Energy World

The Energy Park was launched in 1986 by a show village called Energy World, containing 50 dwellings and opened by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. A wide range of developers were involved, including local and volume house builders, foreign companies and organisations closely associated with energy. The homes varied in size from large detached houses down to small starter homes and one-bedroom flats.

Energy efficiency was achieved by a variety of means, such as good insulation, passive solar measures, active solar systems, heat pumps, heat storage, condensing (high efficiency) boilers and good controls. Regardless of the individual features, all dwellings had a rating of at least 7.5.

Energy World also incorporated a wind/solar 'cogeneration' demonstration project, with nine houses being supplied with electricity generated from renewable sources by an 18kW wind turbine and a 12kW array of solar cells. Whilst the project was successful in energy terms, an unacceptably high level of noise from the gearbox meant that the wind turbine had to be switched off in 1988.

The Round House

The most photographed house on the development was the Round House, a highly unusual design by Keith Horn with earth banking (berms) to the North, East and West, giving the appearance of a home rising out of the ground. The circular plan and conical shape minimised external surfaces and the roof profile also cut heat losses through minimising wind effects. A major design feature was a South facing double glazed conservatory providing increased solar gain to adjoining living spaces and pre-heating ventilation air. Louvres prevented over-heating in summer, and the conservatory faced onto a sundeck and small swimming pool.

Among other innovations, the Round House used low temperature underfloor heating. However its unique design meant that it was not widely copied in the UK, and some experts have criticised the design as implying that it was not possible to achieve ultra low energy homes through more normal construction methods or designs.

The Solaire bungalows

The Solaire was a single storey four bedroomed home with an innovative design from Feilden Clegg architects. These were designed to demonstrate the efficiency of 'next generation' glazing systems, and used Argon filled triple glazed units, with a fourth outer pane featuring a low emissivity coating. An automated blind system was incorporated to control the heat input and prevent overheating in summer. The bungalows also benefitted from very high levels of insulation throughout and a whole house heat recovery and ventilation system. To counteract the high levels of glazing, privacy was maintained by the main rooms facing onto a private courtyard, accessible through patio doors. Further examples of this Solaire design were built in Phase I of the Energy Park, but utilised a lower level of glazing due to issues with the VAT status of the additional glazing elements.

More conventional designs

Not all of the homes in Energy World were as unusual as the Round House or Solaire. Typical of the more conventional properties was the Bancroft, designed by Max Lock Easton Perlston & King. This was a relatively small two bedroomed detached house, constructed using traditional means. However it included an octagonal conservatory between the dining and living room areas, and all habitable rooms (except the kitchen) were on the South side of the property. Insulation levels were very high for the time, with 100mm of cavity fill and 150mm of loft insulations; levels that would have met building regulations 20 years later.

Energy World also included a number of lower-cost homes for shared ownership through Milton Keynes Development Corporation. They demonstrated how energy efficiency could be achieved in the starter home market using passive solar gain and enhanced insulation standards to the building fabric. The overall scheme layout for the social housing area emphasised optimum solar orientation and benefits of shelter belts and solar access landscaping.

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The Energy Park

The remaining residential area of the Energy Park was divided into two phases.

Phase I, which was completed in 1988, comprised 600 dwellings. Developments in Phase I used proven technology with conventional house design demonstrating that energy efficient homes could be built on a commercial basis without the need for highly innovative design or technology. Whilst the design and construction of these homes was left to the discretion of the architects and developers, all had to achieve a specific energy performance. In this phase the target was a minimum NHER of 7.5: This representing some 30% saving in total running costs over the Building Regulations in force at the time.

Phase II

A different approach was applied to the 600 homes in Phase II. Developments here, in addition to achieving a higher NHER of 9.0, had to demonstrate specific approaches to energy efficiency. These included a glazed street using passive solar design, a scheme which trades off the reduction in fuel bills against higher mortgage or rent outgoings, superinsulated projects, active solar systems, heat pumps and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

In order to make the best use of all information gained from the Energy Park, a monitoring programme was undertaken by the National Energy Foundation (NEF). This project measured the energy performance of approximately half of the 1,200 dwellings. Homes were linked by a building interface unit to a central monitoring office.

Fuel use, internal temperatures, humidity and weather conditions were recorded, building up a unique database relating to the performance of low energy houses in practice. Initial analysis showed that some individual sites performed considerably better than predicted, whilst others were not as good as predicted. A joint project involving NEF and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) started in April 1992, to ascertain the reasons why certain dwellings were underperforming.

As a result of the success of Phase I of the Energy Park, in January 1988 an NHER of 7.5 become the performance standard for all new housing in Milton Keynes; this was progressively raised to 9.0, with an rating of 10.0 expected on the final homes in Phase II.

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Commercial Properties (Knowlhill)

The area to the North of Watling Street (V4) was designated as an employment area, but still part of the wider Energy Park. In the initial development phase to 1992, five low energy innovative commercial buildings were erected:

1. Solaris Court (which became the headquarters building for ParcelForce);
2. Equinox (which became the main testing station for the Consumers Association, and is now the technical centre for ITS Intertek);,
3. the Wild Leitz building, now used by Leica UK;
4. the Pharamcia building, later taken over by NHBC as its headquarters; and
5. the Power House, a speculative naturally ventilated office building.

The area was also planned to house the National Energy Centre, but the first phase of this did not finally open until 1999 and is described on the page about the National Energy Foundation. Subsequent development phases in Knowlhill have retained a focus on good quality low energy architecture.

Find out more about other energy projects in Milton Keynes

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And into the present...

Homes on Energy World continued to be built right up to the mid-2000s, and there are still some developments taking place in Knowlhill.

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Please note...

Many of the projects described here were designed to improve the energy performance of private homes. If you wish to view any of the properties described please remember that they remain private, and avoid taking photographs or otherwise intruding on residents' privacy.

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