I was so excited when Norwich's Goldsmith Street Estate won the Stirling Prize this week. At last a proper street for ordinary people with brilliant design and eco-credentials is given recognition. Let us hope that this is the start of more Passivhaus developments by Local Councils. They want to do it - they are just held back by central government's restrictive rules on … [Read more...] about PasivHaus Council Estate in Norwich wins the Stirling Prize
Buildings
Q-Bot – Robotic underfloor insulation
One area of heat loss is through the floor. If you have a suspended timber floor you can lose quite a bit. However, insulating this via traditional methods is disruptive and expensive. Q-bot solves this by using robots. Being fairly small you just need to lift a small part of the floorboards to give them access. SurveyBot, for example, will survey the underfloor area to … [Read more...] about Q-Bot – Robotic underfloor insulation
Could this be the future of social housing?
Being a Norwich resident I was thrilled to read this article in the Guardian about a groundbreaking social housing developing just 20 minutes walk from my house! Over 100 Passivhaus social housing homes! In Norwich! An award-winning development AND also up for the Sterling Prize! Needless to say, it took me over a month to get over there to take a look. But I was impressed. … [Read more...] about Could this be the future of social housing?
Preventing heat loss up the chimney – the Chimney Sheep
In an earlier post, we looked at putting an umbrella up your chimney. But you could also put a sheep up there! Having an open chimney in a property is like leaving a window open all the time. The Buildings Research Establishment state that 80 cubic metres of air travels up a chimney per hour. We don’t necessarily notice the warm air escaping, but this warm air needs to be … [Read more...] about Preventing heat loss up the chimney – the Chimney Sheep
Thermocork – natural cork render for buildings
If you watch Grand Designs you may have already seen Thermocork in action. Its a special render made from cork (as you would imagine from the name) which provides a sustainable alternative to other render products. Why? Well: It's taken from the cork tree but the tree is not cut down. Instead, it grows back again. Not only that, when you strip the bark away this … [Read more...] about Thermocork – natural cork render for buildings