The H.O.U.S.E is a hit

Nottingham university student architects and engineers slaved for four days against the clock to build their H.O.U.S.E super-energy efficient eco home at Ecobuild. But it was worth the effort. Their timber-panel-based, wood-clad creation, developed with materials and technical input from the Saint-Gobain Group, including International Timber and engineered wood products specialist Pasquill, proved one of the biggest draws of the show. It also won the inaugural Timber at Ecobuild Award, presented jointly by TTJ and Timber & Sustainable Building.

H.O.U.S.E. stands for Home Optimising Use of Solar Energy and is Nottingham’s entry in the international Solar Decathlon competition, which takes place in Madrid in the summer.

The aim, said its co-ordinator and architecture lecturer Lucelia Taranto Rodrigues, is a house that maximises use of solar energy.

“But it also has to be commercially viable, low cost, to work in the UK context and meet level 6 of the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes,” she said.

Tony Miles of International Timber, which supplied the Stellac heat-treated radiata pine cladding, decking, planters and maple handrail, said working with the university was illuminating for both sides.

“We were in regular dialogue to advise and help them get a better understanding of the materials and products,” he said. “It was a great learning process for the students and interesting to see how they perceived wood as a modern, high-performance material.”

Stuart McKill, managing director of Pasquill, which supplied the I-joist-, glulam- and OSB-based closed-timber panels, roof and wall cassettes, said the H.O.U.S.E was a pointer to the future for the timber industry.

“Environmental pressures are producing the biggest changes in building in 80 years and, to meet the demands this is putting on the supply sector, knowledge transfer with academia will be increasingly important,” he said.

Ms Rodrigues described the response to the H.O.U.S.E stand as “fantastic”. “Now we just have to dismantle it and rebuild it in Madrid, but there we’ll have 10 days to do it,” she said.