Orlando Bloom has an eco-house; Prince Charles has built a sustainable home, and now a major developer plans to build 500 eco-homes in Devon. Despite the economic gloom, the green way of building has never been more popular – 7,000 projects last year, a number that has more than doubled since 2009.

For instance, the "greenest" dog rescue center in the world (photo, right) is a cutting edge £5.25 million eco-friendly re-development for the Dogs Trust in Shrewsbury built by the McPhillips contracting group.

And soon, it seems, all building work in Britain could be green.

The Government is consulting on tightening building regulations so that homeowners undertaking major improvements would have to carry out energy-saving measures at the same time.

(READ the story in The Independent)