energy projects in mk
Milton Keynes has a deserved reputation has having led the way in low energy housing and other projects designed to raise energy efficiency for almost 40 years. One of its aims has always been to spread best practice by showcasing innovative developemnts wiothin the city, and there have been three large scale public hosuing ehibitions: Home World, Energy World and Future World. The page looks at some of the groundbreaking ideas on dispaly at the earliest of the three - Home World.
Home World Exhibition
Open to the public during 1981, Home World was the first Housing Exhibition in the city showcasing innovation in energy efficient homes. Twenty developers built 36 houses for the Home World Exhibition 1981; the purpose of which was to demonstrate the latest ideas in housing design and technology. Although energy efficiency was not directly part of the project brief, most developers did address the issue. Three homes in particular were seen as being groundbreaking:
- The Ideal Home
- The Autarkic House, and
- Futurehome 2000
The Ideal Home
The entire south facing wall of this house was triple glazed, forming in effect a double height conservatory. 27m2 of solar panels provided energy to a compact chemical heat store. These contain salts which changed from solid to liquid and back again as they stored and released heat. In this particular house the regenerated heat was distributed via the conventional heating system. Auxiliary heating was by gas boiler and/or solid fuel fire as required.
The internal layout had living areas on the south side, with garages, bathrooms, a craft room and storage forming a buffer space on the north side. A timber pergola with deciduous plants growing up it ensured that summer overheating did not occur - in summer the plants shaded the conservatory, while in winter they lost their leaves and allowed solar energy to penetrate the house. Heating bills were predicted to be halved.
The Autarkic House
This timber-framed house was designed to be easily constructed by the self-build enthusiast. It was particularly well sealed against air leakage, and incorporated an integral double-height conservatory. Air warmed within the conservatory was ducted through a Trombe Wall, a special cavity wall containing tubes packed with chemicals which stored the heat for later regeneration and distribution via a warm air heating system. Heating loads were reduced by 30%. The kit of parts was designed to enable the house to be easily extended at a later date.
Futurehome 2000
The design and construction of the Futurehome 2000 was televised by the BBC's Money Programme. As in the Rainbow Cooperative cottage, this house incorporated a conservatory from which warmed air was vented into the house by small fans. Glazing was all double with a heat-reflecting low emissivity coating: this had the equivalence of triple glazing.
At the time of the exhibition, the house had three alternative heating systems; a gas boiler, a coal boiler and a FIAT 'Totem', a car engine converted to use gas instead of petrol. The mechanical output of the Totem (which would normally drive the car wheels) was used to generate electricity, and the waste heat from the cooling water was used to heat the house. This produced an excellent overall efficiency of 90%, but due to the Totem's high capital cost it would have only been truly cost effective if supplying ten or more houses. This was probaly the first example of a micro-CHP installation in the UK.
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.
