First Self Build Net-Zero
Carbon Home Launched

Lighthouse by Potton offers a contemporary house design which, with a blend of green technologies, mean self builders can build a net zero carbon home that can cost as little as £30 per year to run.

Its unrivalled levels of efficiency in terms of construction method, energy use, CO2 emissions and carbon footprint also mean that is the first to achieve the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6, the standard to which all new homes will be designed and constructed from 2016.

With a U-value of 0.11W/m2K and air tightness of less than 1.0m3/hr/m2 at 50P, the heat loss has been reduced by around two-thirds compared to a standard new house.

It also includes effective solar control, together with integrated building services based around a platform of renewable and sustainable technologies designed by Arup. These include water efficiency techniques, such as low volume, sanitary ware and appliances, rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling, as well as renewable energy technologies, including a biomass boiler, building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and a solar-thermal array.

A mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system, and a roof-mounted wind catcher, provides secure night-time ventilation for passive cooling, and thermal mass boards built into the ceilings provide additional cooling. There are also containers for waste separation both in the kitchen and outside, so that waste can be recycled and composted too.

Building services in Lighthouse have been integrated with smart metering and monitoring, which records energy consumption and enables occupants to identify if any wastage is occurring, helping them to be more energy conscious.

The entire Lighthouse range will offer intelligent contemporary design. Based on a simple timber frame barn like form, some designs feature a sweeping roof which envelopes the central space providing generous, open-plan, top-lit, double height open plan living space, with the sleeping accommodation at ground level.

What is more, the living space uses a timber portal structure so floors can be slotted between the frames or left open as required. While the foundations have been developed using timber floor cassettes supported off the ground using screw fast pile heads, which ensure that the disturbance to the ground is minimal and that these houses can be erected quickly and easily.

To find out more visit www.lighthousebypotton.co.uk

10 Eco Tips For Your Home
Bokashi Kitchen Compost Bucket
Vintage Recycling – It's A Lark!
Calling All You Green Heroes!
Biofuels Costing the Earth?

Facebook     Delicious        Digg This

©Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 2005 - 2011
www.reducereuserecycle.co.uk