A KILMACOLM homeowner has opened the doors of her incredible eco-friendly self-build house to give Tele readers a sneak peek inside.

Denise Gray and her family moved into their two-bedroom property in 2006.

Thanks to architecture firm ataSTUDIO, the once-energy inefficent and cold house has been completely reborn as a hi-tech home of the future which is capable of running on 100 per cent renewable energy.

The family had initially planned a two-phase extension for the house, but before starting the final phase they became unhappy with several features of the property including cold and damp sections that remained of the old house.

After a conversation with Graeme Andrew of ataSTUDIO, Denise and her husband made the decision to scrap the extension plans and opt for a brand new self-build, with plenty of space for their children and technology that minimised energy waste.

In addition to the property's three floors, the family have also added a basement where many of the pieces of technology that allow the house to run sustainably are housed.

A ground source heat pump ensures that the house is never without hot water and also provides underfloor heating, while Tesla power walls store energy from the property's 28 solar panels and reduces reliance on the grid.

Greenock Telegraph: Denise Grey environmentally friendly home in Kilmacolm.

The house's roof is covered with sedum, a type of flowering plant, which provides a buffer for rainwater and helps control the temperature inside the house.

Waste is further reduced by the home's mechanical ventilation heat recovery system (MVHR).

The MVHR continuously extracts moist air from the property's bathrooms, kitchen and utility rooms and feeds the recovered air into a system which can recycle its heat.

Greenock Telegraph: Denise Grey environmentally friendly home in Kilmacolm.

The decision to prioritise energy efficiency in the new build was influenced in no small part by Denise's background in environmental work.

As a veteran countryside ranger with over two decades of experience, Denise says she has always been keen to find greener ways of living.

She said: "We had discussed selling the old house before we decided on a self-build.

"It was like a rabbit warren, it was cold and inefficient.

"Everyone we were trying to sell it to was talking about knocking it down and building something new.

"We had a chat with Graeme and he said 'well why don't you do that?'.

"Graeme and his partner Hazel gave us a variety of models to choose from and we picked the best bits from each.

"We wanted to make it as green as possible so it could be off-grid.

"This time of year we take a bit of energy from the grid but during the summer when there's more sunshine we have a surplus.

"We're so happy with all the work Graeme and everyone at ataSTUDIO did to help us make our home eco-friendly.

"It's a big initial investment to put the tech in but it's brilliant once it's set up and fortunately you get grant to help with the costs."