• This competition design demonstrates how one can build a two bedroom Passivhaus with exceptionally low energy consumption for less than £45,000. That you can build a truly affordable, really low energy house should surely be more widely understood. You will, however, have to do most of the building work yourself and the house will be simple and compact…not a Grand Design.
• The design is based on simple tried and tested timber frame construction which has been shown to be straightforward to build without previous building experience.
• Low costs makes the house affordable but enables quality and standards to be increased to Passivhaus levels radically reducing emissions and resident’s fuel bills whilst ensuring comfort and preventing overheating in an unpredictable climate.
• The house can be heated for around £80 per annum and a solar hot water system will provide around half the yearly hot water demand reducing energy consumption still further.
• The house is conventional in layout and appearance with a pitched roof and choice of finishes to make it generally acceptable to potential self-builders, neighbours, local councillors and funders.
• Homes which are properly sustainable have to accommodate changing needs and so the front and back walls and internal partitions are not structural so that the house can be easily adapted and extended.
• https://nacsba.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/images_shoestring_27_shoestring13_jon-broome.pdf