Kingdom pioneers new solar-powered eco-house

Kingdom Housing Association is pioneering a new solar-powered house that will test new technologies aimed at improving the standards for eco-friendly and fuel-efficient affordable housing.
 
The Fife-based HA is employing cutting-edge technology to build the new three-bedroom, highly energy efficient, detached family home on a plot of land at Station Court, Pittenweem.
 
The experimental  ‘Kingdom House’ is being trialled as a ‘sustainability house’, to test different technologies and determine which elements could be incorporated into future affordable housing projects.
 
The house has been designed by Oliver and Robb Architects to meet stringent standards set down by Passivhaus, Eco Homes and the Code for Sustainable Homes and is being developed by Kingdom HA, as part of the Fife Housing Association Alliance development programme.
 
David Tibbs, partner with Oliver and Robb, said: “The Scottish Government has set ambitious targets of achieving the best energy standards in Europe and this was reinforced by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.
 
“The Kingdom House is designed to Passivhaus standards which take a holistic approach to providing a very low energy building by designing and building to extremely high standards.”
 
He added: “It incorporates Modern Methods of Construction and renewable technologies, to find a cost effective solution to provide high levels of comfort and air quality while addressing fuel poverty, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and investigates the implications of the Scottish Governments proposals for a zero net carbon building by 2016.”
 
The structure of the house is built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and a closed panel timber panel system.  
 
The panels were manufactured in the factory, by Scotframe of Aberdeen and transported to the Pittenweem site for assembly with the windows and doors already fitted.  
 
The system being used is an enhanced ‘Supawall Plus’ system and exceeds the CO2 emission targets for 2010, 2013 and 2016.
 
In addition to the environmental features, there are a number of added benefits of using this system, such as; a reduction of construction time on site, vehicle movement in the area and the number of personnel and trades involved.
 
The panels were delivered to the site last week and erected the same day, making the house wind and watertight.
 
Kingdom is the Lead Developer for the Fife Alliance and Alan McGuckin, Kingdom’s Chief Executive, said: “This is a very interesting project and it will assist the Alliance with their ongoing research into appropriate forms of Modern Methods of Construction and sustainability features.
 
“The technology used will be monitored for a period of two years and this will allow us to assess what is successful and to identify the areas we would hope to prioritise in the future, as part of the main affordable housing programme.”
 
He added: “The closed panel system being used on this project reduces the construction period and provides a number of additional benefits including; increased air tightness, improved quality of workmanship, reduced wastage and a reduction of trades on site.
 
“The elements being incorporated into the design have the potential to provide an affordable rented property with a zero fuel bill and will help contribute to Scotland’s commitment to reducing Carbon Emissions as highlighted in the Government’s ‘The Scottish Climate Change Bill’.”
 
Campion Homes, a Fife-based company, has been appointed by Kingdom as the main Contractor for the project.
 
Dougie Herd, Construction Director with Campion, said: “We are delighted to be the Partnering Contractor for this innovative project, involving new technologies and building systems. It is intended that the project will act as a learning experience that can be repeated on future enhanced specification projects that we are taking forward with Kingdom.”
 
To reduce the energy use within the house there are a number of renewable technologies being included, such as, Solar Water Panels, to pre-heat the hot water; Photovoltaic’s, to convert sunlight into electricity, which is then used to run the household appliances and lighting, with any surplus electricity returned to the grid and an Air Source Heat Pump, which converts free energy from the air and upgrades it to a higher temperature to heat the water for the heating system.
 
A highly efficient Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery system has also been incorporated, which extracts moist stale air and replaces it with fresh clean air that has been pre-warmed by the exhausted air through a simple heat recovery process.
 
The project is being 60% funded by Grant assistance from the Scottish Government and through energy efficiency grants from The Community and Renewables Scheme (CARES) and the Renewable Construction Programme; the balance of the funding is financed by Kingdom.
 
The project will be completed early September and Kingdom also intends to hold an Open Day, to allow the local Community to view the property once it has been completed.