client: private
contract value: N/A
Halvorsen Architects were asked to advise on a deep green retrofit of a four-bedroom detached house in Haddington, East Lothian. The 1989 house has a timber frame, with a rendered blockwork outer skin. It was draughty and cold, with patchy insulation, a lot of air leaks and cold bridging. It had a 15-year-old solar-powered water heating system with a heat exchanger,
supplemented by a gas heater.
The aim was to make the house as airtight and well insulated as possible (given the existing structure) and to eliminate gas altogether. The renovation included stripping back the fabric to the structure, installing vapour barriers, breathable membranes and super insulating. The client carried out the work.
The existing water-heating system was replaced by a combination of radiant panels and a heat recovery system.
The refurbished rooms have individual Blauberg heat recovery units. These have the added benefit of combating humidity and condensation – which can lead to damp and mould, together with associated health problems.
Other rooms in less frequent use have been fitted with highly efficient ceiling-mounted radiant panels – an electrical heating technology that uses infrared radiation to warm people and objects directly, as the sun does, rather than indirectly by heating the air.
Energy is provided by new photovoltaic solar panels on the roof and a battery system, charged on a cheap, night-time tariff, or from the solar panels. The home energy management system is the mySigen app.