How green is my house? MPs embrace eco-home movement

A growing number of politicians are embracing the eco-home movement, using their houses to bolster their green credentials.

Although Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews' futuristic green home, right, initially drew comparisons with the Teletubbies' house, the millionaire QC's £250,000 dome in the Pembrokeshire Coastal National Park, in south west Wales, designed by architect Jan Kaplicky, is a striking, environmentally sensitive building.

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Set into the top of an 80ft cliff at Druidston, the roof and sides of the house are covered with turf for insulation, and to minimise its impact on the landscape.

The Labour MP for Nottingham South, Alan Simpson, has been parading his eco credentials ever since he converted a former factory in the centre of Nottingham into a modern, environmentally friendly home. Complete with solar panels, water recycling system and rock-wool insulation, Mr Simpson hopes the three-storey, £200,000 renovation will be a model for future brown-field sites across the country.

Tory leader David Cameron's west London home, top right, epitomises the new earth-friendly Conservatives, with rain-water harvesting tank, cavity wall insulation, solar panels and numerous recycling bins.

The Prime Minister is also known to do his part, with solar panels, a compost heap and energy-saving light bulbs at his constituency home.

At least three more MPs including Peter Hain, the former Work and Pensions Secretary, have had solar panels installed on their homes, despite the 30-year payback time on their investment.

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