This house is designed to be a zero energy house, by making the house so air-tight, well insulated, and energy efficient that it produces as much renewable energy as it consumes. Zero energy homes are ultra-comfortable, healthy, quiet, sustainable and affordable to live in. The insulation of the houseis applied to the outer surface of the main exterior walls. External insulation minimises the occurrence of cold bridging as it wraps the house in one large sheet of insulation separating the cold air from the masonry walls and thus minimising any cold bridges (a bit like putting a coat on your house). Together with the triple glassed windows a much more stable temperature will be achieved this way. To warm ventilation air in the winter and cool it in the summer a ground-coupled heat exchanger with double flux is installed. This is an underground heat exchanger that can capture heat from and dissipate heat to the ground, it uses the Earth's near constant subterranean temperature. Before the warm air leaves the house it contributes to warming up the cold air coming in and vice versa. The air-water heat pump extracts heat from outside air and transfers it into a water heating circuit supplying hot tapwater and the underfloor heating. The heat pump uses a small amount of external power which can be generated by the solar panels placed at the far end of the garden. These panels absorb the sunlight as a source of energy to generate electricity.
