Why the renewable house?


The Renewable House uses renewable materials to deliver an affordable everyday home with extraordinary environmental credentials.
The Renewable House demonstrates the exceptional sustainability of renewable materials, but without compromising on style or affordability.

By choosing renewable materials, The Renewable House meets Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes with limited additional technologies. The design also enables enhancement tomeet Level 5 and 6.

Going renewable doesn't cost the earth. The Renewable House costs only £75,000, excluding groundworks and utilities, making it particularly suitable for the affordable housing market. Designed as a thee bedroom detached home, the concept can also
be extended to semi-detached and terraced housing.

Long term monitoring of the house is a fundamental part of the project. The house will be subject to rigorous independent testing over three years.

  • Low carbon. From build to end of life, The Renewable House reduces CO2 emissions.
  • 3 bedroom detached home. Designed by Archial Architects, this comfortable family home can also be built as a semi-detached or terraced house.
  • Timber frame and Hemcrete® walls. Renewable and sustainable structure delivers a U value of 0.19 W/m2K and has been designed to achieve an airtightness of 2.0 m3/(hr m2).
  • Triple glazed timber windows. The FSC certified timber windows deliver a U value of 1.3 W/m2K, and careful attention to detailing has minimised conductivity.
  • Renewable insulation. ThermafleeceTM insulation, made from British sheep's wool, keeps the carbon footprint down.
  • Renewable materials. Extensive use of sustainable renewable materials in the paint and furnishing provide a comfortable environment.
  • Energy strategy. Highly energy efficient design. Careful attention to detail has minimised cold bridging and maximised insulation. Hemcrete® walls inherently provide high levels of insulation and thermal inertia. Hot water and space heating is provided by an air source heat pump and heat recovery ventilation system.
  • Lifetime home. Designed for changing needs, the house is built to be flexible. A bedroom can be used as a home office to reduce the need for commuting. The house can be adapted to different life stages with a downstairs bathroom or a lift between the ground and first floor.