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One of the main attractions to Offsite 2007 at BRE was The Big Build. This was made up of ten new "concept-buildings" by a number of different architects and contractors, all of which strived to achieve the highest levels in the new Code for Sustainable Homes. Most were private homes; one was a mini-school, another was a semi-detached housing development in which one "half" was fully furnished while the other half had transparent panelling, so allowing visitors to see through the walls and floors.
One of the most successful houses was Hanson's "The Climate Change House". A three-bedroom dwelling, much of it was designed offsite. It contains a number of innovations including Hanson's aquaflow Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) in which rainwater outside the house permeates through a concrete surface into a sub-strata. It is then cleaned by filters before being reused in sewers or water courses.
The house doesn't just impress on an environmental level; architecturally it's an exciting design with its angular interiors, and open "roof lantern". Other houses - while environmentally worthy - fail in this respect. The LightHouse from Kingspan Off-Site features a ground-floor dining-room with windows placed about 5 feet off floor level and a meagre one foot high. Naturally, this will put off nosey neighbours, but it will also mean eating in a room which, I felt, really requires a lot more light.
A number of visitors said that the best "smelling" construction were the semi-detached innovative timber frame houses by Stewart Milne Group. These so-called Sigma Homes are some of the country's first five star-rated homes under the new Code. These houses use renewable energy in a number of different ways: by using solar thermal and photovoltaic roof panels, roof mounted wind turbines and solar gain. All timber and timber products are from sustainable sources; the lighting is low energy and white goods are all A or A+ rated.
The mini-school is a remarkable look at how sustainability can work within educational architecture. This was designed by White Design/Max Fordham and built by Willmot Dixon. The school is made of cross-plied off-cuts of timber that would otherwise go to waste. It not only provides a near-zero carbon emitting school for children but, simultaneously, allows them to study how their own classroom interacts with the environment.
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