For a major overhaul, consider installing photovoltaic cells on your roof, hydronic radiant heating in your floors, double-glazed panes in your windows and low-flow toilets in your bathroom.

FORBES: Julia Cosgrove

The council said maintenance work is required on the centre's heating system, roof and kitchen.

BBC: Middleton Centre may be closed by Durham County Council

But there is good reason to think that the market has not yet peaked: the northern hemisphere's winter is only now approaching, heating oil stocks are at extremely low levels on both sides of the Atlantic, and the price of natural gas (oil's chief rival for home heating) has lately gone through the roof.

ECONOMIST: Cutting the oil price

The design allows for passive solar heating in the winter, has a metal roof for rainwater collection and uses an incinerating toilet to minimize water usage and avoid the need for sewage disposal, said Carrie Caverly, an architectural designer.

CNN: Tiny homes hit the big city

The report by Santia Asbestos Management Limited said asbestos in the roof void may have been blown around the building by the heating system.

BBC: Cwmcarn school asbestos should be demolished, says survey