Larkfleet aims to build better homes with University Research
Larkfleet is working with a number of East Midlands universities to help the building industry produce high quality, sustainable homes which will have a lower ‘carbon footprint’ than current housing.
The SHINE (Sustainable Housing Innovation Network of Excellence) project comprises an integrated design modelling, monitoring and evaluation programme. It involves cooperation between Larkfleet, housing associations and higher education organisations including Nottingham, Loughborough and Northampton universities and the Building Research Establishment.
The programme aims to help builders produce homes which have low energy use in ‘real life’ as opposed to simply being designed to be capable of low energy use.
A number of Larkfleet-built homes are to be fitted with sophisticated equipment which will measure how people actually live in and use their homes, to see where and how energy and water are used and to assess other environmental impacts. The results will be monitored and analysed by researchers at the universities.
Larkfleet managing director Karl Hick said: “Larkfleet is a leader in designing and building sustainable homes but many of the design codes we work to – such as the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes – are based on assumptions about the way people live. We want to see what actually happens in a house and how that affects its real impact on the environment.
“We hope the knowledge we gain will help us to produce buildings that are actually, not just theoretically, low carbon homes.”
The research will help Larkfleet to build homes that have substantially lower energy and water bills for their owners or tenants. Better design and construction as well as better controls – for example, on heating systems – will help occupiers to cut their energy use. The SHINE project will also help researchers to evaluate the potential of new energy-saving and generating technologies, such as solar power, and assess the contribution that these can make to sustainability in homes occupied by ‘real’ families.
The project is an extension of Larkfleet’s ongoing work in development of more environmentally-friendly housing.
Earlier this year the company opened a ‘sustainability demonstration house’ alongside its head office in Bourne. The timber-framed three-bedroom house will remain only part-built so that it demonstrates how a home can be constructed to meet the requirements of Level 3 and Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. Key parts of the structure have been left unfinished to show how it is possible to combine different building techniques and technologies to meet demanding environmental standards without excessive cost.
Parts of the internal walls, some of the floors and ceilings and other parts of the building have been omitted so that visitors can see how a timber frame house is put together and the way insulation is installed. The house is also fitted with water-saving and energy-saving technologies such as rain water harvesting, an air source heat pump and solar panels.
Larkfleet is using the part-built home as a working demonstration unit for housing association managers, architects, local authority personnel and other professionals to see how the latest building and energy technologies can be combined to provide low-energy housing.
Karl Hick said: “House builders and developers are being set increasingly tough challenges to meet new environmental standards. The SHINE project will help us to see how we can most effectively rise to these challenges.”
