Exploring Carbon Neutral residential construction projects
This blog will highlight two projects that have been able to explore the relationship between landscape and self-sustaining architecture.
The first project is a stunning build on the Isle of Man in Sartfell
The striking exterior utilises dry stone walling sourced from the previous cottage on site, which provides a comfortable thermal comfort to the building. Additionally, the drystone wall allows the local ecology to inhabit voids within the wall. The drystone wall coupled with the buildings organic roof allows the building to be absorb into the natural landscape as it blends in with the hill side. Furthermore, the turf roof is also able to at as a perfect insulator for the building adding to the property’s thermal performance and durability.
The building is also carbon neutral through install several sustainable energy practices. The heating is delivered through a water sourced heat pump which is a devise which transfers thermal energy from a cooler space to a warmer space in a highly energy efficient method. The building has its own water supply from a borehole and wastewater treatment via a biodigester and a wind turbine and a solar plan as well to provide the property with all its energy needs, making the building carbon neutral. Weather conditions were monitored before construction commenced, with the introduction of a weather station capturing data to achieve the peak environmental performance. These factors meant that the building won the Northwest Sustainability Award in 2019.
The Second project this blog will explore is Hux Shard
This futuristic sculptural home located in the Devonshire hills just outside of Exeter encompasses sustainable design. The 70m long building provides an enhanced ecological value to the sight, through increasing the sites biodiversity which was achieved through installing bat and bird boxes and having a green roof and a pond along with a reforestation programme to go round the house.
The project can achieve these feet through utilising PV Solar panels on the roof of the property. The property has tripled glazed windows which optimises the energy efficiency of the building, and underground ventilation to stop the building from overheating. The project has been able to enhance the biodiversity of the land and is able to produce more energy than it uses.
