Shortly we'll also update the website with our new projects from spring / summer this year - it has been a very busy time for us with many varied projects going up!
Households produce around 28% of UK CO2 emissions mainly through space heating, hot water provision and lighting. Here at Touchwood Homes we are passionate about reducing these emissions (and so running costs) in the home through improved quality in house design and construction methods. We hope to bring you both current industry news, and also company information and build progress in the coming weeks. Visit our website for further information at www.touchwoodhomes.co.uk
Monday 26 June 2017
Website upgrade
We're pleased to say we have now gone live with our new website which has a fresh look and simpler navigation:
Friday 14 April 2017
Weyhill project certified as Passivhaus Plus!
Our Weyhill project has now officially been certified as meeting the new Passivhaus Plus standard - we are one of the first 3 houses in the country to reach this new standard. The Plus standard has the Passivhaus very demanding minimal energy requirements to heat the building, aswell as the house also producing as much energy as it consumes.
Being Passivhaus, the building fabric requires minimal heating, and the heating system is very efficient. The little energy required for the building is equal to the energy produced on site by the large 10kWp PV roof mounted PV system.
Our clients Ben and Elle are rightly very proud of their achievement in reaching the new plus standard:
We look forward to building more Passivhaus, Passivhaus Plus, and Passivhaus Premium homes in the future - which are set to become a mandatory EU requirement after 2021.
Being Passivhaus, the building fabric requires minimal heating, and the heating system is very efficient. The little energy required for the building is equal to the energy produced on site by the large 10kWp PV roof mounted PV system.
Our clients Ben and Elle are rightly very proud of their achievement in reaching the new plus standard:
Monday 13 March 2017
Hennerwood passivhaus drone footage
Whilst erecting our Hennerwood farm passivhaus project we produced drone footage of the timber frame. Please take a look at the footage of this stunning building in the Herefordshire countryside!
Monday 6 February 2017
Chief's Farm Cottage Passivhaus
We have just finished the erection of our Chief's Farm Cottage project in Essex. For this project Touchwood designed and installed the strip foundation with our special thermally bridge free detail, to create a very thermally efficient slab suitable for passivhaus. The image below shows the 300mm EPS insulation installed:
Following the powerfloat finished concrete slab on top of the EPS, we then installed the pre-cut timber frame, with our robust air tight board installed over the external surface. Unusually, this build has the airtight layer going under the roof structure, rather than having the roof warm side - our usual approach. This improved the surface area to volume ratio for passivhaus PHPP analysis, and avoids the client heating space that is not used - they didn't require vaulted ceilings in the upstairs rooms. See below some images of the timber frame:
Following the powerfloat finished concrete slab on top of the EPS, we then installed the pre-cut timber frame, with our robust air tight board installed over the external surface. Unusually, this build has the airtight layer going under the roof structure, rather than having the roof warm side - our usual approach. This improved the surface area to volume ratio for passivhaus PHPP analysis, and avoids the client heating space that is not used - they didn't require vaulted ceilings in the upstairs rooms. See below some images of the timber frame:
We are now commencing install of the MVHR duct work, simply installed in the-cut holes, prior to hand over to the clients tradesman for the follow on works.
See below an image of the pre-cut duct routes in the frame. The MVHR system is modelled for acoustic performance, with silencers in the network as necessary. This unique integrated approach to MVHR and frame design allows all ducts to be within the floor cassette, where they do not need boxing out, and will have the space around them filled with Warmcel, creating near silent running,
We look forward to the project being finished and being added to our list of passivhaus certified homes.
Thursday 20 October 2016
Tatsfield dramatic modern flat roof home complete
Towards the end of September we completed the frame erection work on our Tatsfield project in Surrey, which is a modern flat roof home constructed on a dramatic sloping site, see below an architect rendering of the finished scheme;
We successfully designed out all steel in the structure, to minimise the cold bridging. Instead we utilised complex box beams, and extensive glulam beams, which in the large open plan upstairs area form a striking visual feature in the home.
We look forward to the scaffold being removed so that we can obtain some photos of this project which we are particularly proud of, in the mean time here are some drone images from the frame erection works.
We successfully designed out all steel in the structure, to minimise the cold bridging. Instead we utilised complex box beams, and extensive glulam beams, which in the large open plan upstairs area form a striking visual feature in the home.
We look forward to the scaffold being removed so that we can obtain some photos of this project which we are particularly proud of, in the mean time here are some drone images from the frame erection works.
Monday 12 September 2016
Another Touchwood house achieves Passivhaus certification!
Our client's on our Porters project, which we completed 3 years ago recently decided to put the house through the Passivhaus certification process to formalise the performance of their home. The house was modelled with PHPP early on, but during the build the clients were focused on managing the build, so decided to leave the certification process till later.
We have a number of projects where clients take this approach - holding back on the formal certification (but recording evidence during the build) so that all their energies are on organising the self build tradesman and the like.
Porters build cost was just over £1000/m2, for a home that has a negative heating bill, this is a great example showing that passivhaus is affordable, it is mainly just a different approach to the build.
We have a number of projects where clients take this approach - holding back on the formal certification (but recording evidence during the build) so that all their energies are on organising the self build tradesman and the like.
Porters build cost was just over £1000/m2, for a home that has a negative heating bill, this is a great example showing that passivhaus is affordable, it is mainly just a different approach to the build.
Thursday 30 June 2016
Passivhaus mentioned on Robert Llewellyn's Fully Charged!
The latest Fully Charged episode features passivhaus and low energy new builds - Robert Llewellyn explains them and the politics behind the lack of large uptake in the UK. No reason to not build one yourself though, get in touch, we have built many!
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