Saint-Gobain's Full HOUSE

Saint-Gobain teams up with the University of Nottingham to build Europe’s most effective energy efficient home

Leading international construction materials company Saint-Gobain has agreed an exclusive partnership with The University of Nottingham’s Department of the Built Environment (DBE) to provide materials to build an energy efficient, zero carbon solar powered home to compete in the final of the first International Solar Decathlon Europe competition. Supported by the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Housing and the US Department of Energy, the final takes place in Madrid in June 2010.
Designed and built in the UK, the Nottingham HOUSE (Home Optimising the Use of Solar Energy) shows how low energy architecture can lend itself to the mass market with an L-shaped, modular design so versatile it can be worked into terraces, rows or stacked as apartments. The resulting concept is a highly marketable, zero carbon starter home for a new family – a major requirement in the UK.

The H.O.U.S.E was recently displayed at the Ecobuild exhibition and proved to be one of the show’s most popular attractions, with a constant stream of visitors queuing to get a glimpse inside. Constructed almost entirely from materials supplied or approved by Saint-Gobain’s businesses in the UK and Ireland, it provided a live example of the company’s products and systems in practice and was awarded top prize in the 2010 Timber at Ecobuild Award.

Designed and built by architecture students from the University of Nottingham’s Department of the Built Environment, the full-scale home aims to meet Passive House standards and Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. It must also comply with all relevant fire, building and safety regulations, so the University needed to be confident that materials specified would work together to provide maximum performance and efficiency.

Products and systems from Saint-Gobain Isover, British Gypsum, Saint-Gobain Glass, Solaglas, Ecophon, International Timber, Pasquill, Greenworks and IDS Surfaces have all been incorporated, providing comprehensive solutions to meet the stringent requirements. The Passive House standard triple glazed, aluminium clad timber composite windows and doors were provided by Solaglas in partnership with AM Profiles. The high performance SGG CLIMATOP® 36mm triple glazed unit incorporates the latest Saint-Gobain Glass magnetron-coating technology with SGG PLANITHERM® TOTAL as well as krypton filled cavities. The resulting performance is a centre-pane U-value of 0.5W/m2K and a whole window U-value of 0.8W/m2K matched by an excellent 69% light transmission for maximum natural daylight.

Solaglas also manufactured all of the interior glass elements – balustrades, feature back-painted kitchen splashbacks and mirrors and worked closely with the Nottingham Team to design a bespoke architecturally glazed screen that will be showcased for the first time in Madrid. The result of months of careful planning and preparation, the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E was hailed as one of the busiest attractions at the show and also received a visit from the Rt. Hon John Healey MP, Minister for Housing and Planning. Accompanied by Benoit Bazin, Senior Vice President of Saint-Gobain and President of Saint-Gobain Building Distribution, and David Anderson, regional managing director for Saint-Gobain Construction Products, Mr Healey was given a VIP tour by students, who explained the rationale behind the project and their aim to make the H.O.U.S.E as practical, achievable and realistic as possible.

Praising the students’ efforts, Mr Healey said: “Their contribution is immense and they’re making this happen in a way that traditional ‘dyed in the wool’ architects and builders perhaps wouldn’t, because they’re thinking afresh, bringing a lot of enthusiasm to the project, and that’s part of the innovation of bright young minds.
“I think it’s priceless, because this is a demonstration of not just ideas, but how they can be put into practice. This is a family home like many others and students are trying to get away from the idea that top-notch green homes have to be top price, niche products because, in the long term, we have to be building and designing to this sort of standard across the board.”

Mike Chaldecott, chair of the Saint-Gobain Habitat Group and managing director of British Gypsum, comments: “Saint-Gobain is focused on the delivery of sustainable construction and our partnership with The University of Nottingham provides crucial support to the team, enabling them to showcase the best in innovation and design. Meeting new homes targets while also achieving a reduction in carbon emissions will be a key challenge for the construction industry over the coming years. The Government has pledged an extra £1.5 billion to build an additional 20,000 affordable homes over the next two years and has also announced plans to introduce a ‘clean energy cash back’ scheme, where households contributing electricity to the National Grid through methods such as solar power are set to be rewarded with financial incentives. As a result, we see concepts such as the Nottingham HOUSE playing a key role in the delivery of sustainable communities. Saint-Gobain is constantly researching and developing new ways of harnessing, conserving and generating energy and this project will show how companies within the Group can work together to offer total product solutions, demonstrating the breadth of expertise we can offer.”

www.nottinghamhouse.co.uk
www.saint-gobain.co.uk