New homes Low carbon
Housebuilders will develop a
template and use that to roll their
products out – they will use their
scale and their supply chain to drive
costs down – Roy Bergin
are much cheaper now than two or three years ago.’
He adds: ‘Housebuilders will develop a template and
use that to roll their products out – they will use their
scale and their supply chain to drive costs down.’
Twinn and Bergin believe it would be wrong to
settle for anything less than zero carbon from 2016.
Alliance
Twinn points to the figures: a quarter of the UK’s
carbon emissions come from our homes and the UK is
Homes
committed to an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050.
Good
A third of the homes that exist in 2050 will be built
New homes in Staffordshire, > than single-glazed ones, the price of materials and between now and then. The UK simply can’t afford to
UK, which were among
equipment needed to reach zero carbon will continue have new homes that add to our carbon output, he says,
projects used by the Good
to fall. Builders that we work with, like Barratt, are especially as the existing stock of housing is proving so
Homes Alliance to assess the
looking at how to work with their supply chains to difficult to upgrade.
application of the Code.
reduce the costs,’ he says. Options include buying Bergin points to people around the world that face
photovoltaics in bulk from China rather than more mass displacement and loss of livelihood because of
expensive sources. climate change and says: ‘We’ve got it easy. OK, zero
Rory Bergin, head of sustainability at architects HTA, carbon homes are difficult, but anything you do for
the lead consultant on the Hanham Hall development, the first time is difficult. Our problems are nothing
is convinced costs will fall sharply. ‘Technology that was compared to those people’s.’ Bergin has a good point,
unusual will become normal,’ he says. but if housebuilders can’t make a profit building to
‘For example the price of photovoltaics is falling zero carbon, they won’t build. It’s clearly imperative
and mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems that those cost challenges can be resolved. l
Case study Showcase for Britain’s
zero-carbon ambitions takes shape
H
anham Hall is by far the largest zero-carbon be met by a combined heat and power plant that runs
housing development yet to be built in on wood chips, so there is no need to equip the homes
Britain, comprising almost 200 homes with individual boilers, ground source heat pumps
ranging from one-bedroom flats to five- or solar panels. The biomass will be sourced locally.
bedroom family houses. Designed by HTA Architects The team has two pages’ worth of names of potential
and built by Barratt, Hanham Hall will meet Level 6 of suppliers of feedstock grown in Avon or Wales and a
the Code for Sustainable Homes. From 2016 all new weekly lorry delivery should be enough to meet the
homes will have to meet this standard, so the project is estate’s energy needs, thanks partly to the very high
a crucial learning exercise for the development team. level of insulation in the homes.
The suburban site, located between Bristol and The power plant will be managed by an energy
Bath, was awarded to Barratt in the Carbon Challenge services company, set up and supported by E.ON,
competition, organised by regeneration agency English to which the residents will pay a service charge. The
Partnerships to encourage housebuilders to develop the homes will take space heating from an underground
techniques needed to build zero-carbon homes. Three hot water pipe that loops around the estate. Each home
years have passed since then, but planning permission will be fitted with a mechanical ventilation system,
has now been secured, the designs are almost finalised which will be used to transfer the heat inside.
and demolition work started on-site in November, with Air is warmed by passing it over a coil of hot water
completion due in 2013. taken from the loop and spread around the home using
All the heating and power needs of the estate will the ducts that are part of the mechanical ventilation >
40 CIBSE Journal February 2010 www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEfeb10 pp36-42 zero carbon.indd 40 28/1/10 16:36:02
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76