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Eco credentials are becoming a given standard when designing a new home with more and more clients choosing an eco-home or zero-carbon approach to building their forever home. There are a number of factors to consider when designing these types of homes and the principles remain the same whether it’s an eco-home or zero carbon home.  We talk to Kris Baxter of Studio 11 Architecture to hear his top tips on designing your eco home.
Zero Carbon Home Designed by Studio 11 Architecture in Lincolnshire

Fabric first

A fabric first approach is best described as putting a jacket around your home, in the form of insulation. Zero carbon homes require a super insulation to minimise heat loss and the commensurate carbon emissions. Another factor to consider would be how well your windows and doors perform thermally. Most houses now have significant amounts of glazing and it would be contradictory to have super insulated walls with poorly performing windows and doors.

At Studio 11 Architecture, we have an in-house team of Energy Assessors, meaning we are able to take a fabric first approach to designing your home from the concept stage, and can check how chosen materials will perform throughout the process.

The orientation of your home

When designing your home, your designer should look at the orientation of your home to consider “passive solar gains” made by glazing. If glazing is designed in your home with this in mind, you can achieve a building that gains heat during the day and stores it for use at night

Air tightness

One area where buildings can be significantly improved is air tightness. Heating air within a building and allowing it to escape increases the demand on the heating system which in turn burns more fossil fuels. By simply improving the air tightness, you can significantly reduce the heat loss of your home. To achieve good air tightness within a building you need to ensure good craftsmanship throughout the building and ensure all building elements are sealed appropriately.  One thing to bear in mind is that it is possible for a building to be too air tight. Current building regulations require a minimum air permeability of buildings that are naturally ventilated and buildings below that threshold require mechanical ventilation.

Ventilation

Most buildings in the UK are designed to be naturally ventilated but when designing an eco or zero carbon home, there is usually an aspiration to achieve a very low air permeability. This means that some form of mechanical ventilation is required to prevent stagnation of air within the building and to provide its occupants with a constant supply of fresh air. The best approach for mechanical ventilation is a mechanical ventilation heat recovery system (MVHR) which provides fresh air the building but also uses a heat exchanger to remove the heat from the air exhausted from the building and transfers it to the fresh air coming into the building. This reduces heat loss whilst maintaining comfort levels within the building.

Eco Home Designed by Studio 11 Architecture In Essex

Heating and hot water systems

Most houses in the UK are provided with a gas or oil boiler, which heats water that in turns heat underfloor heating or radiators. Gas is a fossil fuel and therefore significant amounts of boilers producing emissions is detrimental to the environment. It is the government’s intention that by 2030 they will phase out gas connections to new houses. With that in mind, the construction industry has already started to look at alternatives and a good cost-effective alternative is the use of heat pumps, usually either ground source or air source, but can also be water source, depending on the site location. Heat pumps are similar to refrigeration units, but in reverse. They take heat from their source (air, ground or water) to heat water or air, which in turn heats the building. It is worth bearing in mind that heat pumps are powered by electricity and therefore are best for the environment when powered by electricity generated by a renewable source.

Electricity generation

Generating electricity on site is a great way of giving back to the environment, especially if you are able to generate more than you use. There are numerous ways to generate electricity, but the two most popular solutions are photovoltaic arrays and small-scale wind turbines. Both allow for the occupants of the building to use electricity generated on site and sell any surplus back to the national grid. To supplement the electricity generation, it may also be worth considering battery storage, which is especially useful if you have an electric vehicle where the electricity generated on site and stored in the battery could be used to charge your vehicle at home.

A- rated Self Build Home Designed by Studio 11 Architecture

Embodied Energy

Every material used in the construction of a building has embodied energy contained within it. Embodied energy being the energy required to manufacture or produce that building component together with the energy required to deliver and erect it. Commonly used building materials generally have a relatively high level of embodied energy. Examples of these would be concrete, brickwork, steel and plastics. The balance of designing a home with the longevity to offset the embodied energy created whilst considering the most environmentally friendly choice of material that may not last as long is a challenging process which requires a lot of thought and research.

Water Conservation

Depending upon where you live in the UK, the levels of rainfall will be different, however, it is always a good idea to minimise your water consumption. The three most common ways of doing this are incorporating rain water harvesting for use in watering the garden and washing cars, incorporating grey water harvesting for flushing toilets and finally, designing in sanitary ware which restricts water consumption. As a result, not only are you doing your bit for the environment, you are also making a significant annual saving financially

Ecology

General housing does not take into account ecology in any way and in many cases, by implementing even very small measures we can improve the ecology of a site significantly. These measures could take the form of bird boxes, insect habitats or simply putting aside some of your garden to serve as a wildflower meadow.

Zero Carbon Home designed by Studio 11 Architecture with future proofing for multiple generations in mind

Future-proofing your home

Our lives are forever changing, and if we wish to be truly eco in our approach to building our “forever home”, we need to make sure your home can adapt as your needs change. This can include making sure rooms can be multi-purpose and change use easily, your home is easily accessible and services such as electricity cables can be easily accessed and moved. It may even be worth considering your choice of frame so that walls can be changed within the structure relatively easily too.