"Low Carbon" House Ready For Mass Production
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 06.12.07
Yesterday, we featured a "zero carbon" house that was unveiled at the Offsite 2007 Exhibition in the UK. There was another efficient green home at the exhibition called the Sigma. The design of this home is a little less ambitious — it received a "near-zero" carbon emission certification. However, its designers, the Stuart Milne Group, said the Sigma is more likely to be the first eco-friendly family home to be mass-produced in Britain. See a detailed photo of the house after the fold.
With many green features, the Sigma home is designed to cut energy bills by 80%, it has solar panels and wind turbines on its roof, and an efficient insulation envelope.
Via: The Daily Mail
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Cool stuff. Do you have any information on what the price will be?
This looks pretty neat. Can it be a little bigger...and a lot better looking?
Its a pretty cool looking house I think. Perhaps if it could be a bit more spacious. Damn, why doesn't the US try to be innovative like this!
How do you know it should be bigger? I personally like the look, and think it's probably big enough for two medium to large families if the interior is designed thoughtfully. I used to live in a 28 sq meter (287 sq ft) studio and was not lacking space.
The only thing I wonder about here is it looks like the solar water heating panels face 90 degrees from where the "South-facing" windows are oriented. Also, few locations are windy enough for a turbine to be an option, especially one level with other parts of the roof. Finally the main problem with current building practice is ignoring location and orientation, when traditional houses would be easier to heat and cool, not to mention celebrating regional differences and making travel interesting. I am afraid of a one-design method to green building.
That is the ugliest monstrosity I think I've ever seen in my life.
If it were bigger or more spacious, it wouldn't be as environmentally-friendly, would it? This compact model means less suburban sprawl, less money spent on heating and cooling it, and less time spent cleaning it.
you need a different color for links inside your text. it's really hard to read.
I think its a beautiful design and I applaud the UK for putting into action the carbon-free housing laws. I to wish the in the US they would implement the same. But we are typically a wasteful people (myself included). On NPR they didn't give the exact price but they did say that it initially will cost 40% more to build but that in a few years when they make 'communities of these' the price will drop drastically since materials can be purchased in bulk. They also estimated that it would only cost around $60+ in energy costs for the year and that you would only have to heat the home from 3-6 weeks out of the year due to smart insulation and solar heating.
In the US architects like Charlie Lazor’s and his Flatpak company might be able to offer something of a similar nature. But not carbon free.
I think it looks great. Maybe in the near future they may build bigger ones. This is only a model of what it will be like.
Hi i have seen your message and i have read up on this house the price is around 335k.