Government funding announced for renewable homes

Following the unveiling of the Renewable House at the BRE's Innovation Park in Watford, the UK Government has now announced that it will be providing £6M of funding for the construction of new social housing made from renewable materials.

The funding is being made available through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and has been earmarked for the delivery of social housing schemes. Housing Associations and RSLs (Regional Social Landlords) will be required to undertake a bidding process to ensure that the proposed new homes meet the Government’s criteria in terms of their use of renewable materials.

The news has been welcomed by Lime Technology, manufacturer of one of the key renewable materials that was used to build the Renewable House. “This announcement further demonstrates the Government’s commitment to a low-carbon future using materials which not only lock up carbon in their manufacture but also are highly thermally efficient in use,” says Mike Eberlin, Lime Technology’s Managing Director.

A nice, crisp and clean finish!

The site team has enjoyed a productive period and the project is still on target for completion well before the start of INSITE09.

All the internal joinery has been fitted and the plumbing and electrical fittings are in. Externally, the lime render has been finished and has provided a nice, crisp and clean finish to the building. This has been complemented by the timber-clad gable ends and porch/bin store.

All that now remains is the internal decoration and finishing, which has seen products chosen for their low environmental impact and also their sensitive manufacture. Externally, it is just the landscaping that is outstanding, which will be carried out by the BRE.

Progress is being maintained to deliver the project on time

Design and Build Project Manager, Linford Group, is happy that progress is being maintained to deliver the project on programme. After the quick erection of the timber frame and Hemcrete® walls, the roof was trussed and tiled with clay tile from Sandtoft. The tiles were chosen as they were easy to install, affordable, natural and fitted in with the house design.

Triple glazed windows and the external doors, supplied by Jeld-Wen, have also been installed.

Internally, the mechanical and electrical first fix has been completed, the timber partition walls have been installed and the spray plastering has now commenced.

Externally the Hemcrete® walls are drying nicely and rendering will start next week. It is anticipated the two-coat render system will take eight days to install.

This will just leave external landscaping and then the internal fit out. At the moment the project is on target to be completed by the middle of May, giving a complete build time from completion of the groundworks of just 12 weeks.






(All images courtesy Peter White @ BRE)

Hemcrete® is applied to the walls

Rather than spray applied, the Hemcrete® has been mixed and poured between internal permanent boarding on the timber frame and external removable shuttering to create a wall thickness of 300mm. Once the Hemcrete® is poured into place, the external temporary shuttering is removed and the Hemcrete® left to dry. Significantly faster than brick and block, the Hemcrete was completed in just 4 days. The Hemcrete® sets rapidly and after 24 hours the shuttering can be removed and the wall can start to dry.

Whilst the walls have been drying we have progressed with the battening of the roof ready for the tiling. The windows and doors are being fitted and first fix electrical has started.

Next week internal plastering is due to commence.

We are pleased to say that we are ahead of schedule and the build is going extremely well.

Work is now under way...

After a very cold start with wintry conditions during groundwork, the weather has been kinder and progress on site has been swift.

The timber frame was erected in just a week. This was followed by one of the most fascinating parts of the project, the application of Hemcrete for the walls.