10 December 2010

View of the new house from the rear.

 The house has been designed to suit a 45 degree 'dog leg' plot. The Client had a strict budget and provided a brief with regard to layout etc.

The Client was happy to go along with the concept of a very low energy house provided that it didn't inflate the cost. The house had to be brought in at no more than it would do if designed to basic Building Regulations standard.

From the start I was informed by the excellent blog in the Building magazine relating to the Denby Dale House http://www.building.co.uk/passivhaus-diaries-what-the-denby-dale-home-costs/3141749.article posted by Bill Butcher of the Green Building Store http://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/.

This really is a most useful source of theory and practice of building a traditional house as a low energy house.

The Denby Dale house is a certified Passivhaus http://www.passivhaus.org.uk/ which 9 Ashford Park is not going to be. To be a certified Passivhaus the design and the construction has to meet certain criteria and some of the components used in its construction need to be certified.

To quote the BRE (Building Research Establishment):

PassivHaus dwellings:

• are the worlds leading standard in energy efficient construction
• are designed and built using a step-by-step approach
• use efficient components and a whole house ventilation system to achieve exceptionally low running costs
• are comfortable, healthy and sustainable

PassivHaus dwellings typically achieve an energy saving of 90% compared to existing housing

The intention with 9 Ashford Park is to achieve all of this but without certification which has a cost attached to it.  It will not be possible to claim that this is a Passivhaus house but it will be a LOW ENERGY USE HOUSE.