HPH309 : Keeping costs down by embracing simplicity – with Kirk Rushby and Polly Upton

December 1, 2021 by Ben Leave a Comment

Architects Polly Upton and Kirk Rushby explain how they used their expertise to deliver a striking, high performance home for a very reasonable budget.

Interview with Polly Upton and Kirk Rushby

Having worked at top sustainable architecture practice Architype for many years, Kirk Rushby and Polly Upton were well placed to tackle a Passivhaus project, but bided their time for the right opportunity.

Keeping their cost base low gave them a head-start

Buying a house that they could easily afford in their early years at Architype meant that as their salaries increased their costs did not and so they were able to save money each month. Ultimately this put them in a strong position with cash to hand.

They never stopped considering the opportunities

Even though most plots they found were beyond their financial reach they didn't give up, instead considering various opportunities and thinking that maybe in 5 years or so things might slot into place. Thus anything they learn about the process or sites now might help them down the road.

However, this persistence paid off sooner than they imagined.

They were prepared to take on a plot with challenges

After looking at a few sites they came back to one that had been on the market a while. On the edge of a village, it afforded views to the hills beyond… but there were some drawbacks. The key challenge was access, which was via a low tunnel under the railway. This would make bringing materials to site tricky.

Also being down a private road there were numerous potholes and there was going to be some noise from the railway line.

While this might have been putting other people off, Polly and Kirk felt they could address these challenges. For example, just building to Passivhaus standard would have big acoustic advantages inside the house and eliminate most of the noise from the railway line.

Reducing the floor area helped them keep to budget

The site came with outline planning consent which was perfect for them, as architects, because they could design their own house.

With a fixed budget they had to make sure they had enough money for the project and could see it through. This is where their architectural background came into its own. They started with a rough cost per square metre figure and then went into more detail of how they were going to build it and what each of those elements would cost.

When they couldn't afford it, they reduced the house size and started again

“We designed a 160 square metre house and then we realised that we probably couldn't afford that. And then we realised that maybe we didn't even need it. So we shaved about 30 square metres off and didn't really feel like we lost anything.”

This refinement was an ace up their sleeve. They reached a natural point where if they made the house any smaller then it would become difficult to make the space planning work.

‘Upside down' living was an easy choice

Sharing a similar work experience the core decisions were easy. They wanted to have bedrooms on the ground floor and the living space above (where the views would be better). They planned to use timber frame, which was familiar to them and would also be more practical for delivering to site.

It was the smaller decisions like choosing the wall finishes that prompted more discussion!

The house has a ‘warm' roof

Where some people might have a cold loft space, Kirk and Polly opted to keep the top ‘half storey' of the house within the thermal envelope, giving them more usable space. This is where there office is situated and also where you get the best view.

Each window opening was carefully considered

Polly and Kirk wanted a window arrangement where each window was just the opening.

This meant balancing up daylighting, views, solar gains and cross ventilation (through the openings on the east and west) while also trying to avoid complexity.

On the south side they decided to have a couple of larger windows which would not open. This would be cheaper, as well, plus they didn't need these windows for cross ventilation purposes.

With the main view out to the west they came up with a manual shading strategy for their big door involving roller shutters.

Justifying the cladding choice was the main planning hurdle

Getting full planning permission was fairly straightforward. In fact the main discussion with the planner was over the corrugated metal cladding for the walls and roof.

“We had to convince the planner about the detailing and provide some precedents to show it wasn't going to look like a big agricultural, clunky shed and it was going to be quite refined.”

The non-concrete foundation worked well

With the constraints of the site they wanted to avoid the stress of a concrete delivery. So they took advice from Passivhaus specialist Nick Grant and structural engineer Andrew Collinson about using a compacted gravel foundation.

They weren't afraid to pull in favours

Initially Polly and Kirk didn't know their neighbours or have friends in the area but as time went by they felt more comfortable with getting support when they needed it. Whether it was paying the farmer to help with his telehandler or asking the local builders' merchants to receive a timber deliver, it made life easier and kept the costs down.

Polly's brother Matt built the house

Enlisting a family member to be your builder can be fraught with danger, but both Polly and Kirk felt Matt was right for the job. Polly knew he was a hard worker, who plans well, knows the building industry and is cheeky when negotiating with suppliers. His ‘can do' attitude also goes a long way.

This was to be his first full house build although he'd done a large extension before.

There were nightly meetings!

As Matt didn't live nearby he stayed with Polly and Kirk during the week. That meant that there'd be intense discussions about what was going to happen the next day, the next week or the next month.

Polly's dad and a couple of Matt's friends were the only other workers through the project.

Getting services connected took ages

The build took 15 months and during most of this time Matt was without power.

“We started trying to get the ball rolling the summer before we started building. And we didn't get the last telephone line in until we'd already moved in so it took a long, long time.”

Kirk believes the utilities companies don't have the same sense of urgency that you do. Plus there were agreements with third parties to arrange, which all takes time.

Luckily Matt was able to crack on under battery power and using an extension cable from a friendly neighbour. This was yet another advantage of a dry construction method.

Supply chain issues impacted on some decisions

Building through the pandemic there were some big supply chain issues. This meant that they had to think on their feet. Fitting out the interior was subject to what was available at the time so being flexible really helped.

The design of the house helps avoid overheating

The house has been really comfortable through their first summer. Even when it got up to 31C outside, at the top of the house inside it was only 25C. So the design of the house, with its roof overhang and shutters, does the work.

Polly comments: “You learn that at about one o'clock, you need to close the shutters on the big west door.”

The programme is subject to real life

Kirks suggests that amongst the things he'd like to do differently would be to make the programme more straightforward. However, the reality of it is that there are delays with some things and you have to fill the time with other jobs you can do.

Find out more

Visit the website of Architype

Follow Polly Upton on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of this episode

Please connect with me

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes

Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher

Like our Facebook page

HPH301 : Energy | People | Buildings – with Hattie Hartman

April 21, 2021 by Lucy Cowell Leave a Comment

Hattie Hartman, Sustainability Editor at the Architects' Journal, shares insights from her new book Energy, People, Buildings.

Interview with Hattie Hartman

Hattie is an architect and sustainability editor at the Architects' Journal, but by her own admission didn't have a conventional route into the profession. She attended university in the 1970s wanting to change the world and thinking that working in politics or studying law was the way to go about it. However, a course on renaissance architectural history, and some inspirational teachers, changed her thinking and set her off on a path into architecture and journalism.

Together with Judit Kimpian and Sofie Pelsmakers, Hattie is co-author of Energy | People | Buildings – Making Sustainable Architecture Work. She also hosts the Climate Champions podcast.

Architecture is fundamentally about people

Hattie admits it is incredibly challenging to design a really good building and says that ultimately it is about understanding how buildings really work, to make them comfortable and good for the people occupying them.

She says that sustainable architecture has typically had a reputation for “doing with less”, but it doesn't have to be about doing without, rather doing things differently in a lean way. Hedonistic sustainability is one such idea that promotes sustainability which actively improves the quality of life and human enjoyment.

The book is based on the collection of feedback

Judit Kimpian approached Hattie to collaborate with her on their book, Energy | People | Buildings – Making Sustainable Architecture Work, before also inviting Sofie Pelsmakers to work with them. It is a RIBA Publishing book that Hattie says is aimed at design professionals, engineers, students, and people that operate buildings.

Hattie says that Judit knows everything that there is that can and does go wrong with how buildings operate, based on Innovate UK building performance studies that she worked on, and this work formed the basis for the book.

An important takeaway from the book is that feedback isn't something that you just do at the end. It has to be built into the whole process right from the beginning.

“When you keep track of all the things that are going to impact a building's performance from the beginning, and you have buy-in, not only from the whole design team and the client, but from the contractor, and the real critical point is you write that into the procurement. You can actually track these things and make sure that buildings perform, and you can troubleshoot, and you can find problems and solve them quickly before they become huge, expensive things to sort out or lawsuits.

Cost of monitoring is not a barrier if planned for from the outset

If left to the end then it can incur additional time and expenditure to find and collate the data, but when it's been planned from the outset it can be a minute cost in terms of the overall budget for the building. An example Hattie gives is if the energy meters are part of the contractor's responsibility, then the right meters will be installed and any problems will be sorted out immediately. This scenario is preferable to the alternative which could be the wrong meters being installed, they're not properly commissioned and you can't get the right data from them.

Architype are leading the way at making building performance standard practice

Architype has spent several years developing their work processes, training their staff, carrying out research projects, and working with a PhD student to bring the expertise in-house. This investment and dedication mean clients are now approaching them, asking for a building that will perform.

A case study from the book is the Enterprise Centre in East Anglia, which Ben himself has visited and describes being asked for details when signing-in on arrival about how far he had travelled, what vehicle he was driving etc, in order to be added to the data about the carbon footprint of the building. Hattie credits the Enterprise Centre for being a visionary client and explains that none of this is hard, it just needs to be made a priority.

Learn more about thatching in our podcast with Stephen Letch

©DennisGilbert/VIEW
Enterprise Centre at UEA

The operational performance gap needs to be reduced

Hattie points to ACAN's recent report about the role of embodied carbon in buildings as being an excellent resource in explaining what needs to be done to regulate that, which is an important part of getting to net-zero. And she says equally important is the operational performance gap which still needs a lot of improvement. Their book sets out a demystifying process of how to get to grips with the operational emissions of buildings,

Integrated design is crucial

Hattie stresses the importance of getting all the expertise around the table right at the start, before anything has even been sketched, to think about the passive design and the fabric of the building. Even for a small project like a house extension, having that expertise can reduce the embodied carbon by perhaps opting for timber solutions over steel or concrete. That expertise can also be continually revisiting and challenging the design decisions along the way.

Carrowbreck Meadow features in Energy | People | Buildings

You can't know where you are unless you have targets

The book has a section about targets, and while Hattie agrees that targets will change and perhaps become out of date, it is important to have them and be measuring to get an idea for how you're doing.

Technology in buildings needs to be tested and understood

There are benefits to keeping things simple and, with added technology, there can be more things to go wrong. For example, Architype used to use lots of actuators on windows, but now try to keep them to a strict minimum. The more that can be done manually the better!

There is a learning curve for everyone!

One of Hattie's podcast guests is Sarah Wigglesworth, an architect committed to sustainable design for many years and who built her straw bale house 20 years ago. At that time sustainable design was more about a “loose fit” and the building wasn't designed with airtightness or thermal bridges in mind. When it came to retrofitting she worked with an environmental consultancy and spent many months measuring and collating data to come up with a prioritised checklist of things that they could do to improve the building.

With so many buildings in the country that need retrofitting, it shows that if you don't measure then you don't know what the priorities are.

Feedback is important for future improvements

Hattie says that quite often architects don't want to know how well their buildings are performing (or under-performing!) or indeed make their clients aware because there can be a question of liability. She was pleased however to have case studies in the book where people were willing to share what hadn't gone to plan and where things could have been done differently. She says this is the only way to be able to make future improvements.

The podcast and book aim to make a technical subject accessible

Hattie hosts the Architects' Journal's new Climate Champions Podcast. And while she says she's pretty sure that it's mostly people who are already interested in the subject that are listening, she's hopeful that the influence of people like Greta Thunberg and groups such as Architects Declare and the Architects Climate Action Network are helping to spread the message further and drive a real thirst for change.

Find out more

Check out the Climate Champions podcast

Follow Hattie Hartman on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Hattie Hartman.

Please connect with me

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes

Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher

Like our Facebook page

HPH210 : A future-proof contemporary eco home – with Liz and Mike Hill

March 9, 2018 by Lucy Cowell Leave a Comment

Liz and Mike Hill explain the decisions behind the design of their contemporary eco home.

Interview with Liz and Mike Hill

When Liz and Mike decided to downsize from their family home they took the opportunity to divide their existing plot and build on the land.

They selected their architect based on which one helped to develop their brief

Ultimately their desire was for a sustainable property with functional and well-utilised spaces that worked better for their hobbies and for working from home.

They produced an architect's brief outlining what they wanted in terms of size, number of rooms and how they wanted to use the spaces, but soon realised that what they were looking for wasn't available within their budget.

Some of the architects they approached took their brief very literally and presented them with an unaffordable option based on what they had asked for. After narrowing it down to two local companies who had experience of Passivhaus, they selected Architype, who had said “we hear what you say, but what about these as alternatives?” That process of dialogue between them led to designs they wouldn't have expected when they started the process, but which they feel actually work very well for them.

The house is designed to utilise all of the spaces

It was important for Liz and Mike to future-proof their home with the ability to accommodate elderly relatives if needed. They wanted a ground floor bedroom that could be converted into a bedsit with same level, wheelchair access to a bathroom.

Liz was keen to buck the trend for totally open-plan living and wanted the kitchen to be separate from the living area so that noise, cooking smells and mess could be kept out of the way.

They opted for three large bedrooms which they could use as studies or double bedrooms/guest rooms. Although they had space for four or five bedrooms they didn't want guest rooms sitting empty for the majority of the time.

From the options that Architype presented them with, they chose a modern-looking design of two inter-locking cubes. The interesting design did mean more consideration about window sizes was needed for it to meet the Passivhaus standard and prevent overheating.

Early collaboration with the architect and builder was beneficial

Being local, Liz and Mike were aware of Mike Whitfield Construction, his work and his reputation, so didn't go out to tender for the job. He was involved even before they went to planning and the ongoing three-way dialogue between themselves, Mike and Architype meant they could work together at this early stage to have confidence they were designing something that could be built effectively. Investing this care and collaboration in the early stages ensured only minor tweaks were required throughout, and the final project came in within budget.

Groundworks lasted from the summer of 2015 through to the end of that year. The building work started in January 2016, with the house being waterproof within eight weeks, and they moved in during November 2016. It has a timber frame construction using I-beams and Warmcel insulation.

The house combines high-end and budget finishes

In some case Liz and Mike went with Mike Whitfield's suggestions, such as oak door with oak latch, which they feel have really added to the aesthetic of their home.

In other areas they researched finishes themselves and opted for more budget end items. What they were both surprised by was the sheer speed with which they needed to make decisions:

“And when you’re asked about a decision, you can’t go away and say, ‘I’ll think about it for a week.’ It’s a decision that has to be made then and there.”

Solar PV panels feed into the hot water tank

Although they were keen to have rainwater harvesting from the house, it didn't prove to be cost effective. Instead they are harvesting the rainwater from the garage and greenhouse which will be used outdoors.

They have solar PV panels on the roof which feed into the hot water tank when they produce an excess of electricity, and has meant that between March and October they haven't needed the boiler on at all.

In keeping with the history of the village having local orchards, they have planted an orchard area which also replaces some of the trees that had to be taken down for the build.

With the simple thermal envelope they don't have usable attic storage space. Instead the architects designed deep cupboards along the upstairs corridor and a walk-through library en-route to the study.

Liz and Mike are advocates for anyone wanting to build a sustainable home of their own. While they say it may have cost slightly more than a standard house, the long-term benefits in terms of energy saved means it more than pays for itself.

The other noticeable difference for them has been in terms of the air quality. Mike has found that he doesn't sneeze as often as in the old house and that the regular air changes make it feel much fresher.

Find out more

Visit Liz and Mike's blog

Visit Architype's website

Find out more about Mike Whitfield Construction

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Liz and Mike Hill.

The Hub update

We have a new video episode of the Buckinghamshire Passivhaus case study available to view for members in The Hub. Paul Jennings is carrying out the preliminary airtightness test and, not wanting to spoil the surprise too much, it's the best he has ever tested!

Please connect with me

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher
Like our Facebook page
Follow us on Twitter

HPH147 : A Passivhaus standard Q & A – with Elrond Burrell

September 21, 2016 by Lucy Cowell Leave a Comment

Architect Elrond Burrell provides answers to a few common questions that people have about the Passivhaus standard.

Interview with Elrond Burrell

As part of Ben Adam-Smith's video work, podcasts and meeting with other self builders, he is often asked questions about the Passivhaus standard that he doesn't know how to answer. He recently took the opportunity to put those questions to Elrond Burrell.

Born in New Zealand, Elrond has been working in the UK for the last 18 years. As well as being a qualified Architect and Associate at Architype, he writes a plain speaking and successful blog about Passivhaus, which has a global following. Before he returns to New Zealand we caught up with him to tap into his Passivhaus expertise, and also find out what his plans are for the future.

Is it necessary to have a heating system in a small Passivhaus?

This will depend on the specific heating demand of the project. It is possible on a very small project to get away with just a portable electric heater, bathroom heated towel rail or similar.

A risk of doing this is that if the house is sold or has different occupants they might not be fully aware of this and find that they do get a little cold on rare days of the year. Elrond suggests a more robust approach is to just put in a very small heating system.

Another thing to consider is that heating is only one part of the equation in terms of power consumption, and actually in a Passivhaus building, providing the hot water can quite often be a bigger heating load than providing the space heating.

“And so you tend to design a system that can provide all the hot water needs for the year, and have enough capacity in that to provide the small amount of heating that you might need in the cold days of the year.”

Why might you not want the heat source to be incorporated into the ventilation system?

Firstly, air only has the capacity to carry a certain amount of heat. Water and solid surfaces can carry and radiate much more heat than air can. If you need more heat than the air can provide then you can't do it all through the ventilation system.

Secondly, you need fresh air all of the time! In order to guarantee good quality, fresh, filtered air all year round, then you need the ventilation system running all the time. You don't necessarily want the heating system running all the time though. There may also be times when you want more heating than the ventilation can provide. Although there is some logic in combining them, they are two quite separate systems in a way.

To avoid overheating, can you integrate a cooling system into the house?

The Passivhaus standard allows for 15kW annually of heating per m², and likewise allows for the same of cooling if required. In a relatively mild climate like the UK you shouldn't need cooling if you're designing the building well. In much warmer climates you would expect that in a very efficient Passivhaus you may have a small amount of cooling, the same way you have a small amount of heating. Like the heating, it can be provided by the ventilation system or separately through a radiant or other cooling system.

In a Passivhaus project you wouldn't put something in as a ‘just in case' measure, because using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) software you can very accurately design and predict how the building will perform.

“So you shouldn’t be putting in stuff just for the eventuality that it might be needed and you should be designing it to get it so you don’t have that need.”

Does it make sense to have mechanical blinds to give you a sense of control?

More commonly used in Europe and the US than they are in the UK, Ben says that some of the people he comes across like to have the mechanical blinds to give them an extra bit of control. Elrond suggests that it is important for people to feel in control of their environment and that they can modify and change things if they wish to. They shouldn't feel that they're living in a house which they're not allowed to touch or interact with, so if people feel strongly about having the blinds then they should go with it.

Something to be wary of is if they're built within the window it can be an expensive operation to fix or replace them if something goes wrong.

“So it’s not something specific to Passivhaus but it’s more the approach a lot of people that come to Passivhaus want to take is really simplification and trying to avoid moving parts and things that might go wrong at a later stage.”

The power consumption and how they get detailed and built into the building will also need to be accounted for in the Passivhaus modelling.

How adaptive can the house be in terms of comfort?

Regarding temperature, this will come partly come down to the design of the building. The upstairs rooms are likely to be a little warmer so personal preference about whether to sleep in a cooler or warmer room may be a contributing factor to the design. And if heat is being delivered by the ventilation system then wherever the air is being delivered is going to be warmer than where it's being extracted from. If you're heating through a radiant rather than ventilation system, then these can be located in areas where you would want to feel warmer.

Another thing about adaptive comfort, which is in the Passivhaus Institute guidance, is ensuring that all occupied rooms have got windows that can be opened.

Future Projects

When Elrond returns to live in New Zealand in the near future he will be continuing with his blog at elrondburrell.com. He has also set up a new company, VIA architecture, and will be offering a ‘PHeasibility' service.

It is important to Elrond to embody his own personal values in the work he does. “So not just what looks like sustainability but what really counts in the details and in the putting it all together.” VIA architecture is based on the idea “that particularly using the Passivhaus standard we should be able to use architecture to transform the quality of peoples’ lives and so it’s really a process of using architecture to get to a good outcome. Whether it’s a really healthy, comfortable home, or a school or a business or what-have-you. And so architecture is kind of the process to get there rather than the end product in itself.”

The PHeasibility service involves Elrond taking early designs and running them through the PHPP in a basic way, before a commitment to employ a Passivhaus designer has been taken. It will give an indication for self builders or architects without Passivhaus experience, as to what might be involved, taking into account constraints and design, for the building to achieve the Passivhaus standard. It will look at the key aspects which determine if the fabric, orientation, windows etc are going to be of the required standard. They will then be better informed as to whether to pursue the certification.

Find out more about PHeasibility

Visit the PHeasibility website

Special offer: subscribers to Elrond's blog can get Pheasibility for £495 instead of the standard £745 if they book it in September or October. To subscribe to the blog (direct link to subscribe: http://elrondburrell.com/hph_subscribe) and then send an email to PHeasibility@elrondburrell.com

Find out more about VIA Architecture

Visit the VIA Architecture website

Follow on Twitter

Check out the Facebook page

Follow Elrond Burrell on Twitter

Relevant Articles

5 things to know about Passivhaus

Passivhaus Overheating: Design it out

Passivhaus: Solar Orientation Doesn’t Matter. Or Does It?

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Elrond Burrell.

The Hub update

The Hub has now been going for a year and we'd like to thank the founding members who have put their faith in us. We're always looking at ways to improve what we are offering and in the coming months we'll be trying to make the modules even more step by step and easy to follow.

Our second case study is now under way, the Buckinghamshire Passivhaus, headed up by architect Janet Cotterill from CTT Sustainable Architecture. The project first started out as a retrofit so find out why it didn't continue that way, and went on to be a new build.

Please connect with me

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher
Like our Facebook page
Follow us on Twitter

HPH138 : Why an integrated design approach works well for self build – with Charles Grylls and Nick Grant

July 20, 2016 by Lucy Cowell Leave a Comment

Charles Grylls and Nick Grant explain what is meant by integrated design and how it can benefit a self build project.

Charles Grylls – Dempsey Decourcy Architects

Nick Grant – Elemental Solutions

Interview with Charles Grylls and Nick Grant

For the last 5 years, architect Charles Grylls has been working with a design team on Passivhaus projects in Herefordshire. The team includes Nick Grant (Passivhaus Consultant), Alan Clarke (Services Engineer), Allan Pearce (Structural Engineer), and Mike Whitfield (Contractor). Although they are independently employed they collaborate together on projects, which benefits the client but also develops their expertise and aids their understanding for the future.

Their first project working together was a Passivhaus in Garway, which has led on to subsequent builds.

Garway – Photo by George Mikurcik

As Nick explains, traditionally it tends to be that the architect draws something, the engineer has to try and make it work, and the builder has to try and build it. A collaborative approach from the outset enables non-hierarchical input and advice, working together, to make the project a success.

Working relationships and connections were already in place

Charles knew Nick and Mike from working with them when he was an employed by Architype. Mike and Allan Pearce had both been involved when Nick had built his house, so there had already been working relationships in place for 15 years or so.

Nick said: “We’re a bunch of friends. I know it’s often not the best thing to work with your friends, it can be a recipe for disaster, but we get on well and we respect each other.”

It did take a few weeks of working together as an integrated team to understand what each members' role would be and what each would be bringing to the design team.

Nick stresses that although it's an informal arrangement they have, it is based on trust and responsibility. The contractor particularly is seeing problems on site through the eyes of the rest of the team and has a responsibility to notify the others if they think something needs doing.

Charles Grylls and Mike Whitfield

There can be less risk using a negotiated tender process

In a traditional contract a client would work with an architect from concept through to a detailed design, which would then go to planning. Once planning has been achieved it might go out to tender, so already you're a long way through the process before even speaking to a contractor or consultant about how to build it or how to solve energy problems.

Charles sees there being risks in terms of cost and quality control using builders through this process who don't have Passivhaus experience. His experience of competitive tendering for a Passivhaus project is that they will either come in with a low price because they don't understand what they're going to have to build, or price it for risk and so overprice it. Using a negotiated tender process, which is still a traditional route to go down, can be less risky.

It's about quality and people who care!

Nick says that you don't necessarily need to find a builder or team members who have had Passivhaus experience, but they just need to care about what they're doing. Often smaller builders will be at a disadvantage when it comes to tendering because they don't have a department specifically geared to do that, but Nick says they'll happily turn up, do the job and work for a fair price. By finding a small builder and speaking to previous clients, you could end up with a cheaper and better job.

Good, but not superfluous, communication is required

The team collaborate using shared folders online for consultants' information so that everyone can cross-check, evaluate and provide an immediate response to information that goes out. The client can also be included in this way. They also make sure that people are only involved when they need to be, so their time is not being wasted.

Being a group of friends, some of the team's communication takes place down the pub, chewing over challenges and working out solutions and better ways of doing things in the future!

Charles stresses that as a client, starting off with a good brief, keeping on-site changes to a minimum, and ensuring that communication lines are kept open throughout are some of the most helpful things you can do. He suggests a flow diagram can be useful in showing members' roles and responsibilities if it gets complex. Within this team it tends to work slightly differently from a traditional procurement where the architect is project manager and administers the contract, because Mike (the contractor) forms a contract direct with the client. Charles explains that this keeps things simple because everything has been worked out between the team beforehand so there are not usually too many changes.

Establish and be honest about your budget from the outset

Nick explains that sometimes when projects are drawn up and put out to tender, they come in way over budget and so then go through a “value engineering” process to strip out all the good bits to make it affordable. Far better is to establish a budget and be honest about what that is. There's no point in being coy and saying your budget is lower than it is because the danger is the design may not then include the features that you might have desired but, according to your stated budget, couldn't afford.

Having the builder involved early on is an advantage because they can give input from experience on how much things are likely to cost, so things are not added to the design that may later need to be removed because of budget constraints.

Reviewing the finished project benefits the team as well as the client

Going back and seeing how the building is performing can help the occupants establish whether it's being used to its full potential and whether any adjustments can be made to increase comfort, etc.

As Nick says, the team are only likely to be offering this if they're fairly confident there won't be too many problems! If there are problems they want to know about them and learn from them, to avoid them from happening again.

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Charles Grylls and Nick Grant

Find out more

Visit the website of Dempsey Decourcy Architects

Visit the website of Elemental Solutions

Follow Charles Grylls on Twitter

Follow Nick Grant on Twitter

The Hub update

We are currently looking for our next self build project to follow in The Hub. Ideally it would be a Passivhaus that is different from our first case study Long Barrow (e.g. not built with insulated concrete formwork) and again we would focus on the decision-making process from the design stage right through to construction.

If you think you have a project that may be suitable, then please do get in touch and tell us about it.

Please connect with me

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher
Like our Facebook page
Follow us on Twitter

HPH121 : The pros and cons of building a Passivhaus with a kit or system – with Janet Cotterell from Passivhaus Homes

March 23, 2016 by Lucy Cowell Leave a Comment

Author and architect Janet Cotterell talks us through the different ways of building a Passivhaus using kit and system methods.

Interview with Janet Cotterell

Together with her co-author of The Passivhaus Handbook, Adam Dadeby, and their team, architect Janet Cotterell has been developing the PH15 system for building Passivhaus homes.

Janet became interested in sustainable architecture after completing a Masters degree during a break from her work. She felt her responsibility as an architect was to get the fabric of the building right by making it as energy efficient as possible and it was around this time that Passivhaus was just beginning to emerge. Rather than trying to invent her own solution, she was happy that Passivhaus appeared to work and was impressed that it had been invented by a physicist.

Efficiency in time and efficiency in quality

Building a house with a kit isn't particularly common in the UK but is used much more widely in Europe, North America and Canada where the self build market is far more buoyant.

Janet explains that the key benefits of building this way are that precision construction takes place off site and in good conditions. Once on site it goes up quickly and saves on overheads.

Akerman Frame

‘Systems' retain the enjoyment of construction for a self builder

Janet would describe a ‘kit' as being pre-made, complete components which almost click together, with a Huf Haus being the example recognisable by most people. A kit may be panels which have windows and insulation pre-installed, be airtight taped (in the case of an energy efficient home) and arrive with the wiring in place. The pieces are going to be large, heavy to transport and put in position, with far less being done on site.

A system tends to be a set of components that are brought together on site. While the frame is pre-cut, they aren't made into panels and don't have windows pre-installed.

Passivhaus Homes' PH15 system is designed to be simple on site while still retaining some of the elements of skill that people who are self building often tend to enjoy. No specialist equipment or tools are required, though people do have to be more careful and precise than on a typical UK building site, but as Janet says:

“If you want to be energy efficient you’re going to have to be a bit more precise! But you can make everything else as easy as possible.”

A Passivhaus kit or system can save time, complexity and money

One advantage of using a kit or system for a Passivhaus self build, is that there can be unusual details, like the airtightness details between the walls and floors, or walls and roof, or around the windows. Having these pre-solved in a kit or system can be a huge advantage in terms of time and money saved in trying to work them out for yourself.

Some of the Passivhaus materials and methods can be unfamiliar to the UK market. A system approach therefore takes away any uncertainty around what's needed, and can make it easier to estimate the price. Janet feels that a lot of tenders are elevated because people are unfamiliar with things like the windows, the ventilation system, the tapes and membranes. For somebody who hasn't done low energy building before, this method frees up their time to concentrate on just putting it together on site with the benefit of cost certainty, which is particularly useful if building to a tight budget.

The PH15 system

The PH15 system has been designed to be flexible, though the more complex the form, the greater the costs will be.

The system minimises thermal bridging by using a standard sized I-joist frame made from waste timber. They avoid using steel inside the house, and have wood fibre boards on the outside and use laminated veneered lumber. The timber based floor joists mean that the services and ventilation system can be fed through. The system includes a guaranteed airtight board which has all the tapes and membranes, as well as triple glazed doors and windows and the whole ventilation system.

There are two methods of cladding the timber frame: lime render, which can be to different finishes and colours, or timber weather boarding which can be done in a myriad of ways to create different aesthetics.

To start with they had just one or two house designs and they had pitched roofs. Now, their designs have developed including with living roof systems, and Janet sees lots of potential for being creative with ever more interesting designs and options.

Torquay visualisation

Passivhaus Homes have designed the system so that somebody with carpentry skills can build it themselves, with just some additional training material and sessions. For example, there's a day's training that goes with the frame. Janet stresses they're not trying to teach people how to build Passivhaus or low energy homes in general, but are just teaching how to put together this Passivhaus home. They also provide technical support by phone.

Janet recommends early planning to the kit, rather than sending in planning drawings and then trying to make the kit work:

“And we can provide basic information about the kit which tells you this is the size of wall you need to allow, just a basic sort of design guide, so that when you’ve finished the design you know that that is actually going to suit the kit and it’s going to work without any extra problems.”

Costs could be worked out, with a small margin of error, from a set of planning drawings, however Janet recommends that for an accurate price they would need a set of frame drawings and a proper MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery) design.

Brick and timber frame aren't a perfect match

In the UK we have a tradition of using brick construction, and this can be a finish that people will want to incorporate into their design. Choosing a brick finish for aesthetics on a timber frame building can be challenging. One of Passivhaus Homes current projects uses a brick slip system. Janet says you can do a full brick skin but the brick is being used purely as a rain screen or as an aesthetic to respond to UK tastes. Her own feeling is that you can instead introduce brick accents to a timber system and address it, rather than doing whole brick.

There should be more Passivhaus kit / systems available

Janet feels that there should be many more people self building and custom building in the UK and that there needs to be a lot more land released to enable that. She also sees no reason why all this new housing shouldn't be built to Passivhaus standard.

Janet believes there needs to be more of these types of Passivhaus kits and systems on the market. Passivhaus Homes completed the second retrofit to full Passivhaus in the UK, and a man who worked on the UK's first retrofit to full Passivhaus standard has also been developing a kit/system approach, although Janet's understanding is theirs is a more panel based approach.

Janet also mentions Architype who in their ArchiHaus scheme are building a factory to construct the pre-made panels for the development of 150 houses.

Find out more

Visit the website of Passivhaus Homes

Follow Passivhaus Homes on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Janet Cotterell.

Please connect with me

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
Rate and review the podcast on Stitcher
Like our Facebook page
Follow us on Twitter

HPH024 : Designing Buildings That Are Radically Sustainable Yet Elegantly Simple – with Jonathan Hines from Architype

June 5, 2013 by Ben Leave a Comment

Jonathan Hines from Architype explains the concept of eco-minimalism and also the very different approach that guides them as a business. We discover how this design philosophy has helped shape an exciting new scheme of 150 Passivhaus homes for the village of Kingstone, Herefordshire.

On the day this podcast was published the development – in conjunction with ArchiHaus – was granted planning approval! N.B. Our interview with Jonathan was recorded on 20th March 2013.

Interview with Jonathan Hines

Jonathan has been a director of Architype since 1989 and his life-long focus has been on achieving sustainability through design.

Keep Buildings Simple

Jonathan explains that Architype's approach has always been to try and keep buildings simpler in order to make better spaces and achieve higher standards of energy efficiency. Whereas many architects encourage complexity and engineers look to technology for solutions, an eco-minimalistic approach is about making buildings as simple as they can be. Jonathan stresses that this does not mean boring. At Architype they want to make their designs elegantly simple as well as radically sustainable. It's about simplifying things down to what works best and letting the buildings to do all the hard work in terms of being at one with the environment.

Simplicity Takes Constant Refinement

Far from being the easy route, making a building simple takes longer. It is a process of continually reviewing the designs and questioning if they are simple enough. Are there elements that can be taken out to make the building work better? Jonathan mentions Architype's early days of Segal Self Build. This was a system of construction, devised by Walter Segal, that was all about paring down construction to the basic elements and keeping it simple in order that people could self-build it themselves. Architype's roots have always been in understanding simple detailing and keeping the form of the building functional but also beautiful.

People Desire Greater Comfort in Their Homes

Jonathan believes that people have a higher aspiration for comfort in their homes than they did 50 years ago. Regulations also demand greater efficiency and year by year there is increased awareness about the wider sustainability of materials.

The Passivhaus Standard Provided a Logical Framework

As one of the early adopters of the Passivhaus Standard in the UK, Jonathan says that it offered a logical framework to do what they were tending to do anyway. Instead of being guided by intuitive assumptions it provided rigorous analysis, discipline and a quality assurance process in terms of design and construction. It is a tool that actually helps them to achieve things.

One of Architype's schools that meets the Passivhaus standard

‘Haus' means ‘Building' in German

Jonathan explains that Passivhaus can be applied to any type of building. People sometimes get confused by the word ‘haus' and think it must only apply to houses, but its translation from German means ‘building'. Amongst Architype's Passivhaus projects are four schools, a major research building for the University of East Anglia, a church in Sheffield and an Archives and Records Office in Herefordshire. In Germany people are doing Passivhaus fire-stations, hotels, hospitals, etc.

Sticking to a Budget is Just a Discipline

If you think a project is going to cost more then the chances are it will! Architype has always delivered sustainable buildings within tight and standard budgets. Jonathan gives the example of the UK's first BREEAM ‘Excellent’ primary school (for Wolverhampton City Council) which was created with no extra budget. It was achieved by keeping the form of the building simple, the section simple, the detailing simple, the window arrangement simple and so on.

Housing Developers Aren't Interested in Improving Design Quality or Sustainability

With the exception of one or two smaller scale developers Jonathan believes most big house developers aren’t particularly interested in improving design quality nor sustainability because they can sell what they produce already (as there's little choice in the market).

Building Houses in Factories is More Efficient

While a lot of construction in the UK is still done brick by brick, for many years Sweden have been building their houses in factories. It offers many advantages including driving up the quality of the finished product and minimising the amount of time needed on site. In partnership with retired Swedish businessman Lars Carlsson, Jonathan has set up a new company called ArchiHaus which aims to bring UK house building into the 21st Century. From first principles all houses will be optimised for Passivhaus, including the site layout. Then the houses will be prefabricated in a new house factory that ArchiHaus intends to establish.

Proposed scheme of 150 houses for Kingstone, Herefordshire

The Scale and Form of New Housing Must be Appropriate

Jonathan talks about this new development in a part rural Herefordshire, where there is a big housing need but where it's challenging to find appropriate sites. He thinks people generally don't like new houses because what is on offer is high density, suburban, poor quality and not appropriate for a rural site. Their approach aims not only to be Passivhaus but also higher quality in terms of design of buildings and landscape.

The Landscape For This Development Reflects its Rural Setting

After doing a study of typical Herefordshire vernacular architecture and the character of the Herefordshire landscape, Jonathan describes how they then set out to reinterpret that in a modern contemporary way. Instead of creating a suburban character site with wide roads, kerbs, pavements, fences and parking spaces etc. they designed a layout of lower density, with lanes that wind through a landscape of hedgerows, swales, ditches and orchards. This will make it feel completely different to a normal housing development. It’s also got generous areas of shared open space and allotments areas for food growing.

The Houses are Wider in Frontage and Shallow in Depth to Optimise Use of Daylight

A typical vernacular building in Herefordshire tends to be shallow in depth, wide in frontage and with a roof running along the length. On the other hand most developer houses seem to be narrow in width and deep in plan, which means there is far less daylight getting into the depth of the house. After conducting a Passivhaus analysis it became clear that the best approach was with a slightly wider house that gets more solar gain and better daylight. Jonathan remarks that the traditional vernacular form and the Passivhaus optimised shape actually have a very strong synergy. He doesn't find this surprising because old vernacular houses were built to maximise their relationship to the environment.

Self Builders Like Light and Airy Interiors

Contrary to the perception that comes through many house developers, Jonathan's experience with self build clients is that they tend to like airy spaces, slightly higher ceilings and a more open plan feel, with modern materials and modern detailing. Through programmes like Grand Designs he thinks that people have increased their awareness of what design quality actually is.

Architectural Quality is Lacking in Modern Houses

Jonathan mentions RIBA's Future Homes Commission report from 2012 where they found that although people liked the idea of a modern house they tended not to buy them because what they saw in them was of poor architectural quality. So they end up buying a Georgian or Victorian house, which can offer them light and airy spaces, high ceilings, good sized windows, etc. However these old houses are cool and draughty and are going to cost a fortune to heat. This is because the architectural qualities there outweigh the practicalities. So Jonathan says: “If we can combine the practical things of energy efficiency and lower running costs with good architectural quality then we are on to a winner.”

Striving to Create Better Buildings has Attracted the Best People

Throughout Architype's nearly 30 years of practice they have always been exploring new ways of doing things, from trying to find more sustainable ways of building and constructing, ways to save energy to looking at different materials that can be used to create more beautiful buildings. This drive for better buildings has attracted people who are personally committed to sustainability and design quality and actually believe in the ability of design to do that.

We Know the Origins of All the Materials we Use

Jonathan explains that over the years they have tried out lots of different materials. Some worked well, others were more difficult or appropriate only in certain situations. Now they have honed a fairly robust palette of what they’re confident are renewable and sustainable materials. This includes timber, insulation made from recycled newspaper, a range of mineral and organic paints and stains, and floor finishes in lino and rubber.

Buildings are Better at Saving Energy Than Generating it

The Kingstone development does not encompass any renewables and Ben asks Jonathan whether that was intentional. Jonathan replies that well designed buildings are really good instruments for saving energy. He does not consider them particularly good generators of energy. For example, photovoltaic panels are often perched in funny places behind chimneys or facing east-west or even north sometimes. This is because people have managed to get a grant or have got a feed-in tariff and they’ll get some return on it.

Renewable Energy Should be Generated on Efficient Scales

If the imperative is to save carbon across the whole world, then every panel that's put up now should be in the most optimum position available. Jonathan would much rather see solar arrays on the ground in fields, where they can be cleaned and maintained properly. If there's a separate inverter in 5000 houses, when something goes wrong the householder is probably not going to fix it. On a community scale or even at a regional scale renewable energy starts to make sense. Similarly with wind energy, big wind turbines in the North Sea are preferable to little ones perched on buildings, which don’t go round.

Saving Energy is the Best Route Forwards

Jonathan compares energy to rubbish – it’s good to recycle rubbish but it’s much better not to create it in the first place. So with energy it’s good to have renewable energy but first to use less of it.

Find Out More Information

Follow Jonathan Hines on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Jonathan Hines.

Ask Your Questions or Share Your Feedback

Email feedback@houseplanninghelp.com

Google+ Hangout

After the success of our first Google+ Hangout, we are organising our next debate on the topic of housing density. Should we focus our efforts on building high or low density housing? If you have strong views on this subject and are already signed up to Google+ we'd love to hear from you. We are in the process of putting together a panel.

Please Connect With Me

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast in iTunes
Like our Facebook page
Follow us on Twitter