Building a sustainable house

electricity consumption for last year

2009-02-02T21:09:00.001Z

We used a total of 1740 units in 2008 so on average 33 units per week.
It went up in the last quarter since jessica is now at home full time with Erik!

oct news

2008-10-19T19:50:00.002Z

OUr house won the aberdeenshire sustainable house award last month. It sounds great but frankly there was no competition and unfortunately the panel didn't really understand the concept of a passiv house.

On a more practical note, RGU are coming back later this month to retest the airtightness. This is when we really find out if we got it right. The benefit for us is if it passes the passiv haus test (and there is more to that than just airtightness)and we get it registered then we get 1% off our mortage from the ecology. It would also be the first registered passiv house in the UK I understand.

summer pics

2008-08-13T12:00:00.003Z

Heres some more recent pictures, no many problems but the solar panel control has had a few problems (pump coming on when it is not supposed to).

house is finished

2008-02-13T12:32:00.000Z

Well we got our completion certificate a few weeks ago and are busy moving in and kitting the house out.
Heres some final pics of the finished inside. The stove is mainly used to heat the hot water since during the winter the solar panel isn't upto it. We have had to use the ventilation preheater occassionally but have managed to keep at 16-19C with very little heating. Our current electricity consumption during the winter is about 100units per week for everything. Im tracking the usage during the year to see how this changes.

timber kit

2008-01-10T15:27:00.000Z

Going back in time now buts heres some pics of the kit. Its all Boron treated timber and Panelline boards (compressed wood, no glue) so very eco friendly.

Nov update

2007-12-13T13:14:00.000Z

Yes I know its Dec but heres an update from Nov.
Outside done apart from landscaping.
Insides are plasterboarded and timber linings upstairs.
Solar system done but still needs final commissioning.
1st fit electrics done (which i did myself so hope it all works!)

view from the south

2007-09-07T12:53:00.000Z

heres an picture of the south view just to show we have windows!

airtightness testing

2007-09-07T12:05:00.000Z

We had Robert Gordon University up yesterday to test the airtightness, looks very good so far. Still some calcs to do but should be under 1 airchange/hour.

Heres some pics of the testing

annual update!

2007-09-04T12:03:00.001Z

and inside
300mm of wall insualtion, 600mm in loft, 200mm in floor and hopefully airtight!

must get round to posting more pics sometime.

foundations finally complete!

2006-09-10T19:10:00.000Z

After several delays, the foundations are now complete. Concrete floor went in on Friday, it has a nice polished surface as we plan to use this as the final floor, no carpet or tiles.

measuring the floor!

2006-08-31T10:17:00.000Z

photo

2006-08-31T10:10:00.000Z

The blockwork is almost finished, you can see the stack of floor insulation next to the car, 200mm takes up a lot of space.

3rd day in a row with no brickies!

2006-08-30T15:50:00.000Z

well its wed and no sign of the brickies this week, apparantly they went to the pub on Sunday and haven't been seen since!
Oh well, once the rest of the foundations are done then at least the rest of the house is wood so no brickies required.

James

another week, another delay

2006-08-29T06:38:00.000Z

well, monday morning came, the digger came, the delivery came but no builders again.
They had largely finsihed last week and just have the porch and internal wall to do but they didn't turn up. Still, the digger managed to put down aggregate into the floor, we use recycled concrete where its deep (its cheaper (no aggregate tax) and more environmentally friendly).

I was out til dark compacting the material down.

Still hoping to get the insulation down on wed / thurs and floor in on friday.

James

the house begins to rise!

2006-08-25T06:59:00.000Z

Well the builders have got underway and the house is beginning to rise!
Floor Insulation arrived as well. I hadn't realised how much space 120m2 @ 200mm of insulation takes up to store, our car park is full of it!

off to a poor start

2006-08-22T06:53:00.000Z

Well, the builders didn't turn up yesterday so everything looked the same when we got back. Apparantly he injured himself on sunday but will turn up on Tuesday!
Its not too bad, we have plenty of time before the superstructure will be ready but delays have knock on effects on other parts of the foundation. A solid floor on friday might get delayed.
One thing we did find out recently that was useful is regarding the floor. The architect's plans show 200mm of insulation as requested but none under the stove, apparantly for buildng regs. However, as long as there is 200mm of concrete under the stove then thats enough, that means we can still have 100mm of insulation under the stove which is better than none.

James

Introduction

2006-08-20T20:50:00.000Z

Hello,

I have just started to build a sustainable house in North East Scotland so thought I'd record our progress and maybe help others who are considering doing this.

We live near Ellon, about 20 miles North from Aberdeen. We are building a new house on a 7 acre plot which eventually will become a small holding. We purchased the plot in May 2006 and after several months to get planning permission, and then another month for a building warrant, we finally started last week.

Although we are trying to be a green as possible then some compromises does have to be made. Partly in terms of cost, partly to satisfy regulations, partly because the skills and materials are not readily availble and partly due to lack of time.

At the moment (20 Aug) we have just laid the foundations, convential concrete trenches (some of you are groaning i know). We will have a solid concrete floor with 200mm of insulation and slightly less insulation and more concrete under the central stove (with a back boiler for hot water). We are not having any central heating and will have 300mm of insulation in the wall (Isonat - hemp based).

Tomorrow, the builders will start the blockwork which will contain the solid floor. Finally the house will raise from the ground!.