The dwelling is a 5 person 4 apartment two storey family home located on the northern side of Pittenweem, one of the idyllic East Neuk of Fife villages. It has a gross indicative floor area of 104sqm including 4.5sqm of storage.
Benefitting from a southerly aspect the plot is within a development where a mix of tenures has already been provided. There is an eclectic mix of styles of varying heights.
The building form has been kept deliberately ‘compact’ which minimises surface to volume ratio that in turn increases the thermal efficiency of the envelope. It has been orientated so that all the habitable rooms are located on the southern side, each with a large opening to maximise solar gain and
to allow daylight penetration deep into the floor plan. On the north, east and west elevations openings are minimised to reduce overheating and heat loss.
Super Insulating the Building Fabric
Extremely low wall and roof U-values of 0.09 w/m2 K are achieved using Scotframe’s Supawall System, which is a BBA Certified closed timber frame panel system comprising of 140mm timber studs sheathed both sides with Oriented Strand Board and factory filled with Polyurethane which itself has a BRE Green Guide ‘A’ Rating. This kit was erected, wind and water tight within one working day and is supplemented by a mechanically and adhesively fixed JUB Jubizol S External Wall Insulation System that provides an additional 160mm insulation. The render contains the latest nano technology that provides a self cleaning surface with high resistance to the effects of ultra violet and other modern atmospheric factors. The insulated concrete ground floor has a U-value of 0.12w/m2 K. The building has been carefully detailed and constructed to ensure that it is thermal bridge free.
Windows are often the weak point in any building. Nordan N Tech Passive windows with a triple glazed argon filled cavity system have been installed. The complete window has a combined U-value of 0.7w/m2
K with no trickle ventilation providing an installed u-value of 0.8w/m2 K. The high thermal performance ensures that draughts and cold spots often associated with conventional windows are eliminated.
Reducing Ventilation Heat Loss with an Airtight Fabric
The air permeability through the fabric of the building has been designed to below 0.6ach-1 @ 50Pa. This performance is 6-10 times better than standard UK Construction and is guaranteed by an air pressure test on completion of the construction. Without good air tightness the effectiveness of thermal insulation can be reduced by up to 70%.
