The terms ‘passive housing’, ‘low carbon
housing’, ‘low energy building’ and ‘green building’ are now
frequently used by designers and architects. This reflects the
rapid changes that are occurring in the way buildings are being
designed and constructed to reduce environmental impact.
This website includes solutions for buildings to achieve zero
net emissions from all energy usage, constructed from sustainable
materials with low embodied energy. These will be the buildings for
the future. Diagrams and drawings in this book typically show a
range of solutions for buildings incorporating systems to maximise
energy efficiency.
The Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH)
Within the residential sector, the launch of
the Code
for Sustainable Homes integrates higher sustainability
performance standards within the design of the houses, which will
mean that ‘green’ buildings become standard practice. The Code will
reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector and form
the basis for future Building Regulations in relation to
CO2 emissions and energy use in homes.
The UK Government is also considering applying
similar stipulation to the non residential buildings sector.
Zero carbon
The Government’s aim is that newly built
dwellings should be ‘zero carbon’ (zero net emissions from all
energy use) as standard from 2016. Understandably, increased energy
efficiency is a vital part of the Code, but there are a range of
other design considerations, including ‘water’, ‘materials’,
‘waste’ and the ‘health and well-being of occupants’. The result
will be a significant reduction in CO2 emissions to help
combat global warming and climate change.
 Penryn
Knauf Insulation teamed up with specialist sustainable
development architects, the ZEDfactory and contractors Midas, for
the construction of Jubilee Wharf, Penryn, Cornwall, for the
property developers, Robot Mother Ltd.
Knauf Insulation supplied 2,500m² of 100mm Rocksilk DriTherm
Cavity Slab to the £3 million riverside development, which was
installed in three layers. The development features a wood pellet
boiler and four wind turbines and is upgradeable to a Zero (fossil)
Energy Development (ZED). The turbines will generate a proportion
of the expected electrical demand whilst all the space heating and
hot water will be met by solar thermal and the wood pellet
boiler.
In keeping with the development and ZEDfactory’s ethos of
creating environmentally friendly buildings and the reduction of
carbon emissions that are a cause of climate change, Rocksilk
DriTherm Cavity Slab was the perfect choice. It is free from CFCs,
HFCs and any other material with ozone depletion potential in its
manufacture and content, and represents a true low environmental
impact product.
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 The Upton
project
Developers Mansell Construction specified
Knauf Insulation’s Crown DriTherm 32 Cavity Slabs for Phases One to
Five of the 345 home project and has seen outstanding energy
efficiency results. According to the Promotion of European Passive
Houses (PEP) document published in 2006, to be classed as a zero
carbon home, the U-values of roofs, floors and walls must all be
reduced to 0.15 or below to limit energy demanded from renewable
sources.
The inclusion of Crown DriTherm 32 in the
Upton development’s wall cavities has driven the U-values of the
walls down from 0.35 to 0.121W/m2K. This has contributed
to an overall carbon emission saving of 60% (including space,
water, heating, lighting etc) which is equivalent to £118 per annum
in an average semi-detached property.
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 Weymouth and Portland NSA
The newly redeveloped Weymouth and Portland National Sailing
Academy (WPNSA) has been equipped with a Kalzip standing seam
system incorporating 1300m2 of Crown FactoryClad to
achieve U-values of 0.25W/m2K and 0.35W/m2K
respectively for roof and walls.
This combination provides an exceptionally durable, low
maintenance and energy efficient external envelope for the
building, whilst protecting it from the harsh marine environment,
and meeting stringent planning requirements.
The building’s envelope provides superior protection from both
the strong prevailing wind and salt spray. It incorporates a vapour
control layer with 180mm of insulation compressed to 160mm in the
roof, and 120mm of insulation compressed to 115mm in the walls.
Crown FactoryClad is manufactured to suit commonly used rail and
bracket systems and is particularly suited for use within profiled
metal cladding systems and standing seam roofs.
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