had on big turbines but PP is needed.

Hmm i am right in thinking nursery as in children and not plants - i didn't read that far back in the thread.

Are you going to be making your own paint and dough etc? Does the 240K include equipment and materials?

Do you have a client base lined up already? Would they all be specifically interested in your flooring? It has to be practical i know but could you not have a variety of flooring throughout? Recycling is a huge aspect to keep in mind and i bet you could get some lovely flooring from various places.

I am just thinking that it might be wise to have the expensive things that you really want but cut back in other areas - i agree reclaimed everything. A piece of flooring does not need to be in one piece - flooring isn't a big issue - ok you want it to look nice but the Basics - heating, light and power are the most important aspects and i think need to be right from the start.

You will need to make enough to make a profit so you need stuff that will save you money - self sufficiency has to be a huge wow factor - i'd rather walk into a nursery with a turbine than one with a lovely natural floor - i'd rather see mixed fabrics from the charity shop than brand new textiles.

I'd rather see re- used equipment than brand spanking new.

I'd rather the materials be environmentally friendly and the structure of the day be holistic more than what lino there was on the flor.

Maybe you need to do some market research to see what is important to a potential client rather than what feel simportant to you right now.

good luck - i am jealous.