Lighthouse by Potton

The Kingspan Lighthouse demonstration project was conceived, designed and built to show that it is possible to have a home that is architecturally striking and achieve the highest level of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes (Level 6).

The philosophy was simple; to build a highly insulated house with the lowest levels of unwanted air-leakage in order to deliver a home that required the minimum amount of energy in use. Once this had been achieved any energy that would be required could be provided by renewable energy solutions.

In January 2007 the process began, and in a very busy five months the house was open and available for the world to see at the BRE Innovation Park in Watford. The Kingspan Lighthouse was the first house to achieve Code Level 6 at both design stage and post-completion.

The structure of the Lighthouse is a simple barn-like form, derived from a 40° roof accommodating a PV array. The sweeping roof envelops the central space – a generous, open-plan, top-lit, double height living space, with the sleeping accommodation at ground level. The living space uses a timber portal structure to enable floors to be slotted between the frames or left open as required.

It is constructed using Kingspan’s TEK® Building System, high performance SIPS (structurally insulated panel based system) which, for the Lighthouse, provided a high level of thermal insulation and performance– U-values of 0.11 W/m²^.K – reducing the heat loss by potentially two thirds of a standard house.

The energy cost of running the Kingspan Lighthouse would be about £31 per year for the wood pellets required by the back-up biomass boiler (assuming wood pellets cost 1.8 p/kWh). The electricity is free, from the sun, courtesy of the PV arrays on the roof. A house of the same size and shape but built to 2006 Building Regulations standards would cost about £500 a year in energy bills.

Most of the domestic hot water energy is provided by the solar thermal panels which are also on the roof. There is a small amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the growing, processing and delivery of the wood pellets for the remainder of the hot water and for the space heating. This is offset by extra renewable electricity that is generated from the sun by the photovoltaic panels and exported to the grid.

The principles and lessons learnt from the Kingspan Lighthouse demonstration project have been incorporated into the whole Potton range of designs. The ‘fabric first’ philosophy of reducing the energy required to heat the building is the starting point for the energy strategy. Designing and building to the highest level of the Code can only be achieved if you’ve an attention to detail and strive to eliminate all areas of thermal inefficiency and unwanted air-leakage. In building the Lighthouse, and other Code compliant homes, Potton has demonstrated an unrivalled level of expertise and knowledge.

As this was a temporary exibition, the Lighthouse was deconstructed during 2011 and is no longer available for viewing. Potton are committed to using the lessons learned and are working with a number of customers on Code Level 4 and Codel Level 5 homes .