Cambourne High Street

The features incorporated within the scheme include:

• high levels of insulation
• solar hot water panels
• high efficiency condensing boilers
• photovoltaic panels for generating electricity
• whole house heat recovery systems
• a water butt in the back garden for rainwater harvesting.

The photovoltaic panels will provide approximately 30% of the total electricity requirements for the inhabitants. Export meters allow over supply of electricity to be fed back into the main grid, which substantially reduces the annual electricity bill by offsetting the export as a credit against supply.

The solar hot water system combined with the energy efficient condensing boiler is expected to provide about 25% of the total hot water usage throughout the year. Hot water usage is very costly and on average makes up about 30% of the total annual household energy requirement.

The building materials used for construction are environmentally friendly. Western Red Cedar cladding was used for external facades, which comes from sustainable sources and has low maintenances qualities as it requires no staining or painting.

The houses are light gauge steel-framed using recycled steel, with prefabricated wall panels pre-cut in the factory to reduce waste. The panels incorporate space for additional insulation, and produce a higher SAP rating (average 110) due to reduced energy consumption for space heating.

The whole house heat recovery system provides ventilation to meet standards set by Part F of the Building Regulations, whilst minimising heat loss. Humid warm air is pumped out from the kitchen and bathrooms via a heat exchanger, which in turn preheats the incoming air to approximately the same temperature. This prevents heat loss from air leakage due to traditional trickle ventilation over doors and windows. Air may also be drawn from the conservatory space on the southern side of the houses to provide warm air to the entire house. Further air-leakage around windows and doors has been minimised by following the Building Regulation’s ‘Robust Details’ design standards.

All the measures combined reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 5,000kg a year for the fourteen houses. The scheme was funded with the assistance of a grant of £65,000 from the Energy Saving Trust.

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