Name of organisation: Orbit Group
Stage of development: in progress
Year of finalization: 2011
Type of project: construction
Area: urban
Scale: neighbourhood
Type of building: Apartment in a block of five or less stories;
group of terraced houses
Number of units/dwellings: 23
Tenure: social rental
Street: Sampson Close
Postcode: CV2 1RB
City: Coventry
Region/ County: West Midlands
Country: United Kingdom
Last Update: 22.10.2010
Sampson Close, Coventry, is the largest social housing scheme in the UK to target Passivhaus Certification. Orbit Heart of England is developing a 23-home low energy scheme being built on a brown field site in Coventry. It includes a mix of terraced housing and apartments.
Originally conceived in 2008, Orbit Heart of England devised the scheme as part of its strategy to improve energy efficiency, significantly reduce energy costs for occupiers and reduce carbon emissions from its housing stock.
The development showcases a high level of pre assembled components which incorporate high levels of super insulation. Within the main structural elements, factory assembled closed-panel timber frames will achieve a high quality solution. The timber frames are manufactured and erected on site by German specialists Gumpp & Maier, which has an established and proven track record in Passivhaus and low energy housing solutions. Individual sections are brought to site in a predefined sequence and assembled in a very tight erection programme. This means that the whole scheme can be weatherproofed and made available to finishing trades faster than would be achievable with traditional techniques.
Key elements
•The largest social housing scheme to follow the Passivhaus certification route
•Designed to exceed Code for Sustainable Homes level 3
•Significantly reduced heating costs will be achieved : – a two bedroom flat will cost less than £1 per week to heat
•Modern methods of construction improve on-site productivity and quality assurance
Air Tightness
Sampson Close will display a high level of air tightness and has already achieved 0.6ach @ 50 Pa on the first block. The Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery system (MVHR) provides a balanced and high level of indoor air quality.
Windows and Shading
Active shading will control any potential overheating and maintain occupant comfort. Triple glazed composite windows giving performance U values less than 0.8W/m²K. Passive and non passive shading features will be used.
Thermal Insulation
Super-insulation with a high recycled content gives performance U values less than 0.15W/m²K to walls, floors and roofs.
Project Management
Strategic asset management, sourcing and selecting products/materials, quality control (monitoring performance of technologies/monitoring quality of services)
Certification
Designed to exceed Code for Sustainable Homes level 3 and achieve Passivhaus Institut standard.
Heating and Hot Water
Solar collectors use heat from the sun to warm domestic hot water. A conventional boiler or immersion heater is then used to make the water hotter, or to provide hot water when solar energy is unavailable. A district gas fired heating and domestic hot water distribution system pre-heated with over 40m² of solar collectors will be used at Sampson Close. Intelligent Dynamic Boost effect auxiliary radiators will also be installed.
Ventilation
Most of the perceptible heat in the exhaust air will be transferred to the incoming fresh air (heat recovery rate over 80%). MVHR consists of a high efficiency heat exchange which can recover 70-90% of the heat in the extracted air and use this to heat the fresh incoming air.
Electricity Saving Products
100% low energy lighting
A research team has been established in partnership with Coventry University to monitor building performance and the effect of tenant behaviour on that performance.
On-site photography indicates assembly of factory assembled timber panels.