A radical new type of sustainable house is set to change the course of British home-building forever after the completion of a new-build house, which uses 90 per cent less energy for heating than a standard home and promises heating costs of around £75 a year - without the need for microgeneration or renewables.
The sleepy village of Denby Dale, West Yorkshire, is probably more famous for its pies than radical new eco building. But that's about to change, as the Green Building Store has taken the German Passivhaus model and adapted it for the UK market, making it the first Passivhaus in the UK to be built using traditional British building methods like cavity wall construction.
It is, says Bill Butcher, Director, Green Building Store, a reinvention that could help Britain needs to tackle the double problem of fuel poverty and climate change.
Most retired couples will be worrying about their fuel bills next winter, and making the choice between whether to heat or eat. Especially in the cold, bitter Yorkshire winters. But Kate and Geoff Tunstall will enjoy heating costs of around £75 a year, in this three bedroom detached house which cost just £141,000 to build.
"A Passivhaus gives 90 per cent reduction in energy for heating because it works like a giant tea cosy. The Denby Dale Passivhaus is 20 times more airtight than a normal house and is super insulated, retaining the natural heat generated in the house - from the sun through the large south facing windows; from occupants' body heat; plus daily activities like cooking and showering. In Denby Dale we've proved that a comfortable, high quality Passivhaus can be built inexpensively by a small, local, skilled construction team."
"This is green without the sack cloth," he continues. "There's no sacrifice to be made. Even without the environmental benefits, Passivhauses are simply better places to live: incredibly bright, clean and fresh. Here you can live in maximum comfort, with minimal impact on the environment, without feeling like you're wearing a hair shirt."
Bill Butcher is keen to see the Government to adopt the Passivhaus model as a way of meeting UK targets for low carbon homes in the UK.
"At the moment the Government places too much emphasis on microgeneration, whereas Passivhaus standards focus on the fabric of the building. If you can reduce your energy use to just 10 per cent of the norm, then you don't need complicated designs or expensive bolt-on renewables - or at least these can come later, if you really want them.
"Passivhaus offers the UK an all round winning solution to meeting the massive cuts in carbon emissions we need to make while helping us rely less on imported energy, thus combating security of supply fears.
"No other approach to housing delivers results so reliably. All other types of low carbon building feel a bit nebulous or a stab in the dark. Actual energy usage of buildings is largely unknown, even in so-called green homes. Passivhaus on the other hand, offers an absolute measure - a way of cutting through all the eco-bling."
And the Tunstalls are delighted with their new home.
"If you pass by, you would be forgiven for missing it," says Geoff Tunstall, a retired engineer. "This house doesn't contain many of the usual trappings of a green home. There's no mini wind turbine whirring in the background, no grass covered roof, no recycled bathwater...
"In fact the only thing that would make you stop and stare is the amazing 30m2 window at the front, which fills the house with heat and light. This isn't a standard Passivhaus feature but it's something we had our hearts set on and it does demonstrate the flexibility of Passivhaus design."
The Denby Dale house has taken the building and sustainable housing movement by storm and even the founder of the Passivhaus movement in Germany has been following the progress with interest.
"The Denby Dale project has proven that Passivhaus design can be easily adapted to British building techniques," says Professor Wolfgang Feist. "The Green Building Store team is to be commended for adapting the Passivhaus methodology to British building techniques and for constructing the first Passivhaus using cavity wall construction in Britain."
Tim Blenkhorn, Yorkshire around 1 year, 9 months ago