This note was originally published in May 1998 and reviewed by Robert Vale in April 2003. It is considered contemporary and relevant. Autonomous buildings obtain all their servicing needs from the natural resources that they can gather from their site—this makes possible a major reduction in their impact on the environment. This Note demonstrates that such buildings are appropriate not only in rural areas far from reticulated services, but also make good environmental and financial sense in an urban context. The discussion begins with an analysis of the costs associated with conventional services and then considers the various services of a building and how they might be supplied from on-site resources. Detailed performance data are provided from the UK’s first autonomous house, built by the authors in the centre of a town in Nottinghamshire. Finally, other crucial, but seldom considered, aspects are discussed—the environmental impact of buildings, the transport and dietary needs of their occupants, and how these may also be satisfied by autonomous servicing techniques.