A Refurbishment Strategy for Achieving Zero Carbon

South Wales valleys

In Britain, a quarter of the existing housing stock was built before 1920. In Wales, this figure is over a third. Most of these dwellings are terraces. We beleive that it is only by addressing the existing housing stock that a meaningful and immediate impact can be made on our national energy consumption.
Our proposal, for a typical terrace in the South Wales valleys, strips the existing buildings back to what is worth keeping- their footprint & form, their street-fronts and, in some cases, the existing envelope. Then, we apply the following ‘rules’: super-insulate and make airtight; close to the north, open up to the south; add a sunspace – collect passive solar with controlled stack ventilation. In addition, the buildings’ roof-tops have a lot to do: solar thermal – 3-4sqm, providing hot water and driving ventilation; photo-voltaics – 10sqm, providing on-site generation of all electricity (in balance). Then, add: wind power generation (between a quarter and a half of several German States’ electricity now comes from wind power); ground source heat pump, to provide all heating load; effective waste management; and rainwater harvesting/recycling.