Zero
Resource House - Towards Zero Heating, Zero CO2 and Code Six Sustainable
Homes
The Zero Resource House is the development of two flats in the city centre of Cardiff that addresses issues of housing affordability and resource efficiency, including material resources, energy and water.
The flats are designed to the Passivhaus standards and do not require central heating. The ground floor flat also benefits from sufficient renewable technologies to cover all its energy requirements over a typical year. The building is currently being monitored to assess the effectiveness of the design.
The development is also designed with affordability in mind. Building costs are reduced by designing a compact building that makes efficient use of space and using easily buildable technologies. Running costs are reduced by providing a zero heating building, making use of solar thermal panels to provide hot water and recycling rainwater to reduce the need for mains water.
The building is also conceived as a closed loop building. This aims to
reduce the potential for waste at the end of the building's life. To achieve
this aim the building is being designed to be dismantleable and includes
materials that can be reused and recycled or composted.
The development was featured in The Independent, BBC Wales and ITV1 Wales.
