Hanson launches EcoHouse^TM at BRE Offsite 2007

Hanson Building Products’ second house constructed in the grounds of the Building Research Establishment at Watford aims to provide a concept dwelling that brings together many of the company’s latest developments in sustainable modern masonry construction and ‘Smart’ living.

The Hanson EcoHouse™, officially opens at the BRE’s Offsite 2007 exhibition and conference on 11th June, and will effectively demonstrate the progress made since Hanson House 1 was built in 2005. Innovations trialled on HH1 have been refined and incorporated into a purpose-designed dwelling that shows all the benefits of offsite fabrication, high thermal mass and natural ventilation that will assist in the achievement of the zero carbon target that housebuilders and developers will have to meet by 2016.

( please click images to enlarge )

The house, designed by architects TP Bennett, has been created with the client firmly in mind. Mark Stewart, director of TP Bennett, explains: “It was important for us to come up with a design appropriate to Hanson, whilst incorporating the key elements of the brief – modern methods of construction, sustainability and affordability.“

Hanson, the UK’s largest brick manufacturer, has been producing bricks for more than 100 years. The design principle of the traditional brick kiln has been taken as the inspiration for the form of the house, utilising the ‘stack effect’ to ventilate the accommodation through a distinctive roof lantern. The lantern is ‘intelligently’ operated to open and close as required to meet the prevailing weather patterns, and so regulate internal air temperature. The rather unusual shape of the roof is further emphasised by vertically run zinc sheeting, with stack-bonded brickwork completing the building’s distinctive appearance.

One of the biggest challenges for architects in designing homes is the need to respond to climate change and how to keep buildings cool. The Hanson EcoHouse™ will take full advantage of the benefits of traditional concrete and masonry construction with its high thermal mass to create a structure that copes efficiently with the temperature extremes of summer and winter. This is in direct contrast to more lightweight structures that are unable to benefit from this inherent feature.

As in Hanson House 1, the main structure is constructed using masonry panels manufactured off-site in a controlled factory environment, bringing the benefits of high quality and speed of construction with little or no site waste. This compares with an industry average of 20% wastage incurred in on-site construction that can also be more susceptible to weather delays and difficulties.

Within this context, the Hanson EcoHouse™ demonstrates a range of existing and innovative products that can make substantial contributions towards zero carbon rating.

They are:

• Hanson QuickBuild™, a new walling system that provides complete pre-insulated and pre-finished brick and block cavity walls in panels up to 9 metres by 3 metres.
  
  The panels are factory-made, ready to transport to site and install directly into position. Fully automated machinery can provide the efficiency of one week’s site work in just one day in the factory.
  
  The process ensures a high degree of air tightness between the individual elements, and the units can be manufactured to enable electrical conduit and sockets, etc, to be pre-fixed in the factory.
  
  Although a stack-bonded format will be used on the demonstration house, the machinery is capable of producing a wide variety of brickwork patterns.
  
  Because the system uses conventional bricks and blocks, the system has a further advantage in that it permits extensions and modifications to the original structure in a traditional way.
• Market-leading, super-insulated Jetfloor for the ground floor which easily exceeds current Part L requirements of the Building Regulations.
• Pre-stressed Hollowcore units for the first floor providing thermal mass, long spans, excellent fire and sound resistance, and complete freedom of partition wall layout.
• Pre-cast staircase, with the inherent strength, durability and squeak-free properties of pre-cast concrete that can be craned into position at the same time as the floor units, providing immediate working access.
• Formpave’s Aquaflow sustainable urban drainage system that uniquely combines with a water retaining layer, supporting a ground source heat pump to provide a highly efficient underfloor heating supply.

The building also features other sustainable products, including high performance windows with three-layered, argon-filled glazing, high performance external doors, sophisticated wall coatings and solar panels. Provision has also been made for the installation of a disabled lift platform.

The house contains the latest in ‘Smart’ building solutions technology that enables the remote operation of heating, lighting, energy monitoring, security provision and an interactive web-based hub that enables full community support for health, education, welfare and leisure.

With housing associations and local authorities seeking cost-effective, durable and flexible dwellings, the Hanson EcoHouse™ provides all of these benefits, using factory manufactured components with fast build times and proven whole-life costings.

Hanson says: “The durability and minimal maintenance evidence of masonry-built construction is all around us on every street in which we live and work. Furthermore, the design system used for the Hanson EcoHouse™ is flexible across a wide range of housing types and accommodation options.”

For more information, contact:

Tel: 08706 097091
Fax: 01234 762040
Email: jayne.rolfe@hanson.biz