A timber frame house insulated with straw-bales, and featuring ecological and recycled materials has been built in North Yorkshire to the ‘Passive House Plus’ standard. Straw bale houses are nothing new, there are approximately seventy buildings in the UK and ten in Ireland, with the first to receive planning permission and building regulations in the […]
House Made of Straw Read More »
A growing number of London borough councils are increasingly incorporating Passivhaus developments into their housing programmes. The London mayor has urged more projects built within the Greater London Authority (GLA) to go beyond building regulations through Passivhaus, promoting higher levels of energy efficiency for new homes & buildings. The London Plan includes a requirement for
London Social Plan Read More »
Tribeca, a mixed-use development with a state-of-the-art laboratory and office spaces across six floors, is the first project to have demonstrated the use of Earth Blocks, where excavated clay from the construction site mixed with sand and straw has produced unfired bricks for the Apex building. Part of The London BioScience Innovation Centre (LBIC) in
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Willohaus in Salford is one of a growing number of larger scale Passivhaus projects appearing across the UK, some developments reaching one-thousand or more dwellings. Salford City Council is one of the increasing number of authorities leading regeneration of the housing sector for affordable, high specification homes, which contribute to a healthier environment, and reducing
Large Scale Passivhaus UK Read More »
The UK government approved Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP), used to evaluate the predicted energy performance of new buildings in compliance with the building regulations, has shown to predict calculations significantly higher than the actual use, known as the ‘performance gap’. The SAP calculations are used to measure the Dwelling Emission Rate (DER) and the Dwelling
Failed Energy Performance Read More »
The government’s new Future Homes Standard (FHS), in recognition of an enhanced building fabric standard for changes to Part L and F of the Building Regulations 2025*, will most likely need updating in the near future. The FHS has been introduced to ensure all new homes built from 2025 will produce 75-80% less carbon emissions
Future Homes Not Fit for the Future Read More »
Hull Maritime attraction set to be UK leader in energy efficiency. A new maritime visitor attraction in Hull’s historic North End Shipyard on one of the city’s oldest streets along the River Hull, is set to become one of the UK’s best energy efficient buildings in the heritage & cultural sector. Construction started in 2021
Hull Maritime UK Leader in Energy Efficiency Read More »
Forward thinking City of York Council leads the way in delivering a city-wide passive social housing programme to tackle fuel poverty. With the help of Stirling Prize winning Mikhail Riches, the designer of the award-winning 2019 Goldsmith Street social housing scheme for Norwich City Council, the City of York Council is set to build the
Passivhaus in the Ancient City of York Read More »
Above image of house with hemp-lime walls (2009) at BRE Innovation Park. Houses built using materials I advocated in 2012 have been hailed the UK’s ‘most sustainable development’ (ADF-Architects’ Datafile 02.22). In 2012 I wrote a piece called Œco-Prime Architectonics about ‘the nature of architecture and ecology of building’. Œco-Prime Architectonics was my view of
Hemp-Lime Passive House Read More »
There has always been a better way, now the unfortunate events of lockdown have made it clearer than ever. Much has been said about the negative effects of self-isolation on our mental health, but little about the benefit of wellbeing. Before the pandemic our lifestyle caused problems with physical and mental health, and eroded communities.
Workhome Wellbeing Read More »