| Building type | Domestic |
| Building age | post 2000 |
| Location | Levington |
| Cost of work | unknown |
| District | Suffolk Coastal |
| Features |
Greenways is a timber frame home that has been designed to be both environmentally friendly and healthy. Environmentally friendly in the sense that it has high thermal mass and insulation properties and is essentially self sufficient in terms of water supply & water treatment. The house also has solar thermal panels on the roof to generate hot water. The house is a ‘healthy house’ because wherever possible, the use of artificial materials such as plastics, have been avoided. In practice this means the occupier has tried to avoid UPVC, MDF, inorganic paints and inorganic vinyls & artificial glues that are commonly otherwise found in plastic windows, kitchen units, furniture, and artificial flooring.
Sustainability Features
– High thermal efficiency including triple and double glazing and
– Insulation in the form of paper, blown into the timber frame under pressure
– Solar thermal panels for hot water generation
– Fan assisted ventilation system with heat exchanger
– Sunpipes bringing sunlight into the darker northern facing downstairs rooms
– Rainwater harvesting system for washing & bathing water
– Reedbed water filtration & recycling system for waste water treatment and reuse in lavatories
– Organic natural paints used throughout
– Artificial materials (such as UPVC and MDF) have been avoided wherever possible
Design Process
The building was designed by Roy Lacey
Grants
None
Green Lifestyle
The house has been designed as a ‘healthy house’ as outlined in the introduction above. The property also has an organic kitchen garden which supplies approximately 75% of the occupier’s vegetables and 40-50% of their fruit
Evaluation
After ten years, the owners of Greenways feel that they are comfortable with the house, which is light, airy and easy to keep clean. The rainwater is pleasant to bathe in and is easy on the dishwasher and washing machine. The reed-beds work well and are very economic. Water/sewage costs are very low, but there is an annual cost in filter and UV tube replacement. If cost was no object we would have explored photo-voltaic generation.
Suppliers and Professional Services Used
The building was designed by Roy Lacey. The reed bed filtration system was designed and built by Cress Water Systems.
Awards