Tag: solar panels

HPH276 : A case study of Hope View Passivhaus – with Tracey and Roman Iwanczuk

Tracey and Roman Iwanczuk explain how they managed to build a Passivhaus on a sloping site in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Interview with Tracey and Roman Iwanczuk

Having lived in the US for 20 years and at the point where they were preparing to build a house there, Tracey and Roman made the decision to move back to the UK. Being unable to find a house or building plot that ticked all their boxes, they decided to embark on what initially seemed like a fairly improbable chance of getting planning permission to build a property on their six acre field overlooking the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It was a leap of faith

Initial meetings with a planning consultant and a local architect offered little in the way of optimism for ever getting planning permission on the site. But they persevered and found another architect who offered a more encouraging 50/50 chance.

Being a greenfield site they used the Paragraph 55 application process for a house of exceptional design and quality that could enhance the area. As Tracey explains, being a greenfield site isn’t always the best use of a piece of land, and their steeply sloping site wasn’t practical for agricultural use.

“It was a matter of coming up with a way of saying let’s do something that is a benefit for our environment, our area, and maybe even the people who live around here that makes sense.”

The scheme they came up with was to return three acres of the land to natural woodland by creating an orchard of local species trees.

They also put in a flood prevention strategy for the neighbours below, who’s properties had experienced flooding from run-off from the field previously.

The house nestles into the hillside

The house was designed to have a minimal visual impact and be future-proof for any long term needs.

The design came about from a series of 15ft² boxes joined together in a single-storey. The principle rooms are south facing and benefit from the floor to ceiling glazing to maximise the beautiful views, with the other rooms being at the rear.

Despite the glazing, the temperature of the house remains relatively even. The rear wall is built into the hillside so has a lot of surface area that is removed from the equation.

Being built into the hillside to a large extent determined what build system they could use. In order to get the required structural strength they used concrete, and felt less guilty with the knowledge that the orchard they were creating would be off-setting the carbon.

A “long, skinny Passivhaus”

Roman describes the shape of the house as providing its own unique challenges, of which air leakage was probably the biggest. The concrete block walls at the rear get no sunlight, whereas the pre-fabricated concrete plank roof gets a lot of light and a lot of heat. So with different thermal expansion rates between the roof and the walls they used a Passivhaus window tape as a barrier for the airflow and to provide enough flexibility to accommodate any thermal expansion.

A ground source heat supply provides hot water

Excavated soil was used to create a level area in front of the house where they could lay pipes for the ground source heat supply. They chose this over an air source system as it is such a peaceful location that they felt it would be less noisy.

About 80% of the supply is used for hot water, with very little actually being needed for heating. Tracey points out that it does use a lot of energy to run a ground source heat pump and they really notice the difference in their electricity bills in the winter when they’re running it to heat the hot water.

When it’s sunny they don’t need to use the ground source heat pump as they export excess solar power to an immersion tank for the hot water supply.

There is a 30 panel solar array

The array gives almost nine kilowatts of generation capability. There are two first generation Tesla Powerwalls which that feeds, that can store around 14 kilowatts. They don’t have the means of exporting power from the batteries, but what they can do is “time shift” the excess energy generated during a sunny day for it to be used to run the house at night.

With advancements in technology, the battery system is one thing that Roman is considering changing. When they were installed the only batteries that were readily available were these kind that sit on the DC side of the system. They are almost directly connected to the solar panels, which means that the system is designed to completely switch off the electricity in the event of a power cut. This is because there could be a danger of feeding the power back onto the grid and electrocuting anyone working on it, but it does mean they can’t access any of the energy sitting in those batteries during that period.

The more modern Tesla system works on the AC side. If there were to be a power cut it would isolate the house but still allow the batteries to generate AC voltage.

“If there is a power outage, then your house effectively becomes an island of electricity and you can use whatever power is in the batteries.”

To upgrade to this system will mean a bit of disruption in having to change the location for the batteries, but Roman thinks that it will be worth doing. There is also a second hand market for the Tesla batteries so they can be re-used by someone else.

The plant room

They have high praise for their team

Tracey and Roman consider themselves to have been very lucky in how smoothly the project generally went. The only real issue they had was with the window supply, which has taken around three years to fully resolve, but they do say to the company’s credit they have stuck with it to get a resolution.

Tracey praises their architect who had never done a Passivhaus before:

“He was more than happy to park his architect ego, listen to the Passivhaus consultant and do the right thing to achieve a Passivhaus. He was happy to learn all of this stuff and take it on board.”

They selected a contractor who had also worked with the architect before, and this helped with maintaining good working relationships between them all. Tracey also praises their integrity and says they were very respectful in how they communicated with her.

Think about your window to wall seals!

One area that could have challenged the successful outcome of the project, was the seals between the windows and walls. Despite their Passivhaus Consultant, Nick Grant, flagging up how important it was to get right, it had been forgotten about in amongst all the other decisions that had to be made. It wasn’t until a week and a half before people were due to do the render that they realised they hadn’t thought about the window to wall seals at all. It was pure luck that they were put in touch with someone who had some spare pieces from their own self build that they could use.

“If that had not been done, it would be a nightmare right now. We’d be dealing with silicone, silicone in windows all the time, just doing all of that stuff that would make life miserable. I can’t say enough to anybody who’s looking at doing a self-build; think about that very, very early on because we only fixed it by accident. It was a very, very lucky accident.”

Roman warns that when you have a window company dealing with the windows, and a builder dealing with the building envelope, things like how those windows will join with the building envelope can become overlooked.

A HEPA filter would be a worthwhile investment

The one oversight that Roman feels they made was the issue of airflow in the house. The MVHR draws in outside air but, being in a rural spot, this can include the smell of burning horse manure! The basic filters are there to get rid of particulate matter, but they don’t deal with smells. He recommends the inclusion of a HEPA filter, which he doesn’t think is something he can now retrofit because of lack of space. He considers the £500-£1,000 for a HEPA filter would be money well spent, even more so in an urban environment with emissions from exhausts.

ASBP Healthy Buildings Conference and Expo 2020

This is taking place in London on 27th February, and will be addressing the subject of healthy buildings in a climate emergency. Check out the website for the full programme and booking tickets online.

Find out more

Visit the website of Warren Benbow Architects

Follow Nick Grant on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Roman and Tracey Iwanczuk.

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February 5, 2020
HPH216 : Do self builds get any easier for a seasoned pro? – with Mark Brinkley
With decades growing his knowledge of self-building, Mark Brinkley shares some of the surprises, challenges and joys involved.

Interview with Mark Brinkley

Mark Brinkley has been immersed in the world of self builds and renovations since the early 1980s, working firstly as part of a group who were building and renovating properties in and around Cambridge, before completing his first self build in the 90s. In the years since then he has been writing up this knowledge in articles and the phenomenally popular Housebuilder’s Bible.

For the last 18 months, and 25 years after his first, he has been concentrating on his second self build.

Have a go and see what happens!

This was the philosophy Mark and his companions started out using. Rather than coming to the construction industry from a traditional route of apprenticeships, they each turned their hands to the various trades with a ‘give it a go’ approach, learning on the job and taking courses. The one trade they each attempted but decided they should leave to the experts was plastering!

Mark considers themselves to have been “gifted amateurs,” rather than as good a builders as they probably thought they were at the time!

Being the client was a bigger job than anticipated

Having accumulated building plots thinking that he and his partner would become property developers, the housing market downturn in 1991/92 left him in a position where, in order to gain more space for his family, he had to build on one of those plots for himself. Mark found all the decision making incredibly taxing, with the realisation of what a big job being the client is. While there were textbooks on how to build a house, what he couldn’t find was guidance on what you should put into a house and what makes a good house. The subsequent success of his book, Housebuilder’s Bible, led him to concentrate entirely on his writing.

“I’ve spent years going around interviewing people, visiting businesses and looking at houses, but actually doing the process, I’d forgotten what a lot of hard work it is and how taxing it is. Even with this whole lifetime’s worth of knowledge about what you can and can’t put in a house.”

It was important to challenge themselves with their second self build

Together with his architect, Mark has wanted to challenge themselves with this build and experiment with new techniques and materials, like the metal roofing and external cladding. Luckily the team of tradespeople working with him have been up to the task, and engaged and enthusiastic in their undertaking of it.

The street view was a key element of the design

The design for this build went through three or four iterations and liaising with the planners, conservation officer, and keeping neighbours on side, before coming to a final design they were happy with. What was important to Mark was the street view and trying to create a wow factor, with the amenity of the building being considered later.

The old warehouse that was originally on the site was an oblong box with a pitched roof. Mark’s build covers the same footprint, just with a little extra height. It also probably would have had a pitched roof, but neighbour’s complaints that they wouldn’t be able to see the chimneys on the other side of the house meant they had to work through a complicated process of giving it a flattened profile.

Theirs is a tight site with no space around it, so all materials have had to be kept either in the house or garden. If work needs doing on one room, it means moving everything out to another room or somewhere else. This has caused challenges when it comes to trying to find things!

“One of the old sayings is that it’s the biggest shopping trip of your life. It’s also the biggest cleaning session of your life!”

Despite huge amounts of pre-planning, Mark and Mandy have remained open to change and been flexible about the decision making as they go along. One example of this has been with the living room ceiling. Originally drawn as a plastered ceiling, they decided they would prefer something more interesting and have been experimenting with lime-washed Douglas Fir. With the leftover planks they have been making slatted shelves for the airing cupboard.

At the time of the interview Mark and Mandy had only moved in a few days earlier, so it will take a while before they get to grips with and know how effective their solar panels will be at providing sufficient electricity and hot water for the house. Using PVs seemed sensible, rather than packing in more insulation and having even smaller rooms.

Being an urban build has presented extra challenges, with consideration about traffic management, getting skips and cranes in and out and deliveries blocking roads.

Keep a very careful eye on spending

On this project Mark is acting as the builder, as a service company with accounts at various builders’ merchants. Some of the big subcontracts, like the roofing, he has put out to tender, but others are a case of searching for suppliers, building a relationship with them and negotiating on price.

Often the price will be based on a day rate, which Mark has always found to work well and feels has not been taken advantage of.

“If you do it on a price, you could end up arguing about the extras, this changed and that changed. I want the freedom to come in and make changes.”

To a certain extent, Mark is a believer in the saying that if you’re on time, you’re on budget. He is currently a little over-time and a little over-budget. He estimates his overspend is likely to be around 5%, which will come from within their contingency sum.

Mark recommends starting out with a generous budget and keeping on top of spending. His meticulous spreadsheet of costs currently extends to nearly 600 rows of data!

More options available has made decision making more complicated

Mark doesn’t believe that the actual process of building has changed much since Victorian times, with people getting involved and solving problems. What has surprised him though is the amount of red tape that has been introduced in the last 25 years, with the planning process being much more time consuming and every job being riddled with planning conditions.

Mark finds that the range of options available to him now is phenomenally larger and more complicated than it was back in the 90s. Even with the seemingly simple task of selecting light switches there are dozens of different styles to choose from.

“You actually get fatigued by these ridiculous decisions you’ve got to make, when actually all you want is a functioning house.”

Building this house has, Mark says, taught him how little he knows:

“I do know a lot about it, but without having been doing it continually for twenty years, you get a very different perspective commenting on it, writing it and interviewing people. There’s nothing quite like doing it to realise you’re at the cutting edge. And also, finding out where the bounds of your knowledge are.”

Mark does find that the process of self build takes over your life, what with employing people on a daily rate and wanting to make sure the money is spent properly, to having many a sleepless night!

Thankfully he has been keeping plenty of notes throughout this project and at some point will look to pass on this knowledge with a new edition of the Housebuilder’s Bible.

Find out more

Visit Mark Brinkley’s blog

Follow Mark Brinkley on Twitter

Listen to Mark’s House Planning Help podcast about how self build in the UK compares to Germany

Listen to Mark’s House Planning Help podcast about putting together a budget

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Mark Brinkley.

The Hub update

Our video case study at Buckinghamshire Passivhaus is coming towards the end, but this month we have a new episode about plastering the interior and how the brick slips will be attached.

We also have a new course on developing house designs.

And our guest on this month’s progress call is Adam Dadeby from Luft MVHR.

If you’re not yet a member then find out how to become one at houseplanninghelp.com/join.

Please connect with me
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May 23, 2018
HPH210 : A future-proof contemporary eco home – with Liz and Mike Hill
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!

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March 9, 2018
HPH204 : Why you shouldn’t rule out custom building on a developer estate
Five self-builders explain how they came to build their houses on the edge of a developer estate.

All photos of Pip’s house copyright Potton. Photographs taken by Maciek Platek

Interview with Pip, Yvonne and Martin, Jessica and David

When Pip decided to move away from Surrey because building plots there were too expensive, and Yvonne and Martin knew that they wouldn’t be able to fulfill their 25 year year self build dream for the same reason in their home town of Buckingham, they found a developer site in Cambridgeshire offering more affordable plots on a street set aside for self builders.

Jessica and David’s story is a little different. They lived around 5 miles from the site and went to have a look around one day out of interest. Having never previously spoken about building a house, they made an offer that same week and had it accepted.

The land owner provided outline design guides

The brownfield land was formerly a brickworks before being bought by a company called ONH. A number of developers were building on the site but one street of 13 plots at the outskirts, overlooking fields, had been set aside for self build. The outline guide included that the houses should be eco-friendly and contemporary in design.

Challenges arose during the construction because, being at the back of the rabbit warren of narrow roads on the new estate, heavy lorries struggled to get past parked residents cars.

The substantial plot sizes influenced the house designs

David and Jessica

As David and Jessica bought their plot on the spur of the moment, the design wasn’t something they had given too much consideration. They employed a local builder initially, who then recommended an architect and worked with him to develop their rough ideas into workable plans. They opted for four double bedrooms, two with en-suite, and a family bathroom upstairs. Downstairs they wanted a large kitchen with an open plan family room. Having attended a self build conference which emphasised the importance or airtightness, MVHRs etc, they decided to follow an eco-house route, with triple glazing, solar panels and under floor heating. They also have a large garden with an area used as an allotment.

Yvonne and Martin

Yvonne and Martin’s is a large plot so they felt they needed to build a substantial sized house, which although they are the only two living there, provides them with plenty of space when their children and their families come to visit. Having been built well with airtightness in mind, they have a comfortable home with low running costs.

They also wanted to future-proof their home so it would still be accessible when they are in older age. They have four double bedrooms on the first floor, but downstairs has been designed to work as a fully self contained unit. It has a wet room and bedroom on the ground floor and space to install a lift if required.

Pip

Pip originally wanted a Passivhaus with a traditional exterior, but the council informed them it needed to have a contemporary design. Instead she worked with an architect at Potton who developed their ideas into a design they were blown away by. As the budget was stretched as works progressed they moved away from trying to achieve the Passivhaus standard and using ground source/air source heat pumps, but did manage to retain the solar panels and underfloor heating.

Establish good relations with your fellow self building neighbours!

Pip recommends getting to know your new neighbours as early as possible, particularly if you’re joining at the end of the plot sale process, so you can tap into their knowledge and previous experiences.

Getting your finances in place is something Yvonne advises. The build process can be extremely challenging so ensuring you have sufficient cashflow sorted early on can help to eliminate some of the stress.

Martin suggests working to develop a good relationship with your builder. His builder asked that if there were any changes or extras that he be notified early on so they could discuss and agree it so it wouldn’t be a problem, and this worked well for them. Martin also recommends thinking about the small things in advance, such as where sockets are going to go.

Locating the services and getting them installed early on is something they all say is important. Several of the house builders on the site were already starting construction before the water had been connected, leading to lengthy treks to get some from friend’s houses or relying on the kindness of neighbours!

Find out more

Find out more about Pip’s Potton designed home.

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Pip, Yvonne and Martin, David and Jessica.

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January 26, 2018
HPH203 : Putting craftsmanship at the centre of your eco build – with Will Anderson
Author and self-builder Will Anderson talks about realising his self-build dream not once but twice!

Interview with Will Anderson

Will describes himself as “a writer, actor, builder and craftsman”. His account of his first self-build was published in The Independent newspaper and is now available to buy as a book. His previous work has included writing and contributing to other publications with an environmental angle.

A tree inspired a house with high environmental standards

Around the year 2000, Will Anderson and his partner snapped up a rare South London plot. The very big tree it housed inspired the name and design of Tree House: a house that would work like a tree. Wanting to do their very best for that plot meant building a house that was not only wonderful to live in, but had the very best ecological performance.

Will says any extra costs were justified by long term savings, adding, “If you built a house that had the very best environmental performance, it would also, hopefully, be the very best for you.”

Technology helped Tree House achieve its ambitious goals

Will was interested in the Passivhaus standard and had even contacted Wolfgang Feist, but in 2004 it wasn’t an established approach in the UK. So Will worked with his architect, Peter Smithdale of Constructive Individuals, to deliver a house that was self-sufficient in energy and “zero carbon”. To manage this meant combining a fabric first approach with “quite a lot of technology”.

The high-performance house included a PV cell array, and a hot water panel. Furthermore, a ground source heat pump was installed in boreholes in the small plot. Will says this tried and tested technology continues to work very well, explaining, “They’re quite simple bits of technology compared to boilers.”

Will built with the plot next door in mind

Tree House was detached, but they knew that eventually it would become semi-detached, as there was a plot next door. Thinking ahead, Will avoided putting windows on the northern elevation that would become a party wall.

The people who owned the garden in question appreciated the consideration and gave him first option when they decided to sell the land. He took the chance to build his second house, The Orchard.

Where the two houses meet

Will had to overcome issues of planning and party walls

Building onto a detached property presented some challenges. For example, the render board had to be removed from Tree House and another timber frame wall built and filled with insulation. Furthermore the two walls couldn’t be attached (apart from some metal ties at the very top) to ensure acoustic isolation.

Getting the right design and gaining planning permission took a long time too, but one of the biggest problems was the party wall agreement. Will advises getting a really good party wall surveyor and paying attention to the detail of the party wall award, adding, “You need to just make sure you’re properly protected.”

The Orchard has an improved fabric but less technology

Will wanted The Orchard to use less technology but still be very comfortable. This meant improving the fabric of the house in order to cut out the heating system. Contractors and materials were more familiar with Passivhaus principles by then and The Orchard benefitted from a purpose built external airtight layer.

The Orchard is ventilated non-mechanically, a deliberate decision on Will’s part. He is very pleased with their Ventive passive heat recovery ventilation system, commenting, “We’ve got a completely draft free, stable interior temperature, but we still have good air quality without having all the business of mechanical ventilation.”

Heat-recovery ventilation cowls

Will wanted to get more hands-on second time around

Helping finish the building of Tree House gave Will enough confidence to get more involved the second time around, although he says, “You need to know your limits, obviously”. So, even though he had done a bricklaying course, he called on an experienced bricklayer when he lost confidence on the garden wall after the tenth course of bricks.

Some subcontractors will have their own helpers and will want to do all their work on their own terms. But Will says there are others who won’t mind you joining in. For example, given Will had some experience, the frame company, Touchwood Homes were very happy for him to lend a hand.

The Arts and Crafts Movement inspired Will’s labour of love

As part of the house building process, Will made his own workbench. That it has remained part of the main room says much about Will’s love of handmade items. The Orchard is inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement and its architects, many of whose houses he has visited. What he likes so much is “the handcrafted approach, the delight in materials and in a kind of clean but very rich design.”

Although he started without any craft skills, Will learnt a lot of trades to build The Orchard, including ceramics, even making tiles from their excavated foundations clay. To find the right course Will recommends trying out what’s local. He found one reasonably nearby in Croydon, where he learnt joinery, bricklaying and plastering. He went further afield for the more specialist skills: cabinet making in Kent and stained glass making at the Working Men’s College in North London.

Learning skills had to be balanced with designing and building

At the design stage, Will was already thinking about how to incorporate these crafts aspects, meaning careful planning was needed. He admits it was tricky to move between design, doing courses and starting on site and keep it all going at the same time.

For example, the open-plan kitchen in the main living space had to be part of the overall design to make sure it would fit in: it was built long before the house! Likewise the two-storey, triple-glazed, staircase window, finished with stained glass, was always part of the design.

Self-builders need support and patience, and to understand the industry

Will says that self-building with no experience isn’t so hard if you get the right people to do the right jobs and you have enough patience. Understanding how the building industry works is important too. For example, Will advises being flexible rather than getting frustrated if builders don’t start when they said they would. “In the building industry, that’s absolutely standard. Not because builders are unreliable, but because people’s timetables and schedules are always shifting,” he explains.

New technology can help with using reclaimed materials

Will has used reclaimed materials in both houses. For example the parquet flooring uses African, Australian and Asian woods that would be impossible to source sustainably today. Modern glues can “recharge the bitumen”, so it didn’t need to be removed. This made the process easier but it was still labour intensive, especially as each room used a different wood and a different pattern.

The blocks of wood had to be cleaned then set out properly. Will’s method was to build out from a long spine of blocks down the middle of the room. Care was needed to avoid the pattern going wonky and having to cut blocks to fit them in. Next everything was sanded down to a new surface and then oiled. Will reflects, “A massive, massive amount of work that was. But I absolutely love it.”

Careful planning has paid off

As the name suggests, Will wanted to build an urban orchard. He knew he wouldn’t get big machinery to the back of the house after it was built, so before he started building he replaced a lot of the poor soil with “really good quality muck”. Now the front and back gardens are densely planted with fruit trees and outside the thermal envelope are a larder and a conservatory where Will grows more tender fruit.

As so much of the house is hand made it has been a long project, but all the work and planning was worthwhile. Will says, “We’ve taken a long time over it. But we’re going to be here forever, so that’s okay.”

Links

Diary of an eco-builder

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Will Anderson

Please connect with me
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January 22, 2018
HPH189 : Is an electric car the perfect accompaniment for a low energy home? – with Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged
Actor and TV presenter Robert Llewellyn shares his insights about the future of electric cars and energy production.

Image source: www.fullychargedshow.co.uk

Interview with Robert Llewellyn

Robert Llewellyn is an actor and TV presenter, perhaps best known for his role as Kryten on Red Dwarf. His Internet project Fully Charged discusses electric vehicles and renewable energy and is expanding beyond its origins on YouTube.

From petrol-head to EV enthusiast

Robert confesses that he once loved cars with big petrol engines. He experienced his first ride in a Prius back in 2001, but it took time to reconsider what he was interested in and, by default, promoting. He got his first electric vehicle (EV) in 2009.

He acknowledges there have been teething problems along the way – the lack of a charging infrastructure initially didn’t help – and comments that well-funded propaganda from the fossil fuel industry has attempted to hold back development.

However, Robert describes the current global car market as being at its peak in terms of the internal combustion engine, and says the wider transition to electric vehicles is finally gathering pace. Eventually, as with asbestos, tobacco, catalytic converters and leaded petrol, the corporations will change. For now, Renault, Nissan and Tesla are leading the way.

Electric vehicles are part of a bigger revolution

By thinking of an electric car as a battery and computer on wheels, Robert can see even bigger change ahead in the form of vehicle automation. Having experienced the fully autonomous Nissan Leaf, Robert says “When you go in it, you go ‘alright, fair enough. This stuff works.’” The car performed way better than any driver Robert has ever seen. He expects total adoption of automation by the trucking industry within five years.

“They won’t sell models, they’ll sell mobility”

To be a success, electric cars will need to completely change the ownership model. It’s not just oil consumption that is unsustainable. Regardless of whether there’s enough lithium to supply batteries at the rate the car market is growing, there isn’t enough steel, rubber or plastic to make enough cars. As 90% of cars on the road are not in use 90% of the time, selling a service (as opposed to a car) is the direction manufacturers will have to take.

With a self-driving car you could use it as much as you do now without owning it or having it parked outside your house. You wouldn’t even need to charge it, Robert says. “It will be charged when it turns up at your house because it will have charged itself.” Getting a charging point at your house is still worthwhile though, as he adds, “It’s very obvious that it’s not going to happen overnight.” It’s likely to be at least 10 years and possibly 20 before we see a significant change in car ownership.

The existing energy production system has hidden costs

When making the TV series ‘How Do They Do It?’, Robert learnt that oil refineries use so much electricity they have to have their own power stations! One in Pembrokeshire uses the same amount of electricity in a year as Coventry and Leicester. Thus, reducing oil refining would enable the greater electricity consumption needed for more electric cars.

This typifies the ‘invisible’ costs of established technology. Petrol stations are considered a normal part of everyday life, therefore the costs aren’t thought about. Yet Robert points out the energy required to supply petrol stations is “catastrophically colossal”.

Energy companies are starting to embrace change

Financial savings are motivating change in the energy industry. Robert gives the example of solar plants. As with coal and nuclear, initial installation is hugely expensive, but once up and running, solar is much cheaper. No fuel costs, no waste management, no storage and no transportation mean massive savings.

In the case of Pacific Edison, the huge American power company who use coal, nuclear and gas plants to generate electricity, “peak management issues” were overloading the grid. They found the cheapest solution was batteries, and this was in fact Tesla’s first multi-megawatt sized grid battery backup.

Renewable energy production is growing globally

It’s encouraging to see the adoption of renewable technologies “at breakneck pace” around the world. Robert points to China where the rate of solar panel and wind turbine installations is “mindboggling”. The UK is gradually producing more renewable energy too: it is actually the biggest offshore wind generating country in the world, taking advantage of the fact that 40% of all the wind in Europe is around the British Isles.

You can run your house off your car and vice versa

Robert says he doesn’t actually see himself as very ‘green’ and even admits to having an Aga! However, he has made gradual changes. He only has electric cars now, and in his house he has improved the insulation, added solar panels, very good windows and a battery on the wall. As a result, his electricity bill has dropped by about 85%.

This form of domestic energy production and storage represent a big threat to the status quo, which he calls massively inefficient: “We have to subsidise all of the fossil fuel plants to a colossal amount of money to keep them running.” Robert’s house is typical of how current technology can be much more efficient, and he describes how some offices in the UK use similar systems and save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year without using any grid electricity.

Tesla Powerwall Battery
Image source: www.inhabitat.com

Local energy production and storage would be more efficient

The big UK energy companies are actually in favour of producing, owning and selling electricity locally as it would save a lot of money. The price of electricity fluctuates from getting paid to use it, to being fantastically expensive. At peak times it is imported at a higher cost than we ever pay for it, by many thousands of percent.

Robert counters recent claims we’d need ten times more electricity if we moved to local production and storage. More intelligent and regular use would avoid the sudden peaks and troughs that are currently so costly and inefficient.

Volume new builds aren’t designed to be energy efficient

Robert doesn’t hold back about the standard of new houses, which he says are “designed and built by morons!” He laments their individual gas boilers, traditional pitched roofs that don’t face south and lack of solar panels.

Robert cites studies showing you can build an efficient house at the cheapest possible cost where the house produces ALL the energy it needs, emphasising, “the people who live in that house will have free heating and lighting for the life of the building.”

Lower energy homes could make a huge difference

By using systems like the ones Robert has, with solar panels, batteries for storage and electric cars, a house can place about 70% less demand on the grid. While this means very little by itself, application on a much larger scale could have a huge environmental impact. A million houses set up in that way would mean closing down two fossil fuel burning power plants.

Find out more

Visit the website of Fully Charged

Follow Robert Llewellyn on Twitter

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Robert Llewellyn

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September 1, 2017
HPH106 : An Energy Positive House That Addresses Cost, Performance and Buildability – with Professor Phil Jones
Professor Phil Jones works at the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University where, over the last 12 months, they have designed, built and are monitoring the UK’s first energy-positive house.

Interview with Professor Phil Jones

Phil Jones’ background is in building physics, but over the last 15-20 years he has been working as an environmental designer on a number of projects, on both a small and urban scale.

As part of the University’s Low Carbon Research Institute, they have been developing a number of technologies in partnership with industry, and have designed and built a home with the aim of it producing more energy over the year than it uses.

©Cardiff University

It has Taken Just 18 Months to Design and Build

From previous projects that they’ve worked on, they knew the technologies that they wanted to optimise into the process.

The Wales European Funding Office provided some of the funds which needed to be spent fairly quickly, so that provided an incentive to get it done!

They managed the project themselves but employed a construction manager to oversee the site. That way they were able to keep control of the project and ensure they remained within budget.

Integration of Technologies and Architecture

A systems approach has been used to integrate the technologies together, and to integrate those technologies into the architecture. The energy demand of the house is close to Passivhaus levels, and both thermal and electricity energy storage has been incorporated. It utilises SIPs panel construction and has a render applied to the outside, except for where the thermal air collector is.

Solar electricity – used for the lighting and small items, runs the heat pump for the heating system, charges the batteries and heats the water. Any excess is exported back to the grid. The PV panels form the south facing roof of the building.

©Cardiff University

The thermal system – air is brought into the building using a transpired solar collector (an air collector wall on the south elevation). The heating in the house is from the air being pre-heated by the sun, picking up heat from the MVHR and being topped up by a heat pump. The heat pump uses internal air, so is more efficient than using an air source version which works on external air temperatures.

©Cardiff University

The ‘buildability’ of the design is aided by the components being readily available locally, and local skills and contractors being used.

©Cardiff University

The House is Around 75% Autonomous

This is based on their predictions. There will be periods when the house will draw from the grid, but over the course of the year it is estimated it will put back in roughly 70% more to the grid than it will take from it.

Battery Technology is Developing at a Fast Pace

They opted for lithium batteries as, although they were more expensive, they were lighter and had more capacity for the size. They’re bolted to the wall and don’t need any maintenance from the occupants. Phil notes that since building the house prices have fallen by around a half. He says Tesla for example have produced a 7kWh lithium battery for the housing market for around £3500, with costs predicted to come down further.

©Cardiff University

Cost Increases Have Been Offset by Cost Reductions

Some things have inevitably cost a little more, such as the heating and battery systems, but there have also been savings. Using the ventilation system to heat the house means that there are no radiators or wet services around the building. No radiators also means that the room spaces can be more flexible.

©Cardiff University

With the PV panels being the actual roof, it has not been much more expensive than a normal roof, and the air collector forms part of the wall construction.

Costs are expected to be around the price of standard social housing, or the price of something that has been produced by a quality private developer.

Solcer House Has Been Well Received by Visitors

Feedback from the public that have been to visit the house or seen the details on the internet has all been very positive. The principles that have been used in the building can be adjusted to suit different aesthetics and different building types.

While volume house builders have been interested in seeing the house, Phil suspects it is not something they will be trying at the present time. They won’t do anything new until such times as they have to.

Builders of social housing have been more interested as they can appreciate the performance over time and the sense of having a building that people can afford to live in in the future.

Smaller scale developers are likely to see this as a market opportunity, to meet the demands of people who are confused as to why all houses can’t perform like this one.

Find Out More

Follow Professor Phil Jones on Twitter

Find out more about the Welsh School of Architecture

View the Solcer House brochure

This video explains more about the construction of Solcer House:

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with Professor Phil Jones.

Ecomotive Event

We featured Jackson Moulding of Ecomotive in Episode 77, where he spoke about the Ashley Vale group self build scheme which initially had to fend off a large developer in order to secure their plot of land.

Ecomotive are putting on a week-long series of talks and workshops in Bristol, aimed at inspiring people who want to go down this route and looking at some of the challenges they can expect to face. Ben Adam-Smith has been invited along on Saturday 5th December 2015 to share what he has learned so far.

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November 3, 2015
HPH082 : Do I Need Solar Photovoltaic (PV)? – with David Winterton from Ecological Design
David Winterton from Sydney-based consultancy Ecological Design gives us a rundown of solar photovoltaic (solar PV). We find out how it works, what the key considerations are and why prices of PV panels always seem to be coming down!

Interview with David Winterton

Having travelled a lot over the years, David feels that sustainability offers a deeper sense of connection. He’s witnessed first hand how indigenous communities have worked within their natural environment to create better places to live. And David believes that the same thing applies in our cities, which should be bustling, culturally inviting and invigorating. Sustainability is about better ways to live.

Around 1 Million People in Australia Live Off-Grid

The situation in Australia is unique because of the incredibly high levels of solar resources. Coupled with high energy prices and a decrease in the price of PV (Photovoltaic) panels, it seems an obvious choice for many to live off-grid. Some states in Australia have over 30% of their energy supplied by renewables.

Solar Panels and Solar PV defined

When people talk of solar panels they might think of them being for hot water. Solar PVs in this conversation relate to the technology which converts sunlight directly into electricity.

The Fundamental Thing to Understand About Solar PV is That it’s Static

While other forms of electrical generation, such as hydro, wind and nuclear, are all based on parts spinning around, the PV’s remain static. The sun coming in creates an electrical current between the different wafers of silicone. From there the DC output from the panels is converted, using an inverter, into AC.

A Number of Factors Have Contributed to The Downward Price Curve of Solar PV

With initial investments in plants and equipment being paid off, and improvements in the manufacturing processes and the way silicone is produced, the costs of panels (but not labour) have fallen.

David emphasises however that he would never recommend selecting panels purely based on price. With most companies offering between 10 and 25 year warranties they are going to be in the building fabric of communities for a long time so it is important that you make the right investment. He gives inverters (the part which converts DC into AC) which should be lasting 10 years as a case in point. Some of the poorer quality ones have been failing within 5 years.

We Should Be looking at Matching Our Energy Consumption With Our Yield

Previously it was the case that we tried to just get the highest yields out of the systems. With so little being paid for over-production that goes back to the grid, it actually makes sense for your peak levels being generated to be at the peak time that you will need it. For example, north facing panels (in Australia) would have a peak production in the middle of the day, and if you’re not there in the middle of the day then it’s not matching your energy requirements. It might be better to have two strings of panels with an east-west array that will be giving you a peak production closer to your waking up and getting home times of day.

The energy density of modern panels has improved meaning that now you can get a lot more power into a smaller panel. This therefore makes them viable to use in more shaded areas where once it wouldn’t have made financial sense to do so.

A Small Energy Storage System Can Avoid The Reliance on Peak Grid Energy Prices

With energy prices going up over 45cents a kw hour during the energy usage peak at night, it might be worth having a battery system to store any excess produced during the day so you don’t have to depend on the expensive energy during this short period of time.

David sees a similar trajectory that has happened with the number of people having solar PV over the last 10 years, happening with battery storage.

Some Key Considerations:
- Avoid low quality systems.
- Future proofing – in terms of battery storage it is worth checking to ensure that any system you are considering has the capacity to feed into a battery storage option.
- Understand your shading – shading on any one of your panels will result in a drop in voltage as it will actually revert to the lowest voltage across all of the panels. A smaller system designed with a different orientation might actually better meet your energy needs.
- Energy efficiency first – there’s always energy efficiency to be found in a house at some level so it is always best to focus on this first.
- Avoid companies which say you can upgrade for example a 3kw inverter to a 5kw inverter in the future – David emphasises that this is not how inverters work!
- Ask solar installers for production graphs of how much energy you will produce, which you can then overlay with your energy consumption.
- Talk to neighbours – particularly those with PV to see how it can work within the community.
There is a Place Within Energy Markets For Community Energy

David feels that community energy can play a strong part. Even if you’re unable to put solar PV on your home it is important to understand community initiatives in your area and what they will mean for the future. He gives the example of New South Wales where he believes that political decisions that have been made about their energy systems have not been in the interests of the community. He stresses the importance of understanding the governance and the capacity for making changes to get those things to work.

Find Out More

Visit Ecological Design’s website

Transcript

Download a transcript of the interview with David Winterton.

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January 29, 2015
When Do I Start Thinking About My Eco Bling?

You may rate the latest eco gadget as a must for your new house but technology should be quite a long way down your list of things to do. Spending time on achieving the right design and specification will pay dividends further down the line. If you insulate it as highly as you possibly can, seal it as best you can and mechanically ventilate it with the most efficient system you can find, then the energy requirement of your house should be a lot less than if you hadn’t followed that process. Plus, none of these items should cost you a lot of money. They’re all relatively small cost items. Once you’ve determined your energy needs this way, then you could look at what’s the best, most efficient way to produce that.

July 16, 2012