Zero Carbon London
→ 75% improvement on Part L’s air permeability requirements
→ 60% Improvement on Part L’s thermal bridging requirements
→ 120% carbon emission below the Part L 2013 baseline
→ 100% affordable housing
RCKa and Barnet Homes have submitted plans for a new development project within the Broadfields Estate that will provide 100 per cent affordable housing on a low-density, suburban site in the north of the borough. Taking advantage of the Common Home model developed by RCKa, the 47 homes will be delivered across the estate using a modular construction system, with the potential for future expansion.
The existing estate contains a mixture of housing from the 1930s, 60s and 70s, and the new proposal involves the removal of underused garages. Typical of many estates of its era, the site suffers from a poor arrangement of space, featuring dead ends and green spaces with no clear purpose. The new development will address this and identify a number of distinct areas that can be shaped to offer all local residents sustainably-minded places, including a village green, play zones and community-oriented routes through the estate.
The houses themselves will utilise modern methods of construction to ensure that the delivery of the project is affordable and efficient. The Common Home system was developed by RCKa to minimise construction wastage, cost and unnecessary complexity. Created to accommodate local supply chains, the typical product using this system can be designed and configured in a few weeks. The homes will feature sustainable elements such as heat recovery instead of gas central heating, as well as solar panels, thermal water heating and efficient appliances both for power and water consumption. High levels of insulation and Passivhaus-level air tightness will also ensure that energy bills are kept low.
Homes incorporate Passivhaus principles — energy use is low, with as little wastage as possible. Additional elements include: energy hierarchy carbon reduction methodology; highly insulated SIP (structural insulated panels); low air permeability; accredited thermal bridging construction details; passive heat recovery ventilation via heat exchanger; low energy LED lighting and controls; air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs): apartments — two ASHPs provide heat for space heating and hot water: external ASHP heats ambient loop, internal ASHP uses the water in the ambient loop as a heat sink to provide space heating and hot water; Solar photovoltaic panels.
