U-value

It is a measure of a heat loss. Units W/m2K which shows how many watts are lost per square meter of material when the temperature between inside and outside are different even 1K.

To find the U-value, you need to know thickness (m) of the materials and thermal conductivity (lambda).

Firstly, calculate the R-value, thermal resistance, (m2K/W)  by thickness/thermal conductivity:

R = l/lambda

Secondly, you need to add all R-values together, for example, if you are calculating wall U-value, find a sum of brick, cavity, insulation, block R-values.

Rtotal = R1 + R2 +...

Finally, to find U-value, thermal transmittance, (W/m2K), you have to divide 1 from the total R-value.

U = 1/Rtotal


Below is an example of U-value calculation according to my sketch of cavity wall section.

Specification

Every drawing requires annotations and specifications. This is needed to explain drawing's details to someone who will read the drawings. Also, specifications is an important when describing fabrics and its' performance. 

That is some examples of my sketches with annotations and some parts of specification sheet. 

Full fill cavity wall lintel detail

Eaves detail

Partial fill cavity wall sill detail

Heating and low carbon technologies

According to the NHBC publication 'Homes for the 21st century' construction process consist of 4 levels.

First three processes was discussed on the previous posts. The following stage after all the planning, fabric, overheating, ventilation etc problems have been considered, is heating and low carbon technologies. The purpose of this last section is to reduce the energy savings on heating the space and water. Thus, the better house is insulated the lower demand for heating energy will be required. Also, according to the UK Government's set targets, the CO2 emission needs to be reduced as well. Hence, to complete both requirements low carbon technologies should be installed when building new dwellings or refurbishing the old ones. 

These tables shows the consumption of hot water and time water is heated per hour in a single dwelling. It leads to the conclusion that the largest demand of water is between 7am to 11am and 4pm to 8pm. This, also, means that on those hours the biggest amount of energy will be required to heat the water and it will take longer to heat the cold water over and over again. The same with the space: the bigger the space, the more energy and time will be required to heat it.  However, all  new build and refurbished homes could benefit from the use of low temperature water systems fed by heat pumps or condensing boilers which supply heat more efficiency, renewable solar energy,

underfloor heating systems which heats the space faster, etc.

Condensing boiler

The main working principle is to heat the water with the energy which is emitted as the hot gasses goes through a heat exchanger and cools and condenses them. This, also, reduce the heat loss.

However boiler works efficiently only if the flow and return temperature is kept below 55C. Thus, it is a good back up heating system combined with other.

Solar water heating (solar thermal) system

It consist of solar panel (collectors) which might be mounted on the pitch roof or be fixed to the frame on a flat roof, hot water cylindeer, pump and controller. The solar panels collect the heat from the sun which is passed to the fluid inside the collectors. Then  it is pumped to  the hot water cylinder, where the cold water is heated up and pumped to the taps. This system is the most effective in summer period when it is possible to heat about 90% of hot water use. However, the boiler still be needed to back up system.

Heat pumps

Ground source heat pumps

Heat from the ground is extracted from the underground by pumping water mixed with anti-freeze through it. Then the temperature of the fluid is increased by the heat pump and the water is passed to provide home heating (usually underfloor heating or radiators) or hot water (boiler).  

Ground source heat pump is quite expensive and it requires excavation and a good knowledge of the site ground condition to install. Pipe work laid out horizontally about 1.5m below the surface or vertically in boreholes between 20 - 150m.

Air source heat pump

The pumps are placecd outside to collect the the heat prom the air. Then, the air pump increase the temperature and pass the heat to radiators or underfloor heating system. 

Both heat pumps need energy to run, however it is still energy efficient as pumps use less energy and emit less CO2 into atmosphere to produce heat than it would be provided by burning fuel.

There is many other new technologies and energy efficiency strategies from which sustainable homes could benefit such as solar panels, rainwater harvesting system, wind turbines etc. Sometimes it may look expensive and difficult to install and maintain it, but if the manufacturer instructions is followed and automatic control system is used the results should be seen in a short period (reduction of energy use and bills).

Case study

Greenwatt Way development has number of features focused on energy strategy to meet the Code level 6 for sustainable houses. This includes, MVHR system; rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling systems to provide water for toilet flush, irrigation and car washing; solar panels which provides renewable electricity for homes; air source heat pumps, ground sours heat pumps, biomass boiler, which all three of them works independently to demonstrate it can work separately and generate enough heat to fit the zero carbon standards; smart metering, etc. 

References:

'Greenwatt way' [Online] Availabe at: http://www.thisisconcrete.co.uk/home_page/case_studies/greenwatt_way.aspx [Accessed at 17th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt Way. A zero carbon homes newbuild case study’, 2011. Energy saving trust.

 ‘Greenwatt way’ [Online] Available at: http://www.house-builder.co.uk/documents/WILFORD-Chris.pdf [Accessed at 17th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt way’ [Online] Available at: http://blog.emap.com/footprint/2011/10/13/a-visit-to-prps-greenwatt-way/ [Accessed at 18^th of November, 2013]

Energy saving trust, 2011. ‘Here comes the sun: a field trial of solar water heating systems’. 
Energy saving trust, 2010. 'Getting warmer: a field trial of heating pumps'

Ventilation

Ventilation - change of air by natural (passive) or mechanical (active) means to and from space or spaces in a building. Also, it could mean a control of thermal comfort in a building as well.



According to the Approved documents Part F, 'ventilation is required for one or more of the following purposes:
a. provision of outside air for breathing
b. dilution or removal of airborne pollutants, including odours
c. control of excess  humidity (arising from the water vapour in the indoor  air)
d. provision  of air for the fuel-burning appliances.'



Types of ventilation:

Natural ventilation - it depends on pressure between the inside and outside the building. Difference of the pressure appears because of the temperature changes, wind strength, people activity etc. Natural ventilation does not require any ductwork, fans, conditioners. The fresh air flow gets in and out through the windows, louvres, grills, air leakage paths (thermal bridges). Natural ventilation has both good and bad sides. It is energy efficiency system which lets the fresh air enter the building, however, it is not always controllable and may cause heat loss.

Mechanical ventilation - is a system which use electricity to move the fans, drawn the fresh air through the ducts inside the building and collect the existing air out of the room and exhaust it outside. Mechanical ventilation, also, has its own advantages and disadvantages. Even though it does not cause so much heat loss as natural ventilation, it consumes energy to operate the system.

Mechanical extract ventilation 

There are 2 types of mechanical ventilation:

Mechanical extract ventilation (MEV) - this system should be installed in all 'wet' rooms. It continuously extracts moist air from bathrooms and kitchens and takes it through the ducts into the outside. Then the air into the 'wet' rooms are replaced by the fresh one which comes through the background ventilators (doors, windows etc), through thermal bridging and building fabric.
Advantages: provides controllable ventilation
Disadvantages: Heat loss, requires space for ducting, might be quite noisy if the unit is installed not properly.

Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery

Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) - the same as the MEV, the MVHR should be installed into all 'wet' rooms. Both systems work very similarly, only before passing through the outlet the moist air goes through exchanger, where the heat is transferred  to the fresh air which is ducted to the other rooms.
Advantages: Provides controllable ventilation, reduce heat loss, provides air filtration
Disadvantages: Expensive, complex installation which requires a lot of space, filters needs to be changed regularly, requires a high lever of airtightness.




Case study

Greenwatt Way - zero carbon house with integrated natural and mechanical ventilation.

Natural ventilation - roof opening and windows with large openings helps to drawn warm air out of the house during the hot summer time, when overheating becomes an issue in highly insulated dwellings.

Mechanical ventilation - in order to preclude natural/passive ventilation and heat loss the mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system was installed.

References: 

'Greenwatt way' [Online] Availabe at: http://www.thisisconcrete.co.uk/home_page/case_studies/greenwatt_way.aspx [Accessed at 17th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt Way. A zero carbon homes newbuild case study’, 2011. Energy saving trust.

 ‘Greenwatt way’ [Online] Available at: http://www.house-builder.co.uk/documents/WILFORD-Chris.pdf [Accessed at 17th of November, 2013]

Richards Partington Architects, 2012. ‘Understanding overheating – where to start’ NHBC Foundation

Zero Carbon Hub, ‘Overheating in homes’ [Online] Available at: http://www.zerocarbonhub.org/resourcefiles/OverheatingInHomes8pp_2013_8March.pdf [Accessed at 17th of November, 2013]

Zero Carbon hub, 2013 ‘Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in new homes’ NHBC Foundations

Building Regulations, Approved Documents Part F, 2010 [Online] Available at: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partf/approved [Accessed at 17th of November, 2013]
'Different types of building ventilation'[Online] Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-building-ventilation.htm [Accessed at 17th of November, 2013]

Overheating

Nowadays planners, designers and property owners has to face new difficulties. Appears to be growing evidence of overheating in homes, as the new houses satisfy more demanding standards of energy efficiency. Additionally, climate change leads to global temperature rise which affects home temperature as well. Overheating can cause a discomfort or sometimes over longer periods can be harmful to occupants, in extreme cases even put there life at risk. People who are more likely to be occupying their homes during the hottest periods at the day (daytime), are most vulnerable to overheating, such as the elderly or sick.

Overheating – it is conditions in building, when the warmth cause discomfort and heat stress to occupants. After some tests was found out that most people begin to feel ‘warm’ at 25C and ‘hot’ at 28C, above internal temperature of 35C there is a significant danger of heat stress.

External gains

Sunlight through the windows heats the interior surfaces. This heat remains trapped inside the building. It works the same as greenhouse, thus sometimes the process is called ‘greenhouse effect’. On the new built dwellings the ‘greenhouse effect’ is even bigger. Modern houses with double or triple glazed windows and high insulation will tend to retain the heat indoors and allow it to build up. On winter time it will help to keep the warmth inside the building, however, on summer period it can cause overheating.

Internal gains

Inside the well-insulated and poorly ventilated houses internal heat gains can have serious consequences. There are 4 types of internal gains:

Occupants and their activities – people inside the house emit the heat in form of ‘metabolic’ gains. More people move, more energy (in form of heat) they radiate into the environment. Also, all the activities like cooking, bathing, showering contribute to heat gains.

Appliances – fridges, washing machines, TV’s, computers, microwaves etc emits heat even in standby mode.

 

Building services – mechanical ventilation system, hot water distribution and storage systems poorly insulated can have a massive impact on heat emission inside the building.

Lightening – even low energy lights can add heat gains.

Other factors which might increase overheating

Site context – if house is surrounded by noisy objects like busy roads, industrial buildings, railways etc it may prevent occupants from opening the windows enough for ventilation. Also, the temperature is always higher in cities to compare with the rural environment.

Orientation – it makes a significant impact on solar gains. Houses with large amount of west-facing windows will gain more heat than the ones facing north.

Building designs – Modern houses are high insulated, which means that the heat gains are retained inside and needs to be removed actively seeking to avoid overheating.

Ways to reduce the overheating

There are many ways to reduce the overheating such as:

Orientation – intentionally selected orientation can help to control solar heat gains.

Shading – It is effective way to reduce the sun heat gains only by using curtains, blinds, shutters. Also fencing and planting could work as valuable shades for the house.

Purge ventilation

Cooling ventilation strategies – homes with the installed ventilation systems (including purge ventilation) helps to release heat from the inside the building. However, occupants should have great knowledge how to use it, to avoid heat loss.

Heat reflective finishes – light colour finishes, reflective or green/brown roof has a huge impact on keeping temperatures down.

Appliances – trying to use energy efficiency appliances at home, do not keep them turned on when not using etc

Lighting – use low energy light bulbs, do not keep lights on when not in use. 

Case study

Again for the case study I will use Greenwatt Way development. As I have already mentioned on my previous posts all the houses on this development are well-insulated and heat loss parameters achieved requirements of Code for sustainable homes level 6 (0.8W/m2K). However, such a low heat loss might cause overheating problems, especially on summer time. Thus, it is essential to find some ways to get rid of warmth inside. For this, the high level rooflight was installed to ensure a good purge ventilation. Moreover, high performance triple glazed windows with draught resistant seals allow larger openings fore natural ventilation. Finally, whole house ventilation with heat recovery, which allows fresh, pre-heated air get into all living areas and bedrooms.

References:

'Greenwatt way' [Online] Availabe at: http://www.thisisconcrete.co.uk/home_page/case_studies/greenwatt_way.aspx [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt Way. A zero carbon homes newbuild case study’, 2011. Energy saving trust.

Historic Scotland Alba Aosmhor. ‘Fabric improvements for energy efficiency in traditional buildings’ [Online] Availabe at: http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/fabric_improvements.pdf [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt way’ [Online] Available at: http://www.house-builder.co.uk/documents/WILFORD-Chris.pdf [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

‘Fabric first’, October edition, 2010. Energy saving trust

Richards Partington Architects, 2012. ‘Understanding overheating – where to start’ NHBC Foundation

Grater London Authority, 2008. ‘Your home is in a changing climate’ [Online] Available at: http://www.ukcip.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/PDFs/3Regions_Retrofitting.pdf [Accessed at 16th of November, 2013]

Zero Carbon Hub, ‘Overheating in homes’ [Online] Available at: http://www.zerocarbonhub.org/resourcefiles/OverheatingInHomes8pp_2013_8March.pdf [Accessed at 16th of November, 2013]

Thermal Bridging

Thermal bridge (cold bridge) – a junction where thermal insulation is not continuously and cause heat loss (air leakages). It usually occurs when structural element passes through insulation layer or the insulation is not thick enough where two construction elements meet.

Repeating thermal bridges

Repeating thermal bridges occurs where the structural elements with the low thermal conductivity repetitive cross the higher thermal conductivity layers. For example, timber studs bridge the layer of insulation, steel wall ties in the masonry cavity external wall, mortar joints in lightweight concrete blockwork (because the mortar has higher thermal conductivity compared with the blocks). These should be included when calculating within the main building element U-values.

Non-repeating thermal bridges

This mostly appears around loft hatches, around openings (doors, windows), where internal walls or floors penetrate the thermal envelope, etc. These bridges should be considered separately from main building element U-values.

Geometric thermal bridges

Geometric thermal bridges are result of complex building shape. They can be 2-dimentional or 3-dimentional, depending on where they occur. Mostly geometric thermal bridges appears at the junction of wall/roof, at the corner of external walls, at the wall/floor junction.

Building Regulations

At the part L1A of Approved Documents it is said that ‘The building fabric should be constructed to a reasonable standard so that:
a. the insulation is reasonably continuous over the whole building envelope; and
b. the air permeability is within reasonable limits.’

Ways to avoid thermal bridging

• Keep the house design as simple as possible. The smaller external area and amount of junctions the less air leakage routes in the house.

• Where possible, do not interrupt the thermal envelope (Do pen on section test to check if there is no passes through the insulation).

• If the thermal envelope is interrupted by water pipes, vents, windows, doors, etc, thermal resistance in the insulation should be as high as possible.
• At the junctions of building elements there should be no gaps
• For regular thermal bridges such as wall ties or mortar joints, the fabric been used should be high thermal resistance.

To conclude thermal bridging has a significant impact on the thermal and energy performance. New build houses (sustainable/zero carbon) are highly insulated, so, any heat loss is essential when trying to achieve the highest U-values.

Case study


For example I will use the same Greenwatt way development as for my previous posts.





The houses were design with very carefully detailing to avoid air leaking. For this they used special tapes and seals, done airtightness testing through the construction process, etc. Nevertheless, they had to deal with few challenges, such as north facing roof light/natural ventilation, which penetrates the ceiling cassette and cause heat loss. It needed to be very well insulated. The most difficult to insulate was 1 bedroom flat above the bin and bicycle store as the dwelling has 4 external walls, an exposed floor and an exposed roof. Also, in order to achieve high air tightness levels, post boxes had to be taken out from the design, external mailboxes are used instead.

Insulated roof light/natural ventilation

The balconies are supported on an independent structure to avoid thermal bridging

As a result, all these houses has a very limited heating demand 80% less than homes built to 2006 Building Regulation standards and 90% less than a typical existing home.

References:

'Greenwatt way' [Online] Availabe at: http://www.thisisconcrete.co.uk/home_page/case_studies/greenwatt_way.aspx [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt Way. A zero carbon homes newbuild case study’, 2011. Energy saving trust.

Historic Scotland Alba Aosmhor. ‘Fabric improvements for energy efficiency in traditional buildings’ [Online] Availabe at: http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/fabric_improvements.pdf [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt way’ [Online] Available at: http://www.house-builder.co.uk/documents/WILFORD-Chris.pdf [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

‘Fabric first’, October edition, 2010. Energy saving trust

Richards Partington Architects, 2012. ‘Understanding overheating – where to start’ NHBC Foundation

‘Thermal bridging’ [Online] Available at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/teaching/vsite/low_carbon_housing/thermal_bridging/introduction/index.htm [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

Row, M., 2012, ‘Thermal bridge- what is it and how to avoid? [Online] Available at: http://www.insulationshop.co/Thermal_bridge_-_What_is_it_and_how_to_avoid%20_it [Accessed at 15th of November, 2013]

Heat loss. Building fabric performance.

As I already mention on my previous post, UK Government set the climate change targets to reduce the CO2 emission by at least 80% by 2050 for the UK’s housing stock. The ways to do this, build completely new zero carbon houses or refurbish already built dwellings and improve its energy efficiency. Both, refurbished and new built houses, has to face the same challenges: heat loss reduction, prevention of overheating and integration of low carbon technologies.

This time, I will cover only heat loss problems.  

Heat loss from a dwelling could be separated into two main categories:

Fabric heat loss – heat loss which is transmitted through the materials of the building.

Ventilation heat loss – heat loss through the ventilation and openings.

Building fabric performance

Traditional buildings are considered to be built in 20^th century by using load-bearing masonry wall, with pitched, slate (or another natural roofing material) covered roof. Windows are generally single glazed with timber frame. Houses have timber and lime plaster finishes. However, these houses do not produce a good thermal insulation as the materials been used has a high U-value (the measure of heat lost. The lower the number of U-value, the better thermal insulation). To reduce heat loss in these houses we need to improve fabric performance which requires a good knowledge about materials.

 

Stone. It is strong, durable and low carbon building material. Stone was one of the first building materials. It is strong in compression and weak in tension. Mostly it is used for load-bearing walls and columns. Dimension stone – crushed stone can be used as flooring, exterior cladding, solid surfaces and walls. However, stone as material does not have high thermal performance, which means that the better insulation would be required.

Timber. It is easy material to work with, strong in both tension and compression, sustainable and has high thermal resistance. Thus, timber frame is widely used in new zero carbon house construction. However it has some disadvantages, for example, it is moisture sensible material which, according to the weather conditions, change its shape and size. It is not suitable for high structures, because of its limited strength. Also, it has low fire resistance and an extra protection should be taken to avoid rotting.

Steel. It is very strong material which can be used in both residential and commercial/industrial construction. It has high fire resistance and is 100% recyclable material. Nevertheless, steel is good heat/cold conductor. It can absorb heat and release to cooler space, if not well insulated. This, also, means that the U-value of the steel is really high. It is not easy to manipulate steel, all the parts for the structure should be made accurately off site. Also, steel can be damaged by weather conditions, and it starts corrode. To prevent this, steel needs to be painted, plated or galvanized.

Bricks. Strong in compression, easy to care, affordable material. Nowadays, there is already sustainable type bricks such as wool bricks. But, to build a brick work requires more time than timber or steel construction and high workmanship.

Concrete. It is, as well, strong and cheap material and can be made with different characteristics for different proposes. For construction mostly used reinforced concrete (made by pouring concrete over steel mesh/bars). Nevertheless, but concrete is not very sustainable material. It is energy intensive to make and transport, and produces a significant amount of greenhouse gas emission. Also, it is poor insulator.

Glass. It is stable material, long-lasting, efficient and recyclablematerial. Nowadays, seeking to reach the high U-values is used double or triple glazing. Glass in an expensive material and energy-intensive in production.

Plastic. It is light and durable material resistant to damp and pests. Plastic does not decompose which might be both advantage and disadvantage. However, plastic can be recycled, but by doing this more harmful gasses can be released.

Wool. It used for insulation in new and retrofit homes. It is stable, durable material. It is renewable and potentially recyclable depending on blended content.

Straw. Can be used as wall insulation in new houses. It is renewable material with quite low U-value, however, not very stable of the low resistance to moisture. Thus, the protection from moisture is a critical requirement.

Cellulose is ‘green’ material made of 80% post-consumer recycled newspaper and is treated with non-toxic borate compounds which makes material fire, rot and pests resistant. It has low U-value and is mostly used for ceiling and wall insulation for retrofit houses. Cellulose insulation is non-recyclable material and not very long-lasting as the thickness may decline over time.

I have mentioned only few main materials that are used in construction. However, to conclude I can say, there is no perfect material to prevent the heat loss totally. The best way is to combine few materials and make a new strong construction. For retrofit homes, the only solution is to install better insulation.

Heat loss though the ventilation

The highest rate of heat loss are through the natural ventilation such as openings, cracks in structure, droughts and thermal bridges. All this appears because of poor insulation and workmanship. To reduce this, draught proofing is required around the windows, doors, water pipes and tanks. Also, all the cracks and thermal bridges in the structure needs to be fixed. Moreover, instead of using simple mechanic extract ventilation, install mechanic ventilation with heat recovery which prevents heat lost in air change between inside and outside. 

Case study

Greenwatt Way development of zero carbon homes – a total of 10 new dwellings has been constructed since autumn of 2010 in Chalvey, Slough, United Kingdom.



Construction consist of 2 different wall types: masonry and timber frame.

Masonry construction:

20mm of rendering;

102.5 brickwork;

150mm fully filled cavity;

100mm blockwork; 

8mm render coat; 

65mm ThermalLine board;

Total wall thickness 445,5mm

Timber frame construction:

102mm brickwork;

50mm vented cavity;

10mm OSB panel;

2x100mm fibre insulation;

10mm OSB panel;

25mm vertical battens;

15mm plasterboard;

Total wall thickness 412mm

Both reached identical U values (0.12 W/m2K). The roofs(covered with solar tiles) and floors achieve a U-value of 0.1 W/m2K. The ground floor has a floating screed on concrete slab and insulation. Windows are triple glazed (U= 0.8 W/m2K). Door's U-value is 0.88W/m2K.

Building Element	Greenwatt way	Code for sustainable homes level 6/zero carbon
Floor U-value	0.1	0.15
Roof U-value	0.1	0.13
Wall U-value	0.12	0.15
Window U-value	0.8	0.7
Door U-value	0.8	0.8

References:

‘Fabric first’, October edition, 2010. Energy saving trust.

'Greenwatt way' [Online] Availabe at: http://www.thisisconcrete.co.uk/home_page/case_studies/greenwatt_way.aspx [Accessed at 14th of November, 2013]

Fisett, P., 2005. ‘Cellulose installation a smart choice' [Online] Availabe at: http://bct.eco.umass.edu/publications/by-title/cellulose-insulation-a-smart-choice/ [Accessed at 14th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt Way. A zero carbon homes newbuild case study’, 2011. Energy saving trust.

‘Material characteristics’ [Online] Available at: http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/insulation/material-characteristics [Accessed at 14th of November, 2013]

Historic Scotland Alba Aosmhor. ‘Fabric improvements for energy efficiency in traditional buildings’ [Online] Availabe at: http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/fabric_improvements.pdf [Accessed at 14th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt way’ [Online] Available at: http://www.house-builder.co.uk/documents/WILFORD-Chris.pdf [Accessed at 14th of November, 2013] 

Climate change. Site context, topography, orientation.

Currently, climate change is a major issue in society. By using non-renewable energy and burning fossil fuel, Carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted into the atmosphere. This effects the environment and causes natural disasters such as floods, heat waves and extremely cold winter to occur. About 30-40% of CO2 emission comes from the housing. Therefore, targets have been set by the Government for UK housing. This would help reduce the harm done to the climate. The main goals are to reduce the CO2 emission to at least 80% by 2050 and also, design all new dwellings to be zero carbon by 2016.

The well-chosen building location, orientation and well-researched topography leads to the successful zero carbon house development.

Site context

Site context consists of all elements that might influence the building. It is important to consider site location, surrounding objects, weather conditions, local culture and politics and accessibility before starting the design. It might affect building shape, choice of materials, building technology, energy efficiency strategies, etc. 

Location

It is essential to know the purpose of the construction, for example, residential construction, student apartments, hotel, offices, warehouse, factor, etc. This will let us to choose the most suitable area for the development. Our decision leads to the choice of the different environments: rural or urban. However, those two sectors can be divided into more different areas, which depend on various factors. This includes:

•         Security
•      Locality
•         Population
•         Ethnics
•        Pollution
•        Habitats

For example, student accommodation possibly be built not far from university and city centre, with easy access to public transport close to the pubs and cafes. When family house more likely be outside the city centre, with less noise pollution, close to the local shops and schools, but with the easy access to the public transport as well. 

Weather conditions

All the elements that might affect the construction are closely related. Thus, weather conditions depend on the location. Site could be on coastal area, green fields vice versa shaded by trees or other buildings (especially in the cities)Also, in the North, where the weather is cooler or the south, where it is warmer. By knowing these parameters it is much easier to make a proper design. For example, the better insulation is required for houses on the coastal areas as the humidity is higher, as well as, the risk of flood. Houses without any shading such as trees, hills or other buildings are exposed by environmental loads. It means that more attention should be given to structure of the building, insulation and ventilation as it will have to resist stronger winds, bigger amount of precipitations and direct sun light. On the other hand, if the house design would be well-consider, all these natural resources could be used as renewable energy to provide electricity, heating and water supplies by installing solar panels, rainwater harvesting system and wind turbine.  Weather conditions in cities are a bit different and more difficult to understand. Artificial structures affect wind flows, the direction of sun light and the amount of precipitation. However, with the good design it is still possible to make the wind, sun and rain ‘work’ for us.  

Local culture and politics

Design is highly dependent on local culture and politics. Designer has to be introduced with local culture and environment, because every culture has its own values and styles of housing. Different cultures prefer various materials, building technologies, designs, etc. For instant, if East Asian style houses (timber frame, light materials, bright colours, with lots of patterns on the walls, slide doors inside) be built in Birmingham City Centre, UK, where most of the dwellings are made of strong material (mostly masonry/timber frame construction with brick cladding) there won’t be potential buyers as the construction won’t look heavy and secure.

Nevertheless, the politic influence is more important than cultural. When building the house, designer has to full-fill all the requirements the Government had approved. This includes: Building Regulations, Code for Sustainable Houses, etc. Without achieving all the standards, there is no possibility to begin the project.

Topography

If site is flat, it won’t have any influence on the layout of the building. However, if it is sloping it will have a significant impact on the design. A slop of the site or of the adjacent site might block the sun light and the view. All this could cause and additional construction cost as the earthworks will be needed and it might damage the environment. Also if the development site is near the sea or river, it is on a high risk of flood, which again requires some changes for the foundations and insulation.

Orientation

Site orientation refers to sun path - the sun position changes according to the seasonal periods and time. Sun path determinates the position of house front, windows, and shading. The knowledge of the sun path is essential when taking a decision about solar panels, natural lighting, shading and green roofs which are the features of sustainable housing.

Case study

Greenwatt Way development of zero carbon homes – a total of 10 new dwellings has been constructed since autumn of 2010 in Chalvey, Slough, United
Kingdom.

Location. Site is located in urban area surrounded by other residential housing. However entire development seems a bit separated from the neighbourhood as it is fenced with metal rail (which helps to improve the security).

Weather conditions. Site is in the south of the UK. According to the weather observation records it is the one of the sunniest inland city in the UK. This only confirms that the solar tile roof was well deliberated. The rainfall rates are not very high compared with other cities, however it is enough for the usage of the rainwater harvesting system.

Topography. The site was flat, which means it did not required any changes.

Orientation. Only 2 of 10 houses have south facing façade. Other 8 houses are facing east/west side. All houses has south facing roof covered with solar tiles and north facing roof light which also works as a natural ventilation in summer.

To sum up, the accurate information about the site details could help to improve the design of development and make it sustainable. That is why all the sustainable house developments are unique.

References:

'Greenwatt way' [Online] Availabe at: http://www.thisisconcrete.co.uk/home_page/case_studies/greenwatt_way.aspx [Accessed at 13th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt Way. A zero carbon homes newbuild case study’, 2011. Energy saving trust.

Historic Scotland Alba Aosmhor. ‘Fabric improvements for energy efficiency in traditional buildings’ [Online] Availabe at: http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/fabric_improvements.pdf [Accessed at 13th of November, 2013]

‘Greenwatt way’ [Online] Available at: http://www.house-builder.co.uk/documents/WILFORD-Chris.pdf [Accessed at 13th of November, 2013]

Suncalc [Online] Available at: http://www.suncalc.net/#/51.508,-0.125,2/2013.11.12/17:29 [Accessed at 13th of November, 2013]

Weather statistics [Online] Available at: http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Northern_Ireland/Slough-na-more/statistics.html [Accessed at 13th of November, 2013]