The energy efficiency of a Huf Haus is far greater than required by current UK building regulations. Solid walls have two thermal cavities rather than one. Glass walls are made of two panes of Pilkington low-emissivity glass with a 12 mm gap filled with inert argon gas producing a U value of 1.1 giving Huf Houses SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) ratings of 95-100. In layman’s terms that means they are cool in summer and warm in winter.


In summer the house is kept cool by the roof overhang of 1.5m, by motorised Venetian blinds shading each glazing panel, and by an innovative natural air-flow system at high level. In winter the house is kept warm by solar gain, by its highly insulated walls and roof (whose deep overhang also gives added protection from rain and snow), and by a sophisticated underfloor heating system that circulates


heat throughout the house. Because wood has no cold surfaces, there is no condensation in a Huf house.


In Anticipations, H G Wells wrote:


“I find it incredible that there will not be a sweeping revolution in the methods of building down the next century. A few energetic men might at any time set out to alter this.”


The Huf Haus family firm has been in business for more than a century and today its boldly innovative, modernist homes challenge conventional practice to inspire the housebuilding industry (and home owners alike) that perfectly capture the zeitgeist, as they say in Frankfurt.


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