The Hanson EcoHouse
Hanson are building a second house, The Hanson EcoHouse, opposite their earlier house from OFFSITE2005.
The Hanson EcoHouse brings together many of the latest developments in sustainable construction using modern masonry materials. It has been planned in the context of the Government's voluntary Code for Sustainable Housing which will be introduced in April of this year.
Designed as a 3 bed detached dwelling, Hanson House 2 will show all the benefits of offsite fabrication that together with thermal mass and natural ventilation assists in the achievement of a near zero carbon home.
The house design includes a ventilating roof lantern, used to enhance natural air currents by means of the ‘stack effect'. Bedrooms are provided on the slightly cooler ground floor with the living room, dining room and kitchen provided on the warmer first floor. The ventilating roof light operates to open and close as required to meet the prevailing weather patterns and so regulate internal air temperature.
The building takes advantage of the benefits of traditional concrete/masonry construction with its high thermal mass, keeping the structure cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter months. This is in direct contrast to more lightweight structures that are unable to benefit from this phenomenon.
The house will be constructed from 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. It also features a range of leading edge sustainable products including
- high performance windows with three-layered, argon-filled glazing,
- high performance external doors,
- sophisticated wall coatings and solar panels
- a disabled lift platform
- ‘Smart' building solutions technology that enables the remote operation of heating, lighting, energy monitoring, security provision
- an interactive web based hub that enables full community support for health, education, welfare and leisure.