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. The Saint Gobain Nottingham H.O.U.S.E
Ben Hopkins (Bennetts Associates)
Chris Dalton (Sheppard Robson)
Rachael Hibbert (Evo Energy)

4. THE COMPETITION 2010
SOLAR DECATHLON EUROPE
The Rules:
• Plot of 25m x 20m
• 5.5m high
• Site area of 74m2

5. THE BEGINNING
•Began as a 5th Year diploma studio project
•Led by the winning group the design was developed by a
student team of all year groups and courses.

6. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
•To perform environmentally in both Madrid and UK
climates
•To show that the house can work within a community
housing scheme for a range of tenures
•To comply to competition rules and regulations

7. THE DESIGN
Family Home
• A truly sustainable house is one which provides adequate density to form a
sustainable part of an urban fabric.
• An appropriate response to the Madrid 2010 brief was to show how a small
family house could be produced within the brief.
Environmental Issues
• At all times we have considered the implications of providing what is
effectively a self sufficient house.
• Meets Code Level 6 and PassivHaus standards.
4 Day build
• Perfect opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of off-site construction.
• The house is designed in “chunks”. These pieces were carefully designed to
allow efficient logistics.

8. Ground Floor First Floor

11. THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
1. Panels arrive and filled with insulation 2. Modules formed from panels and fully 3. Modules craned into position on site
finished in factory conditions
4. On site finishing 5. Treatment of courtyard 6. House mirrored within masterplan

13. 1. Studio 7, Kings Meadow Campus...
• The panels are manufactured by Pasquill and delivered to site

15. 2. Constructing the modules
• The finished panels come together to form the
individual modules
• The modules are fully finished both internally and
externally before being transported
• All services are combined with two modules with plug
and play connections to the rest of the house

17. Trial Run...
• We were asked to showcase the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E as a
primary exhibition at EcoBuild (2010), Earls Court, London
• The process of transporting the modules, assembling and
disassembling them in a shorter time period than for the
competition was a much needed exercise

18. 3. On Site in Madrid

19. • Before the modules could be craned into position the temporary
competition site had to be prepared
• The site was levelled, with timber sections marking out the
footprint of the house

21. Craning the modules into position
• The modules were craned in one by one and directed very
precisely by highly skilled crane drivers
• Steel supports were placed on the modules to prevent twisting
during transit and lifting

31. 4. On Site finishing
• Once in position the modules needed to be sealed at the
junctions to create a controlled environment inside
• Flashing was added over the joints, solar panels installed on the
roof and systems plugged together to create a fully functioning
house

32. 5. Courtyard and Landscaping
• An ETFE screen bounds the courtyard, replicating the
environmental characteristics of the neighbouring house in the
terrace
• Planter boxes lined the courtyard providing growing space and
also defined paths and routes on the public tour

33. 6. The Finished H.O.U.S.E

47. The Competition Process
1. Public Tours 2. Jury Panels 3. Performance Tests

48. Public Tours

49. • Thousands of people shown around the house in
English and Spanish.
• Great public response to the innovative but very
realistic approach to housing.

50. Jury Panels
• Expert panels evaluated the HOUSE through tours given by the
student team.
• Panels evaluated Architecture, Innovation, Communications, Market
Viability, Sustainability and Solar Systems.
•The HOUSE was awarded second place in the Sustainability Contest.

52. Performance Tests
• Tests conducted to show the HOUSE performance. From cooking
contests to the efficiency of the freezer.
• The energy balance for the HOUSE was also measured as well as
the Hygrothermal comfort.

56. Winter Daytime
Winter Night

57. Dismantling
• Modules were separated and then removed in much better
conditions than the assembly, allowing team Nottingham to be
one of the quickest teams of the competition.

58. What’s happened since..
• The HOUSE is now re-assembled permanently on the University
campus as part of the Creative Energy Homes project.