Bio Solar House - THE Passiv Haus alternative?

An example of a Bio Solar Haus

In the UK we have a couple of recognised building standards: Code for Sustainable Homes and Passive House (Passiv Haus). CSH is based on SAP and a range of other factors, but this will soon be phased out and replaced by Building Regulations. This will then focus on energy usage. Passive Houses use PHPP to calculate how the building will perform, and again it is focused on energy use. PHPP is much more accurate than SAP, but there is an element missing in both because of the focus on energy use. That is what it is like to live in it.

In Germany an engineer called Klaus Becher decided that he wanted to build a low energy house that did not rely on mechanics and electronics to work efficiently. As he puts it:

'nature offers the simplest and cheapest solution to all problems. I wanted to build myself a retirement home, that would keep me healthy, required little technology, used little energy, was easy to maintain, protected the environment, liberated me from constantly rising running costs, gave me my desired space and was affordable.'

So using his engineering background he set about designing and building a house. So what he has come up with is an ingenious solution of a House in a House. This means that the structure uses nature to drive the heating and venting of the house by the means of an internal 'Winter Garden' that collects solar gain, which in turn expands the air in it and uses this pressure differential to push the warmed air through the building. Summer cooling is provided by using air passed through ducts in the ground. Heating is generated by solar collection as well and then disseminated by a wall heating system. If additional heating is required (on those cold dull days, then a small biomass boiler is used to drive the system).

To top the environmental credentials the designs are based on using wood as the main source of material. So the whole house becomes a carbon sink as well.

A Holzhaus (Wood House) from Bio Solar Haus

In the UK, these houses only come in kit form, but you can have almost any shape or configuration, depending on your design needs and sensitivities. The main external house is the main frame of the building and the internal house is then designed to be a flexible space, so the house can be altered to your changing needs. Marvellous.

So if you are looking to build your own home it is worth remembering that there is an alternative to Passive House that won't have you fretting about MVHR's, automatic shades etc.

More info can be found at http://www.bio-solar-house.com/ for the English site and http://www.bio-solar-haus.de/ for the German. Holzhaus info in German can be found at http://www.holzhaus-niedrigenergiehaus.de/

Which is the best light bulb?

Incandescent, CFL or LED?

Choosing a bulb would appear to be a straight forward choice. Incandescent bulbs are slowly being withdrawn as they are better at making heat than light! However, we are very used to the light that they give and the way that they do it. The change over from incandescent to better efficiency bulbs has been a focus of the energy saving movement, but it has hit upon a degree of resistance from the great British public. So what are the choices now that the market has matured a bit?

Incandescent and halogen bulbs are high energy users, but they do give a instant light that has a high CRI value. A what? CRI is Colour Rendering Index. So this tells us how much of the visible spectrum is given off by a bulb. CFL bulbs have poor CRI, hence the light that they produce makes colours appear different. LED bulbs give off a better CRI than CFL bulbs.

Another common complaint about energy saving bulbs is that they are duller than the incandescents and halogens. This can be true, if you don't get a powerful, or efficient enough one. We are used to looking at the wattage of the bulb and also believing what companies tell us are equivalents, whereas we should be looking at Lumen output. Lumens are a measure of the quantity of light. So if you want an equivalent to a 60w bulb you will need to match its light output which is around 600 Lumen. This means that you will need a modern CFL bulb of around 11w and a LED bulb of around 6w. But check the box as there is a wide variety of outputs for different types, shapes and colours of bulbs. Colours??

Well now, a whole different area. White light comes in a variety of colours! This is measured in K (Kelvin). Warm whites (incandescent and halogens produce warm white) is around 2700 to 3000K. LED and CFL bulbs are available at this colour temperature. But they produce more light at higher K, but this means that they produce a whiter / slightly bluer light and this is commonly called Cool White. Cool White is around 5000K. You can also get Daylight bulbs at around 6500K. The different light that these bulbs give off is very different and so make sure that you are getting the right Lumen with the Colour Temperature (K).

So what with size varying, the amount of time required to get to full brightness (CFL's have to warm up, whilst LED is instant), cost, length of time a bulb is on for (no point investing loads of money on a new bulb if it is only on once a week for a few minutes!), guarantee periods (these tend to come with LED bulbs), estimated lifespan (LED bulbs have the longest span, but CFL's also have a good lifetime), location of bulb (is it hard to get to? If so you might wish to go for the longest projected life), is it on a dimmer? etc etc.

Get the idea? There is a huge variety of factors that can influence what bulbs you might put where. So, it is worth thinking a little about the lights that would suit you best.

If you need instant light that will be on a lot - LED
If you need background light - CFL
If you need a high quality light - LED
If you only use the light ever now and again - keep what you have!

You get the idea.

Just be aware that there is a wide variety of choices and that not all bulbs are the same.

Check Lumen, not Watts.
Check Guarantee as well as Lifespan.
Check Colour Temperature to ensure who have the right type of light.
Check size to ensure that it will fit in your fittings (especially important for some halogen replacements). Check to ensure that your bulbs are compatible with your dimmer system (if you have one).

The BEST training out there

Chimney Flue Lining

Lining chimneys is a common place practice these days, especially with the rise in people fitting new stoves and burning wood.

There are a couple of points though that might go un-noticed when specifying  / getting quotes for a flexible liner.

Firstly there are two grades of liner. One (and this will probably be the one that you are quoted for) comes with a 10-15 year guarantee and is called a 316 Grade. The other is a thicker grade and comes with a 20-25 year guarantee, this is known as a 904 Grade. Price difference between the two is around £10 per metre and given a normal house height of 9m, this will equate to around £100 difference. Given that this will be a fraction of a fitted price I personally specified a 904 when we had our chimneys done.

Secondly there is the insulation. Most fitters will not insulate the chimney, but it is recommended that this is filled to help stop condensation issues with the liner. It should also help stop any old soot from being burned off from contact with the new hot flue. So it is worth enquiring about insulation options when lining an old chimney.

Important E-Petition

There is a very worthwhile petition that has been prepared by the Heritage Skills Hub in the UK. It is summarised as:

Keep traditional skills alive! Construction, repair & retrofit of heritage buildings, must be integrated into craft & professional construction courses
This sentiment backs up the STBA position of trying to ensure that our older buildings are not subjected to inappropriate treatment by the mainstream construction industry. It is worth remembering that standard courses for virtually all construction trades and professions in the UK do not study pre 1919 buildings in depth (if at all) and so they have no understanding of how they differ from your conventional modern building.

So if you want to have easy access to trades people who understand your house we need to start somewhere. The alternative is to have inappropriate work done on our homes that will just eat up more carbon, money and effort for years to come. Let's have a system where we do the right things once rather than the wrong things again and again.

The petition can be found at https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62577 

Why in Wales do we use plastic guttering?

One of the many problems with poorly fitted and cheap rainwater systems

You would think that given that we live in a lovely green and fresh land that we would know that having a reliable, effective and sightly rainwater system is a good idea. But no, we have been lured by the cheapness and ubiquity of black plastic as a rainwater handling material.

In this world you tend to get what you pay for and guttering is no exception when it comes down to the basics. Plastic uPVC guttering might look cheap and cheerful, but it is anything but cheerful! Common problems with plastic are that:

It expands and contracts more than any other guttering material, so it breaks its seals, comes loose, warps and is generally rubbish.

It degrades under UV light, so it gradually becomes brittle and so can break

It is not very impact resistance, so any knock can crack or break it

But it is cheap! But is it?

The cost of the products is cheap, but replacing it when it is broken is not. So most people just don't bother, especially if it is a private rental property. So then the rain continues to spill over, soak the wall, .... and lo and behold in a few months the house is starting to get damp, or renders start to fail etc. Getting these types of problems sorted is starting to get very expensive.

I am a great believer in saving money. So what's on my house? Lindab Steel Guttering. Yes it was more expensive than even a 'good' plastic system, but it has not leaked, failed, cracked for over 10 years. It has withstood the weight of the snow without a groan, it has seen hot summer storms without creaking or warping, major deluges without overflowing and it still looks new. It is great when you can fit and forget. No worries about repair work, borrowing ladders and wobbling at the top. The lack of worry is worth half the cost on its own!

It is worth noting that some major landlords have seen the light, Cardiff Council for example only fit Lindab steel guttering. They know that it makes sense as it will save them huge amounts in the long run, both on reactive maintenance contracts, but also on planned maintenance when they have to go into repair water ingress damage etc.

Oh and by the way we sell the stuff!! However, this is because we think that it is good, not because we make a little profit out of it.

Retrofit Guidance Tool - DECC Approved

The STBA have launched the brand new site Responsible Retrofit that can be found at http://responsible-retrofit.org/. This is the new home of the DECC funded Responsible Retrofit Knowledge Centre and Guidance Wheel.

This is the culmination of years of research from groups like English Heritage, Heritage Scotland, National Trust, CADW etc. However, don't be fooled by this 'heritage' tag. What this research has been aimed at is the missing link between the mainstream construction industry and our conservation industry. So if you live in a pre 1919 building that is not listed / in a conservation area etc this is the site for you! This means that in Wales it is essential reading for the owners of around 35% of housing stock. Mind you, England isn't too far behind and even Scotland and the North of Ireland have around 20-25% of their housing built prior to WW1.

The system works in a simple way. You let the system know what type of house you have and then what you are intending to do. It will then raise a series of RISKS. This is important as it is not definitive given that every house is different. So it can let you know whether what you are planning carries any major risks and also what other effects your planned work might have on other aspects of the house. As you might have gathered from reading this blog, one thing tends to effect another and this at least highlights the linkages.

Once you have looked at each measure it produces a report for you and also takes you to the knowledge centre where more information and links are given that direct you to research papers, case studies etc.

I sincerely hope that this resource will be the fundamental guidance tool for the refurbishment industry. So, have a look and get acquainted with the resources that it pulls together. It is worth noting that DECC funded this piece of work and so it does stand a chance of being something that the industry will have to comply to. Fingers crossed!