Zero Carbon House, Birmingham
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as PDF Half the scheme retrofits a 170-year terraced house - the other half is new - all working to AECB Gold standards and roughly PassivHaus insulation and energy levels. Solar thermal and PV on the roof with other measures take the project to certified Code for Sustainable Homes level 6, using the original measures for "true zero carbon" - ie 100% renewable energy is generated. 3-storey load-bearing earth block structure, rammed clay floors, reclaimed timber, and other very low embodied energy materials. RIBA Architecture Award 2010; RIBA Manser Medal Finalist 2010; Retrofit Award 2011; Considerate Constructors Award 2010; Constructing Excellence Award 2011. WEBSITE: www.zch.org.uk
Zero Carbon House, Birmingham : Project images
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Energy and fuel use
Renewable electricity generation This project has used the contributions from renewable electricity generation equipment to either meet the Retrofit for the Future target or otherwise reduce the Primary energy requirement and CO₂ emissions associated with the project.
Measured data from renewable generation is not yet available.
Fuel use
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Electricity use | - | - | 2280 kWh/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas use | - | - | - |
| Oil use | - | - | - |
| LPG use | - | - | - |
| Wood use | - | - | 1775 kWh/yr |
| electricity sold to grid | - | - | - |
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Primary energy requirement | - | - | 38 kWh/m².yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual CO₂ emissions | - | - | 7 kg CO₂/m².yr |
| Annual space heat demand | 440 kWh/m².yr | 9 kWh/m².yr | 7.3 kWh/m².yr |
Renewable energy
| Electricity generation | Forecast | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| PV | 3500 kWh/yr | 4030 kWh/yr |
| Other Renewables Tech | - | - |
| Electricity consumed by generation | - | - |
| Primary energy requirement offset by renewable generation | -43 kWh/m².yr | -11 kWh/m².yr |
| Annual CO₂ emissions offset by renewable generation | -10 kg CO₂/m².yr | -5 kg CO₂/m².yr |
Calculation and targets
| Whole house energy calculation method | |
|---|---|
| Other whole house calculation method | NHER |
| Energy target | CSH 6 |
| Other energy targets | - |
| Forecast heating load | 13 W/m² demand |
Airtightness
| Date | Result | |
| Pre-development air permeability test | 01 November 2008 | - |
|---|---|---|
| Final air permeability test | 09 November 2009 | 0.97m³/m².hr @ 50 Pascals |
Project description
| Stage | Occupied |
|---|---|
| Start date | 01 November 2008 |
| Occupation date | 01 December 2009 |
| Location | Birmingham, West Midlands West Midlands England |
| Build type | Mixed |
| Building sector | Private Residential |
| Property type | Semi-Detached |
| Construction type | Solid Brick |
| Other construction type | 215mm brickwork |
| Party wall construction | 103mm solid brickwork |
| Floor area | 204 m² |
| Floor area calculation method | Actual Floor Area (SAP) |
| Building certification |
Project Team
| Organisation | John Christophers |
|---|---|
| Project lead person | John Christophers |
| Landlord or Client | John Christophers & Jo Hindley |
| Architect | John Christophers (of Associated Architects) |
| Mechanical & electrical consultant | Matthew Hill, LEDA |
| Energy consultant | |
| Structural engineer | Richard Hartshorne, Shire Consulting |
| Quantity surveyor | |
| Consultant | Monitoring: Dr Lubo Jankovic |
| Contractor | Bill Cave, Speller Metcalfe |
Design strategies
| Planned occupancy | Private family home, 4 bedrooms |
|---|---|
| Space heating strategy | Passive solar and other heat gains. Two towel radiators in bathrooms running from hot water cylinder. MVHR (winter only) with supplementary heater battery. Wood-burning stove rated to provide 80% of output to hot water cylinder. |
| Water heating strategy | Solar thermal panels with wood-burning stove rated to provide 80% of output to hot water cylinder and electric immersion heater backstop. |
| Fuel strategy | No fossil fuel. Solar PV. Solar hot water. The small quantity of wood used for the stove comes from the garden. |
| Renewable energy strategy | 5kWp PV. Solar hot water. Wood-burning stove. |
| Passive Solar strategy | Passive solar design, orientated approx 30 degrees west of south. Existing ash tree provides seasonal shading. |
| Space cooling strategy | High thermal mass and natural ventilation night purging. |
| Daylighting strategy | Extensive top-lighting and mirror window reveals. |
| Ventilation strategy | MVHR (winter). Openable windows & shutters (summer) |
| Airtightness strategy | Vapour permeable airtight membranes to existing and new roofs, and to the existing front elevation, which is internally dry-lined. Wet plaster to existing and new walls elsewhere, linked to membranes in roofs and floors. |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | Continuous insulation. No fixings through external insulation. Independent internal structure for dry lining. Magmatec ties. |
| Modelling strategy | NHER |
| Insulation strategy | Walls U=0.11: existing front elevation internally dry lined: existing and new blockwork rear/sides external rendered insulation.Roofs U=0.08: existing slate roof internally insulated; new roof timber i-beams with cellulose insulation infill and wood-fibre board overlaid. Floors: existing cellar floors insulated from below; new floors inulated below slab level. |
| Other relevant retrofit strategies | Believed to be the first UK retrofit/extension to achieve Code for Sustainable Homes level 6 "true zero carbon". |
| Contextual information |
Building services
| Occupancy | 3-4 |
|---|---|
| Space heating | As designed, except MVHR heater battery has not been used. |
| Hot water | As designed. |
| Ventilation | As designed. |
| Controls | As designed. |
| Cooking | A+ electric induction hob, A+ electric oven. |
| Lighting | 60% fluorescent, 32% compact fluorescent, 5% discharge, 3% LED. |
| Appliances | A++ fridge, A+ washing machine. |
| Renewable energy generation system | As designed. |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | As designed. |
Building construction
| Storeys | 3 |
|---|---|
| Volume | - |
| Thermal fabric area | - |
| Roof description | Wamcel with timber i-beams |
| Roof U-value | 0.08 W/m² K |
| Walls description | Externally rendered "Neopor" insulation on 200mm hydraulically compressed clay blocks. lime plaster with recycled glass aggregate. |
| Walls U-value | 0.11 W/m² K |
| Party walls description | Acoustic dry-lining over plastered brickwork. |
| Party walls U-value | - |
| Floor description | |
| Floor U-value | - |
| Glazed doors description | Enersign triple glazed |
| Glazed doors U-value | 0.65 W/m² K - |
| Opaque doors description | |
| Opaque doors U-value | - - |
| Windows description | Enersign triple glazed for opening windows plus frameless triple-glazed units. |
| Windows U-value | 0.65 W/m² K - |
| Windows energy transmittance (G-value) | - |
| Windows light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights description | Fakro and Vitral triple glazed |
| Rooflights light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights U-value | - |