Ebbw Vale House

Client:- Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council



Architects Design Research Unit


Manufactured by Kenton Jones


Erected by G. Adams


Research funding by Technology Strategy Board TSB

 


This is amongst the first attempts at creating a low-cost Welsh version of the low energy German Passivhaus. The architects and the clients were at pains to source all of the timber and as many other products and services as possible from within Wales.

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The Passivhaus has no need for a conventional, gas-fired heating system. In the winter, draught-free construction and super-insulation in the walls and roof keeps warmth inside the house. That warm air is heated by the sun through the house's large, triple-glazed windows, and by warm things such as the oven, electrical appliances, lights, hot water and the occupants' own bodies.

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When the windows are tightly closed in winter, the house is completely draught free. In winter, the air is circulated and kept fresh by a low energy ventilation system that saves 10 times more energy than it uses. It draws air in from outside and passes it over a heat exchanger that extracts almost all the heat in the stale air that it extracts from the bathrooms and kitchen. In winter this reclaimed heat helps to keep the house comfortably warm.

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The result is a light, bright, well-ventilated house that's kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer with hardly any use of gas or other fossil fuels.