Blog 1: Introduction, 1/11/10 by Ruairi Kay
14 The Birches is a 1950’s end of terrace property which has already undergone ‘Decent Homes Standard’ improvements. Works such as window replacement and loft/cavity wall insulation have previously been carried out in a piecemeal fashion and have resulted in a property that is satisfactory for living in. The house is built in a traditional cavity wall construction, with timber facias, plastic gutters and concrete roof tiles. Heating is by a wet system from a boiler with a first floor water storage tank. As one of 9500 houses in the ownership of Crawley Homes and over 60,000 units in the New Town of Crawley, this exemplar building could pave the way for many future sustainability retrofits. This is one of four retrofit schemes ECD Architects are carrying out for Crawley Homes in Crawley, East Sussex, started on site the October and is due for completion in January 2011.
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Front of the property pre retrofit
ECD, Crawley Homes and contractor Wates have worked closely with the residents throughout the design period to ensure that minimal disruption is caused to the returning tenants. The retrofit package will consist of aerogel insulated dry lining, 450m of loft insulation, replacement triple-glazed windows, insulated entrance door, whole-house heat recovery ventilation and a micro-CHP boiler replacement, supplemented by roof mounted photo-voltaic cells. In addition, 100% LED replacement lighting is proposed to minimise electricity consumption, together with A++ rated appliances and advice to the tenants on how to minimise fuel consumption whilst maintaining adequate comfort conditions.
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