The client wanted a simple, inexpensive eco home which could accommodate her family, would cost very little to run and would provide a variety of sun filled rooms, interesting spaces and plenty of locations for exhibiting art and floral displays.
Buildings & Energy Efficiency Award Winner
This private house was designed to have very low energy usage and is constructed using an exceptionally well insulated masonry and concrete structure, triple glazed windows, air source heat pump and is carefully orientated to make the most of the solar gains and to maximise the electricity generating roof panels.
Client: Mrs J Usher
Value: £240,000
Completed: 2014
Location: West Kirby, Wirral
This uncomplicated building uses a combination of tried and tested construction techniques along with some modern heating and ventilation technology to give very good performance and exceptionally low running costs. It is a lovely house to live in with high ceilings and comfortable spaces. It was not expensive to construct.
After 2 years of continuous occupation the total energy usage has been just 3453kWhrs per year, almost completely offset by the generation of 3338kWhrs of electricity from the solar panels on the roof. No overheating occurred during the summer months. The building is performing almost 4 times better than the Passivhaus standard that it was designed to exceed. For further details visit the technical performance web page.
The house has now been occupied for 2 1/2 years and the energy cost for heating, lighting, hot water and cooking was less than £20 per year for this period.
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