A one day symposium on zero/low carbon sustainable homes took place at The University of Nottingham on the 24th October, 2012. The event offered professionals within the construction industry a unique opportunity to gain added and significant insight into the innovations, policies and legislation which are driving the construction of zero/low carbon energy efficient homes both here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. It explored solutions to sustainability issues “beyond” the zero carbon agenda. BZCH followed on from the successful ‘Towards Zero Carbon Housing’ symposium the University hosted in 2007. This event is part of the Europe Wide Ten Act10n project which is supported by the European Commission Intelligent Energy Europe.

1. Beyond Zero
Carbon Housing
exploring solutions to sustainability issues
beyond the zero carbon agenda
2 4 th O c t o b e r 2 0 1 2 a t T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f N o t t i n g h a m
Department of Architecture and Built Environment

2. ©
Copyright Notice
A l l t h e m a te r i a l i n t h e s e s l i d e s
m ay n o t b e u s e d o r re p ro d u c e d w i t h o u t t h e
ex p re s s p e r m i s s i o n o f t h e a u t h o rs

3. ‘Some lessons and barriers’
‘Beyond Zero carbon Housing’ Symposium
24th Oct 2012 at University of Nottingham
• Behaviour first (Halve the demand….)
• UK only responds to regulation (or a fiscal incentive?)
• Moving from the individual to the collective
• Knowledge transfer needs a revolution
• but it’s the existing stock that’s the real problem
Robin Nicholson CBE RIBA Hon FIStructE
Senior Partner, Edward Cullinan Architects
Convener of Edge
Director, NHBC

4. Gaia Renewable Energy Centre, Delabole, Cornwall 1999

5. Halve the demand,
double the efficiency,
halve the carbon in the
supply……
The Children’s Plan
Dec 2007

6. Ashley C of E Primary School,
Walton-on-Thames
Inspired leadership (Head then Governors)…2 eco-monitors per class
report week’s performance every Friday to Assembly (target
<100kWh/day rewarded by £10 for special projects)…spread to parents
who can win membership of 100 Club (target < 100kWh/week)…300watt
computers replaced by 15watt laptops …. occasional carbon free
Fridays…eco-driver display unit in lobby…51% reduction in electricity
use in year 1 …91% in year 3…
Ashley won a 2009 Ashden Award

7. St Luke’s C of E Primary School,
Wolverhampton - opened 6/09
Architype Architects
Inspired leadership; 2 eco-monitors per class in School Council - ‘eco-driver’;
orientation excellent; BREEAM Excellent; biomass boiler; ‘A’ EPC; but it
would need £300k PVs to be Zero Carbon: won Sorrell School Award 2010

12. Hillside Hub,
Stonebridge,
NW London
• COMMUNITY
CENTRE
• CAFÉ
• HEALTH CENTRE
• TESCO EXPRESS
• 25 SHARED
OWNERSHIP
FLATS
• 34 OPEN
MARKET SALE
FLATS
• CIVIC SPACE,
COMMUNAL
GARDEN,
PARKING

18. Once there were 12 bids for Eco-town status

20. Criteria for assessing an eco-town – Bicester, Rackheath, St Austell + Whitehill Bordon

22. Ash Sakula’s
winning scheme
2011

26. Low Carbon Communities - DECC
• £10m for
• 22 test-bed
communities
• Phase 1 projects >
3/10
• Phase 2 projects >
3/11
• Evaluation by OPM
7/12
White Architects at Whitehill Bordon 11 Jan 12

27. OPM Review of Low Carbon Communities for DECC 7/12:
• demonstrated the huge potential of community groups
• included a range of organisations from well established to new
who needed a model to follow
• Sharing knowledge is good but trips to London and DECC’s e-
portal poor (cf CABE shared learning programmes)
• schools are key to spreading the word especially into minority
ethnic communities

28. ‘The single most important message is
the way it (the Transition Town) brings
people together in a community…’
Ed Miliband at TT Conference in Lewes
25 May 2009

29. Incredible
Edible
Todmorden,
Yorkshire

34. • 180 km of Mediterranean coastline in eastern Libya
• Covers some 5,500 square kilometres
• Home to some 250,000 people

42. BASF house with rehau – CSH 4
Tarmac Zedfactory semis – CSH4 + CSH6
E.ON ’30s semi – original>CERT>CSH3>CSH6eq. wrap up

44. Technology Strategy
Board Retrofit for the
Future Programme
Phase 1 – 194 Design and
feasibility studies
↑ Croydon – 94% reduction in energy
↓ North Devon Homes – first passivhaus retrofit
Phase 2 - £17m for 86 social
housing projects aiming at 80%
reduction in emissions
• 17 kg/m2 (SAP)
• 20 kg/m2 (Passivhaus)
See
http://www.retrofitforthefuture.org
Low Energy Building Database

46. TSB exemplar in Bertram Street, N. Camden by United House
+ Parity Projects (Russell Smith) monitoring

48. Innovation Gap
World Leading
“…good for the
construction industry
as a whole.”….?

49. Product Focus Groups – Customer Interaction
Identified Products which interface with customer
Boilers
MVHR & MEV
Windows
Controls
Run Product Focus Groups, with home buyers
Findings fed into decision process
49

50. Stewart Milne Homes – Portlethen Aberdeen
Private Housing
Executive Homes
5 Bedroom Villas
Planning & Building Approval
Secured
Closed Panel Timber Frame

51. What cost zero carbon?
Renewables, wind energy,
solar thermal energy,
photovoltaics, biomass,
ground source heat pumps.
Building services, air conditioning
avoidance, heat
recovery, site wide energy
systems (CHP), lighting
controls (daylight and
presence) zoning, smart
Metering
Copyright Faithful and Gould
Building form and orientation,
thermal performance,
Courtesy Faithfull and Gould shading, daylight penetration

52. Zero Carbon or 80% as Pareto argued?
Edge Debate No. 38 at Canada House 12 Nov 2008
80:20 – fed into the IGT Report ( see pages 96-99) + subsequent
UKGBC support for the concept of community energy funds

53. Edge meeting with EPSRC, ESRC, TSB 6/11

54. • NHBC Foundation established 2006 – 45 publications so far
• Zero Carbon Hub established 2008 and reports to 2016 Taskforce

55. THE JOURNEY TO ZERO CARBON
% of homes built
100%
80%
60%
2006 Zero
40%
Part L Carbon
20%
25% 44%
0%
2010 2013 2016 2020
Part L 25% Part L 44% Part L 100%
emissions emissions emissions
reduction reduction reduction

56. ZERO CARBON HOME v CODE 5 HOME
Carbon
Compliance:
Zero carbon Zero kgCO2/m2/year Zero carbon
2011definition 2011 definition
Allowable Carbon
Solutions Compliance: On-site LZC Heat
On-
10,11 or 14* and Power
On-site LZC Heat
On- kgCO2/m2/year
and Power
Fabric Energy Efficiency Fabric Energy Efficiency
2016 Zero Carbon Home Code 5 Home
* Specific values recommended for particular dwelling types: Zero Carbon Hub 2011.

57. Michael Gove (Education) + Vince Cable (Business) + George Osborne (Chancellor) + David Cameron (PM)
Where is the Coalition going now? Guardian 13 Nov.2010

59. If we build new
houses at the rate
we are building
them it would take
236 years to
replace the existing
stock. The USA
declared
Independence 236
years ago
(thanks to David
Birkbeck)
• 80% of the homes we will be living in in 2050 already exist
• Climate Change Act 2011 – 34% reduction by 2020 + 80% by 2050
• Our homes are responsible for 40% carbon (and other) emissions
• So how will you reduce your footprint by 80%?