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overview ‘Timber frame’ has several meanings: Platform frame where walls are assembled on site into storey[for the purposes of part B (fire) of the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations] this means a. any gallery[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] – A raised area or platform around the sides or [...] Traditionally, domestic hot water has simply been a choice between a combi boiler or a vented system (with the odd Point of Use water heater thrown in). With water saving design, and zero carbon housing which will possibly become the standard in 2016, this all changes slightly for several reasons - with PassivhausSee more on [...] Central heating Emitters tend to be of two types – traditional radiators and underfloor heating. It’s a bit of a toss-up as to which is better. They have their respective advantages and drawbacks. Underfloor a pleasanter heat because it is better distributed no wall space taken up by radiators possibly more efficient because of lower [...] Larch house entrance Although not self built, the two passivhauses at Ebbw Vale may be very relevant to many self builders. Built in 2010 as show houses mainly for the attention of housing associations, they are attractive and innovative while being relatively modest. The 3 bed Larch House is clad with a locally sourced [...] straw board Straw board is made from waste straw with usually about 2% MDI adhesive binder. In the past the reputation of straw board has suffered mainly due to people trying to skimp on the thickness, a bit like with hardboard. It can make for very economical internal surface linings with good thermal [...] novolit magnesite / woodwool board There are various types of cement/wood wool board combinations with Heraklith (which uses a magnesite cement) being one of the better known makes in the UK. Although the cement component is a cause of embodied energythe total amount of energy it takes to make a material (or a building). [...] The Tree House in Clapham, London is a recently completed and very elegant example of a self built detached house. It has, on occasion, been open to the public as part of the London Open House programme. Situated on a small urban plot of land dominated by a large sycamore tree it has [...] the front of the house with double storey[for the purposes of part B (fire) of the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations] this means a. any gallery[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] – A raised area or platform around the sides or at the back of a room which provides [...] Aberfeldy, October 2009 This is a timber frame house of 76 sq,m. built in 2001. In terms of heating it benefits from its double storey[for the purposes of part B (fire) of the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations] this means a. any gallery[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] [...] October ’09 Home of Alexander and Vinny Burnett, Kashentroch is an elegant and spacious open plan timber frame house in a beautiful setting close to the Dee. The original part of the house (with the pitched roof on the right of the picture), built about 5 years ago, has recently had an addition of [...] ECOS, (formerly known as the Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development) is a charity which has been behind several green house building initiatives. Although not self-build, their houses are excellent examples of what is possible and are open to viewing on certain occasions. At present there are two schemes which are complete or nearing completion and [...] this clay plaster wall at the Denby Dale passivhausSee more on the Passivhaus standard. The PassivHaus Institute has pioneered a standard for low energy buildings. It includes very low energy usage and ways of achieving this. The word is derived from the idea of buildings which are fundamentally low energy and passive solar [...] May 2011 Green roofs There are several possible ways of improving the ecological design of roofs: Having generous roof overhangs can significantly reduce the amount of maintenance to woodwork such as doors, windows and cladding Careful sourcing of roofing materials is important as a way of reducing the embodied energythe total amount of energy it [...] October 2009 On the Hill of Bandodle, Aberdeenshire, stands a beautiful timber frame house designed by architect Genevieve Jones for her family. Incorporating high levels of insulation (in the form of 350mm of shoddy obtained from Elgin woolen mill) and mainly locally sourced materials, Larch, Douglas fir and Caithness slate, the house also has [...] Hedgehog Self Build Co-op, Hogs Edge, Brighton august 2009 One of Brighton’s examples of community self build which started in the late 1990s, this development of ten timber frame houses is based on the Walter SegalThe architect who devised a simple timber frame self build system (often simply known as ‘Segal self build’. see more [...] A very interesting terrace of three houses, on a curved road junction, has recently been completed in this Somerset village. Some of the main features of the design are: Very high insulation levels provided by insulating concrete forms (ICF) with added exterior face insulation Structural insulated panel (SIP) roofs Eco-slab ground floors and upper [...] Walter Segal self build This is made up of 3 adjoining houses which were built by three families, starting in 1993. They were constructed according to the Walter SegalThe architect who devised a simple timber frame self build system (often simply known as ‘Segal self build’. see more on the Segal method self build [...] A cork oak. The bark (cork) is stripped about every 8 years and regrows Assuming that the question of designing in enough insulation has been dealt with the question is about what kind of materials to use. Here the issues are - resistance to moisture compressive strength if needed is it self supporting? is [...] Self build eco houses in the Field of Dreams, Findhorn FoundationThe Findhorn Foundation is a large community near Inverness. There is a strong emphasis on sustainable building and living. Over the last decade or so the green building movement in the UK has gone from being fringe to mainstream. Architects, builders and suppliers are [...]
Earth Heart is a community of 22 people in 8 homes based on a large converted farm in Derbyshire set up in 1998 around home education. Although not initially concerned with eco-build, they have embraced the concept thoroughly during their upgrading of an old farm house and several outbuildings into dwellings. There [...] The five earth sheltered houses. Image by WindandSun who provided the PV installation The Hockerton Housing Project is the UK’s first (and almost only) earth sheltered housing development. It is a remarkable place, not only because of the five houses which are built into the side of a hill and are almost zero [...] October 2011 Background If you are thinking of building a green building then it pays to be aware of where this whole process is going Eco-house design is a fairly recent development which started getting off the ground in the UK during the mid 1990s. more +/-» Although you will probably end up using [...] October 2009 The Findhorn FoundationThe Findhorn Foundation is a large community near Inverness. There is a strong emphasis on sustainable building and living. near Fores in the North East of Scotland has a couple of interesting areas of eco-housing and a whole approach to living lightly on the earth including 750kW of electrical energy from [...] There are many purposes a window can serve and several of these have important ecological considerations: Letting light in Collecting solar heat Providing a view Acting as a door The visual character of a house Windows may have associated drawbacks to consider: They may let in too much light at certain times Too [...] Khan made this beautiful doorway in the attic of her house Good external doors are quite hard to source in the UK because we have had a poor tradition of insulating and draught proofing them. This is why eco-house builders often use the imported Scandinavian and German ones which are available here. There [...] New buildings As a building material, locally sourced (or possibly newly quarried), reclaimed stone may be a viable option but suffers from the drawback that stone itself has virtually no insulating value. This can obviously be overcome by including sufficient insulation within the rest of the wall construction but it does tend to lead [...] It is very cheap and easy to build in wall insulation at the beginning compared with the complicated job of adding more later. It is only a few decades ago that insulation was not bothered with at all (cavity[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] – A space enclosed by elements of [...] February 2013 See the government web site on Building Regulations Building Regulations deal with whether the building is built properly and is safe and energy efficient etc. more+/-» They are not to be confused with Planning Consentthe legal basis for being allowed to do some form of development such as building a house. (not to [...] The green credentials for brick walls vary, with three main factors: the embodied energythe total amount of energy it takes to make a material (or a building). See more on embodied energy depends on what sort of bricks are used the environmental policy of the manufacturer the effect on the wall design The embodied energy [...] Cob building, which uses earth, generally subsoil, mixed with straw and water and possibly clay and sand to construct walls is one of the most sustainable ways of building in terms of materials and embodied energythe total amount of energy it takes to make a material (or a building). See more on embodied energy. [...] rammed earth can be quite attractive if left unfinished Rammed earth is an age-old method of building walls by packing moist subsoil into formwork and then compacting it, either by machine or manually. The formwork is then struck and lifted to form the next layer. In terms of embodied energythe total amount of energy [...] autumn 2009 from left to right – individual houses, the communal village green area, bungalows, the terrace of houses and, (bright red), the flats above the workshops and community centre CLICK ABOVE FOR 3D PANORAMIC IMAGE WITH DRAG AND ZOOM This is one of the most interesting recent examples of group self-build in [...] |
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