After aiming to achieve the highest building standards across the board, the Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia (UEA) is being called the greenest, most sustainable building in the UK. John French is the CEO of UEA’s Adapt Low Carbon Group and also directed the Enterprise Centre project. French was keen to build […]
What do we mean by the “performance gap” when we talk about buildings? When a building is designed, there is a targeted level of energy performance. Once a building is completed however, the reality is that these targets often aren’t achieved. The focus at the moment is on closing the gap between intended and actual […]
60% of all energy used in domestic dwellings is through space heating. This is an extremely high percentage and is much higher than any other source of energy loss. However when it comes to creating energy efficiency in buildings, the focus is often on other areas of energy consumption. There has been quite a lot […]
When we talk about “breathability” in buildings, we aren’t referring to the movement of air within a building, rather the movement of water. Water moves in and out of buildings constantly as both a liquid and as a gas, and is practically everywhere; inside the building, outside, in the walls, floors and roofs. Breathability is […]
It has recently been announced that the zero carbon homes policy is to be scrapped by the British government. Established in 2006, the policy would have meant that within ten years, all new residential buildings would be low in energy use and generate its own energy for that which remained such as hot water, lighting […]
Natural Building Technologies supplied materials for the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation which was completed back in 2013. The Centre is a redevelopment of the 18th century Royal High School in Edinburgh’s Old Town with new atria plus social and teaching space stitched between and around the historic buildings. The integrity of the historic buildings […]
Recently, Natural Building Technologies provided materials for a timber frame project located on Revelon Road in London. This new build was unusual as the residential property was built on a site of around 3.5m wide. NBT were asked to provide support during specification of insulation systems, including WUFI calculations and SAP calculations. We assisted during […]
We have previously discussed the misconceptions about the financial cost of natural materials in energy efficient homes. While costs may, in some cases, be higher than synthetic insulations the gap is often much smaller than people realise, if at all. With the added advantage of enhanced comfort and the significantly reduced risk to health and […]
Passive House buildings are found to be almost four times as efficient as other high energy performance buildings. In an article published by an independent group (D. Johnstona, D. Farmera, M. Brooke-Peata & D. Miles-Shenton) the heat loss coefficients of 25 new UK building projects that all boasted “high energy performance” were measured. As part […]
The University of Leicester has just launched a fund raising campaign in order to complete the UK’s largest Passivhaus. The University’s Centre for Medicine building is an ambitious £42 million pound project which, once completed, will make it the largest Passivhaus building in the UK. The facility is currently spread over numerous locations across Leicester, […]
A new guide entitled “How to Build a Passivhaus: Rules of Thumb” has been launched by UK passive house organisation, The Passivhaus trust. The guide looks at the best methods and things to avoid when building passive houses. This is a useful guide for those new to Passivhaus or unsure on the principles and approaches […]
The annual BREEAM Awards winners were announced as part of EcoBuild earlier this month, with over 50 of the highest rated BREEAM buildings being shortlisted for an award. There were some great winners, but one which stood out for us was Fornebu S, a shopping centre located just outside Oslo in Norway. “Outstanding” Fornebu S […]
