State Of The Art

The initial stages of the Project involved Case studies of existing Low Emissions/Energy

Efficient Buildings were examined in order to establish the State of the Art. Case Studies examined included

· BedZED, Slough, London, UK.

· Hockerton Housing Project, Notts, UK.

· Zion National Park, Utah, USA.

· 4 Times Square, New York, USA.

· Fraunhofer Instute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) , Germany.

Through the study of these buildings it was quickly established that the use of Passive Technologies

was a major factor in creating an Low Emission/Energy Efficient building. Passive technologies such as

· Daylighting.

· Natural Ventilation

· Insulation

· Trombe Walls

· Breathable Walls

· Phase Change Materials

· Advanced Glazing

· Adobe Bricks

Materials for use in all aspects of the Building Design are obviously an important factor, materials for

Flooring, Roofing, External/Internal Walls, Insulation Etc....

The use of Renewable Energy technologies within these buildings was investigated with, the technologies

that were examined included.

· Building Integrated Photo-Volataics.

· Solar Collectors.

· Geo-thermal Heat Pumps.

· Combined Heat and Power.

· Wind Turbines.

· Small-Scale Hydro.

· Fuel Cells.

· Bio-mass/Bio-Energy.

· Mechanical Ventilation.

Greywater recycling schemes and methods of minimising water use were also investigated.

CURRENT PRACTICE