Our Concept

3D DesignOur aim was to perform a comprehensive upgrade of the fabric and services of a 1970s/80s, masonry construction, two storey, three bedroom, end-terrace house to effect an 87% reduction in it's overall energy consumption. This included - fully insulating the building and installing super-high performance windows and doors, making the fabric air- and wind-tight; installing a sunspace and wind lobby, installing a solar thermal water heating system; installing PV micro-generation technology(incorporating battery storage and export to grid facilities); installing heat exchange technology into the fresh air input, together with pre-heated air from the sunspace and roof labyrinth. The 3D rendering on the left shows what we anticipated the completed retrofit look like from a rear projection.

Click here for a larger version of the 3D renering of the front projection from Greenham and click here for the rear projection. Both sets of images were created by Waterland Associates Architects.

The solutions needed

Solar PorchSpace Heating: Heating from existing (SEDBUK 'A' Rated) gas fired combination boiler, through existing radiators. Solar thermal system feeds into the boiler.

Water Heating: Existing gas fired combination boiler with feed-in water from solar panels and thermal store. No electric back-up.

Fuel Strategy: Mains Gas, Mains Electricity.

Renewable Energy Generation Strategy: 1kWp photovoltaic panel array on the roof.

Passive Solar Strategy: Solar collection provision in new roof structure (thermal labyrinth) and in exterior thermal cladding (glazed, solar capture elements). Solar heated (tempered) air feeds into Whole House Heat Recovery Ventilation System.

3D Rendering of Front ProjectionSpace Cooling Strategy: Natural ventilation and shading incorporated into exterior cladding. Summer bypass and night purging using Whole House Ventilation system.

Daylighting Strategy: Daylighting provision remains as is, with glazing interventions maintaining average 2% daylight factor in kitchen and 1.5% in living spaces.

Ventilation Strategy: Whole House Heat Recovery Ventilation with summer bypass.

Airtightness Strategy: It is proposed to fully insulate the building externally (on the exterior of the existing fabric), effectively wrapping the entire building envelope in, between 200mm & 400mm of, insulation. Into this insulation zone it is proposed to install a wind and air-tightness membrane so that the entire house is fully wind and air-tight. Special measures will be incorporated at the existing openings (windows, doors, service penetrations etc) to ensure the minimum air infiltration at these points. The existing airtighness is 10.82 m3/hr.m sq The proposed air tightness will be 0.6 m3/hr.m sq

Ridge Detail SketchStrategy for Minimising Thermal Bridges: It is proposed to fully insulate the building externally (on the exterior of the existing fabric), effectively wrapping the entire building envelope in, between 200mm & 400mm of, insulation. As a result of this strategy for the insulation, the existing fabric of the building is isolated from the external environment, thus eliminating almost all potential themal bridges. It will be necessary as part of the construction works to investigate the situation at the current points of cavity closure (around windows doors etc) and if necessary take remedial action; allowance has been made for this.

Modelling Strategy: SAP (2005) with Extension for Whole House v1.6.

Insulation Strategy: It is proposed to fully insulate the building externally (on the exterior of the existing fabric), effectively wrapping the entire building envelope in, between 200mm (walls) & 400mm (roof) of, insulation. In addition to this it is proposed to insulate above the existing floor using 20mm of vacuum insulated panels and the doors and windows are all to be replaced with superhigh performance alternatives. U Values W/(m²K) Existing Roof 2.0; First Floor Ceiling n/a; Walls 1.80; Ground Floor 0.52; Windows 2.80; Doors 3.00. Proposed Roof 0.10; First Floor Ceiling 0.22; Walls 0.16; Ground Floor 0.31; Windows 0.80; Doors 0.65.