Experimental eco-house

[Nemesis]

Let's hope it isn't repeated.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/36693

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Love the colour.

Not wild about the rest of it.

 

[Nemesis]

You are the second person to say that.

 

[Flyfisher]

Love the colour.

Looks a bit like woad to me, which would be consistent with the sustainability theme.

 

[chuckey]

I like the way they tiled the whole roof then cover up 30% of the tiles. This is what being green is about i.e. not having the vision to construct the whole roof from PV cells, which are 100% waterproof and not having to put up tiles, battens and felt, which would have covered the cost of the additionel PV cells. Also would have allowed a much better fixing for the PV units. Or is it that the PV units do not provide a proper water seal edge to edge, so the PV men are to blame.
Its about time these green people got their act together.
Frank

 

[biffvernon]

Such a shame the lawnmower has to be petrol powered.

 

[Nemesis]

I suspect the car is too. But the wheelbarrow seems OK.

 

[Nemesis]

http://living.scotsman.com/homesgardens/Are-these-our-ideal-homes.3710545.jp

THE ZERO CARBON HOME

ECO-5, BEANBURN ROAD, AYTON, SCOTTISH BORDERS

DESIGNED BY: JOHN R HARRIS AND PARTNERS FOR THE BERWICKSHIRE HOUSING ASSOCIATION AND THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT SPEC: DETACHED FOUR-BEDROOM HOME WITH GARAGE

WHEN it is completed later this year, the prototype ECO-5 will be Europe's first hydrogen-fuelled, zero-carbon home. Energy captured by a wind turbine and solar panels will be used to electrolyse water, splitting it into oxygen and hydrogen.

The hydrogen will then be stored in underground tanks, and can be used for electricity and heating as required.

Subsidised to the tune of £220,000 by a Scottish Government grant, the ECO-5's hydrogen fuel system certainly doesn't come cheap. However, it is hoped that costs will come down in the future as firms start mass-producing components. At this stage, the house is an experiment. As Alastair Brown, director of operations at BHA, puts it: "Unless we do a project like this, we won't know how effective the system is."

A reminder:

http://periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9190

 

[Flyfisher]

. . . so they can run the lawn mower on nice clean renewable hydrogen then, and the car as well.

 

[Nemesis]

Different house, same place.

That one isn't yet built.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Why have they fenced the inside of the kitchen?

 

[Lime]

Totally devoid of style it is the sort of thing that the locals skin with brick then sell on to unsuspecting non-thinking house purchasers.
An eyesore in any locality.

 

[ljn]

Looks like it was designed in a game of pictionary - is that what you call the game where you draw a bit, then fold the paper and pass it to the next person who draws their bit without seing what you've done?

Worth listing?

 

[AMc]

Surely 'experimental' is an important part of the description?
If the PhotoVoltaic solar cells had been integrated into the roof then it would have been a bit cheaper and better looking, but it would have limited the opportunity to replace/upgrade/remove the units.

I agree it's not a thing of beauty, but prototypes and experimental platforms are not necessarily polished as final designs.

 

[chuckey]

Amc, it makes no difference to upgrading the cells infact it makes it easier because you will have to rip of the old panels anyway. Then you have my choice of fixing to a nice bit of wood, or you have to remove the old fixing through the tiles and then replace them with the new ones and seal the unwanted holes up. Anyway, exactly who is putting PV cells on their roof as an experiment?? :roll:
Frank

 

[Lime]

Surely 'experimental' is an important part of the description?
If the PhotoVoltaic solar cells had been integrated into the roof then it would have been a bit cheaper and better looking, but it would have limited the opportunity to replace/upgrade/remove the units.

I agree it's not a thing of beauty, but prototypes and experimental platforms are not necessarily polished as final designs.

I can see where you are coming from with this argument as I used to work in a research dept. where the very ugly was almost de rigueur.

However I think it should be different when nearing the final form i.e. fitted on and in a house.

I believe the best decoration is that which forms part of the structure and should be included in the design.
There is an unfortunate acceptance today that decoration can just be stuck on as an afterthought which is why so much ugliness exists in modern buildings and beauty and charm are such rarities.

 

[AMc]

There are very few manufacturers of roof integrated systems and they have to rate their products to have a roof tile lifetime. So a test system that is independent from the water tight roof makes a lot of sense to me. The technology of solar cells is improving and building a current production system into an experimental platform is counter to the aims of any experiment.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/10/researchers-create-printed-solar-cells/

As fuel poverty is going to become more serious then making new houses that need less energy to run and provide some of their energy needs locally is particularly important in social housing.

If this was a listed building of great architectual merit with some panels stuck on it then I'd see your point but clearly the housing association and the local planners believe the less appealing visual aspects of this EXPERIMENTAL HOUSE are worth the information they're gaining.

AMc, it makes no difference to upgrading the cells infact it makes it easier because you will have to rip of the old panels anyway. Then you have my choice of fixing to a nice bit of wood, or you have to remove the old fixing through the tiles and then replace them with the new ones and seal the unwanted holes up.

- There is nothing in that photo that indicates the panels aren't on a reusable frame allowing you add or remove panels without affecting the weathertightness of the roof providing you leave the mount in place.

- If you need to adjust the angle of the panels to adjust their performance it's much easier to adjust a mounting frame than rebuilding the roof at a different pitch - especially if the replacement cells have different lens characteristics. The best pitch of roof for thermal and space efficiency is not going to coincide with the best pitch for the solar cells at every given latitude especially that far North.

-If you remove integrated tiles you must make the roof watertight by retiling immediately, not just covering mounting holes. As all the integrated systems I've seen are designed to fit with the same tile manufacturer's roofing system you can't replace just the tiles, the whole roof will need work and couldn't assess two different systems side by side on the same roof.

Anyway, exactly who is putting PV cells on their roof as an experiment?? :roll:
Frank

Berwickshire Housing Association it would seem, but they aren't just sticking PV cells on the roof and calling it an experiment it's part of wider research. If you want to genuinely assess the usefulness of technologies you need to test it long term insitu. with real occupants.
I imagine that the energy consumption behaviour of a housing association tenant is not going to be the same as a green living enthusiast. Only by assessing the usefulness of the technologies in the real world can they make broader strategic decisions about using them in their larger fleet of homes to improve the quality of life for their tenants. I'm glad that the housing association haven't been greenwashed into building a fleet of houses that incorporate unproven technologies based only on manufacturers promises about performance.
http://www.berwickshirehousing.org.uk/renewable.html

Berwickshire Housing Association now deploys a range of Renewable Energy Systems (RES) in all new properties, dependant on site location and orientation.

Sun Spaces, with integral ventilation systems, to assist with space heating;
solar water heating panels;
wind turbines – 3 pilot installations are monitored and all new houses are strengthened to take wind turbines, pending the technology becoming fully developed and affordable;
photo-voltaic cells – we monitor 17 pilot installations.

 

[Nemesis]

It's pretty unattractive though - glad I don't have to look at it!

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Thing is, these projects are always blimmin' "experimental" and have been since the Centre for Alternative Technology and the demonstration houses at Milton Keynes back in the 70s. For some reason (and not just the reluctance of housebuilders to do anything they're not forced to do at gunpoint), these experimental houses never seem to progress further into an accepted and reproducible prototype, so every three years there's another "experimental eco-home of the future" unveiled to great fanfare which then fades from view.

 

[Nemesis]

This is one of the 'older' ones - built 2000 and it's not too unattractive!

http://www.sustainablehomes.co.uk/case_studies/brampton2.htm#summary


http://www.sustainablehomes.co.uk/case_studies.htm