The Natural Refurbishment of 1960 Laing Easiform System; Housing Study of the application of natural Hemp Insulation and Fuel Cell Technolgy
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as PDF The Easiform system was in production until early 1970's providing 90 000 units. Proposals are the for natural refurbishment of the Easiform house type. It proposes a combination of natural Hemp insulation, a Fuel Cell CHP boiler and Stainless Steel Vacum Insulated Panels (VIPs) applied to a semi. Hemp Fibre is used as an external render system (u-value 0.16W/m2K) on walls together with low u-value doors and windows achieving an airtightness of 1m3/h.mm2, while maintaining the breathability of the wall. Feasiblity and SAP confirm an annual CO2 emissions total of 17kg/m2. A CHP gas boiler incorporating 1kW fuel cell will generate electricity. The SS VIPs panels provide gnd flr insulation using a thin panel.
Retrofit for the future ZA451G
The Natural Refurbishment of 1960 Laing Easiform System; Housing Study of the application of natural Hemp Insulation and Fuel Cell Technolgy : Project images
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Energy and fuel use
Measured data from renewable generation is not yet available.
Fuel use
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Electricity use | 4000 kWh/yr | 1500 kWh/yr | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas use | 17711 kWh/yr | 3765 kWh/yr | - |
| Oil use | - | - | - |
| LPG use | - | - | - |
| Wood use | - | - | - |
| Other Fuel | - | - | - |
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Primary energy requirement | 356 kWh/m².yr | 95 kWh/m².yr | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual CO₂ emissions | 71 kg CO₂/m².yr | 20 kg CO₂/m².yr | - |
| Annual space heat demand | - | 42 kWh/m².yr | - |
Renewable energy
| Electricity generation | Forecast | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| CHP Fuel Cell Boiler | 423 kWh/yr | - |
| Other Renewables Tech | - | - |
| Electricity consumed by generation | - | - |
| Primary energy requirement offset by renewable generation | 83 kWh/m².yr | - |
| Annual CO₂ emissions offset by renewable generation | 17 kg CO₂/m².yr | - |
Calculation and targets
| Whole house energy calculation method | SAP |
|---|---|
| Other whole house calculation method | - |
| Energy target | Retrofit for the Future |
| Other energy targets | 1KW electricity will be generated by the CHP boiler used by the household. |
| Forecast heating load | 2.75 W/m² demand |
Airtightness
| Date | Result | |
| Pre-development air permeability test | - | - |
|---|---|---|
| Final air permeability test | - | - |
Project description
| Stage | Under construction |
|---|---|
| Start date | 01 April 2010 |
| Occupation date | 31 January 2011 |
| Location | Cymbran Torfaen Wales |
| Build type | Refurbishment |
| Building sector | Public Residential |
| Property type | Semi-Detached |
| Construction type | Other |
| Other construction type | 75mm clinker conc-50mm cavity-75mm clinker concrete |
| Party wall construction | 200mm clinker concrete |
| Floor area | 85.2 m² |
| Floor area calculation method | Treated Floor Area (PHPP) |
| Building certification |
Project Team
| Organisation | Melin Homes |
|---|---|
| Project lead person | Wael Nabih, Willdig Lammie Partnership Ltd. |
| Landlord or Client | Melin Homes Housing Association |
| Architect | Wael Nabih, Willdig Lammie Partnership Ltd. |
| Mechanical & electrical consultant | Andrew Geens, CEREA University of Glamorgan |
| Energy consultant | Martin Brocklesby, BRE Wales |
| Structural engineer | N/A |
| Quantity surveyor | Andrew Cowling, Property Design and Maintenance, Peterborough |
| Consultant | Sue Duehurst Hemcrete |
| Contractor | Proj. Management Contracting; Hemcrete, CERES, Superline Ltd, Melin Homes supply chain |
Design strategies
| Planned occupancy | Family of three. Two adults and one teenager. Adults alternate working at night. |
|---|---|
| Space heating strategy | The Micro CHP plant is a totally new design by Ceres Power. The boiler used refluxed gas to power a hydrogen fuel cell and produced both heat and electricity in a 50/50 proportion and with a total output of 1KW. This is supplemented within the same unit by a standard boiler for when the fuel cell output is not high enough. The boiler is designed to be a drop in replacement for an existing condensing boiler unit. All excess electricity produced by the unit is exported to the grid. All excess heat will be stored in the hot water tank. The fuel cell part of the unit has an efficiency of 85% (heat and power) and the standard boiler has an efficiency of 90%. It has been slightly problematical to model this unit in SAP. |
| Water heating strategy | Solar Hot Water To minimise the demand for hot water 4.5m2 evacuated tube solar panels have been used. The unit used for SAP modelling is the Thermomax HP100 although other similarly performing units would be acceptable so long as the heat loss coefficient (a1) was less than 1 W/m2K and the zero loss collector efficiency (no) was 0.74 or better. |
| Fuel strategy | Mains Gas, Mains electricity with supplementary electricity from the Fuel Cell CHP boiler. |
| Renewable energy strategy | N/A |
| Passive Solar strategy | Front elevation is within 30 degrees of south. |
| Space cooling strategy | Natural Ventilation via windows. Cross ventilation can be achieved using through ventilation between the ground floor living and dining areas. |
| Daylighting strategy | There are no changes being made to the areas or location of glazing units. All windows will be replaced with same size units but with better U-Values. |
| Ventilation strategy | This bid does not propose the introduction of new forms of ventilation. Windows are to be used for ventilation. |
| Airtightness strategy | Sap proposes an airtightness of 1m2/h.m2. This is to be ahieved via via parging where appropriate, and providing a rebating doors and windows. We consider that the external render system and the new windows and doors will greatly enhance the air-tightness inside the house. |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | Thermally broken doors and windows incorporated. Door and windows will be located half on the external wall and half of the frame in within the thickness of the external render system. Continuous insulation will be maintained. In addition the cavity will be filled with blown insulation. All jambs will inlcude insulation boards on all sides of the reveal. The roof insulation will be continued to connect with the external render insulation. VIPs are are used for ground floor insulation. In order to avoid bridging, we will make sure that insulation is placed in the cavity below floor level. Full details of the proposals are provided our submission. |
| Modelling strategy | Modelling was undertaken only using SAP. Although PHPP was planned, because of time limitations and changes to house type, PHPP was not undertaken. |
| Insulation strategy | Wall: Application of external insulation to solid brick walls to achieve a U-value of 0.16W/m2k. Floor: Application of VIPs panel to give 0.23 w/m2K. Roof: Addition of 280mm mineral wool to give 0.12w/m2k. Windows: Nordan thermally broken tripple glazing to give 0.8w/m2k Door: Nordan thermally broken frame to give 1.2w/m2k All window and doors reveals are to have insulation slabs applied to them. |
| Other relevant retrofit strategies | We are planning to carry out retrofit works, minimising disruption to tenants who will continue to occupy the proporty. We consider that all our proposals can be delivered with minimal disruption to tenants. In demonstrating this, we consider that there would be little tenant resistance in a roll out programme. |
| Contextual information | Initial planning consultation has been undertaken. An artist image of post retrofit proposals has been produced and attached to this submission. We note that there has been some concern made by neighbours prior to seeing our proposals. However, we are confident that the proposals will be accepted as there is minimal change in form. Planners have accepted our proposals. Some of the technologies proposed are not available as a market product. These are namely the SS VIPs panels proposed as gnd. fl. insul. and the CHP Fuel Cell boiler. Proto-types are being provided specifically for this bid. Currently their cost is high, but we have provided the cost at which they will be supplied to the market in about a year from now. |
Building services
| Occupancy | NULL |
|---|---|
| Space heating | NULL |
| Hot water | NULL |
| Ventilation | NULL |
| Controls | NULL |
| Cooking | NULL |
| Lighting | NULL |
| Appliances | NULL |
| Renewable energy generation system | NULL |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | NULL |
Building construction
| Storeys | 0 |
|---|---|
| Volume | - |
| Thermal fabric area | - |
| Roof description | NULL |
| Roof U-value | 0.00 W/m² K |
| Walls description | NULL |
| Walls U-value | 0.00 W/m² K |
| Party walls description | NULL |
| Party walls U-value | 0.00 W/m² K |
| Floor description | NULL |
| Floor U-value | 0.00 W/m² K |
| Glazed doors description | NULL |
| Glazed doors U-value | 0.00 W/m² K - |
| Opaque doors description | NULL |
| Opaque doors U-value | 0.00 W/m² K - |
| Windows description | NULL |
| Windows U-value | 0.00 W/m² K - |
| Windows energy transmittance (G-value) | - |
| Windows light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights description | NULL |
| Rooflights light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights U-value | 0.00 W/m² K |