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le-cerveau

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  1. le-cerveau

    MVHR Install

    By le-cerveau,

    I will write about the install of my MVHR system, as this is something I have done myself (with help).  Theo house is being built by my contractor, supervised by my Architect and QS (who is the CDM).  As I am remote from the location I can only watch what happens on CCTV.  When I was last there the old house was standing and we had disconnected the services. 6 Months later, I have a new house, Weather tight shell, Windows and doors in, sarking and felt on, and tiles and PV being fitted.  I am doing the MVHR as I couldn’t find a company to design and install what I wanted so I did it myself.  Had a slot in the schedule for me to work and got on with it.  Internally the team were completing first fix joinery (all the stud work).  This was the two-man team who are always on site and are doing the majority of the work, the company bring in others when required, but the two in the house whilst I was there are my main team.
    My design:
     

     
    This is my layout as planned, 2 x Brink Renovent 400 Plus units, 4 x Ubbink AE 24 port distribution boxes, 180mm insulated duct and silencers for the main runs and 350m of AE48C duct, 50m of AE34C duct with all the associated connectors and fittings.  A total of 36 outlets/terminals…..  Suffice to say it is a lot of equipment.  It arrived on 8 pallets at around 1100 on the Tuesday morning.  I sourced all my equipment from CVC who were/are great, arranging delivery slots, supplying additional equipment quickly, and I still have an outstanding order for the vent terminals and some other bits still to complete.
     
    I arrived on the Monday lunchtime after 6 days of traveling (not all to get there) and had a meeting with the site manager and the first thing we agreed on was to board out the plant room with MDF (as a final finish) so that we could install the equipment and be done with it (rather than approximately place it and then remove awaiting final plastering)  This turned out to be one of the best decisions as work could be finalized and other trades could also finish work in there (First fix electrical could fit the 24 way 3 phase CU)…  We also got the loft boarded out at this point to enable the first floor runs to be completed.
     
    On Tuesday morning the building team started boarding the plant room, starting on the wall that the MVHR units were to be sited as a priority, this was completed by the end of the day and then started on the attic boards.  Once the delivery had arrived and I had checked it I had some initial work to do.  First to install the acoustic insulation into the distribution boxes and trim the spigots to the 180mm mark and move 2 of them to the top for the ground floor.  I the attached the first 2 silencers to the top mounted distribution boxes (Large jubilee clips (44-217mm) work perfectly).  These would then be mounted against the ceiling with the silencers running up into the plant room.  (the first floor is 250mm concrete planks and I am having a suspended ceiling to put all the services in).
    This is where having a builder with all the equipment to hand come in handy.  One of the team then worked with me, the manifolds were fixed to the ceiling, simple concrete screws direct into the planks and then we started on the ground floor ducting.  (I had pre calculated what ducts from what rolls, but that got altered on the fly when we had longer lengths remaining) The duct was run through the stud work and fixed approximately every 2 meters either with wood screws to the stud work or concrete screws to the ceiling.  Rather than buying the Ubbink fixings £15.42 for 10, I used builders band £10.00 for 10m and plumbers felt £10.00 for 20m (you can probably get it cheaper) as the fixings.
     

     
    The above shows the 2 ground floor manifolds and you can see how the builders band and felt was used.  We got most of the ground floor ducting done in one afternoon.  The terminals were left dangling with about 1m to the previous fixing to allow them to be positioned by the plasterers when the fit the suspended ceiling as they will be positioned either in the centre of a ceiling tile or plasterboard (room dependent).
    Wednesday started out installing the MVHR units as the main ducts needed to be installed before the attic runs could be done, this also allowed time to continue boarding out the attic.  The first unit was positioned on the wall and to support it extra noggins were installed behind the wall, easy when the stud work is still open:

    We mounted the second MVHR unit then measured and marked out the penetrations for the ceiling.  Then the builders simply took down the ceiling boards, cut them out and put them, back up.  The ducts then had a perfectly snug fit through the ceiling.  The two silencers going into the attic had to be slightly compressed oval to fit due to a double joist.
            
    Images of the plant room with the MVHR units fitted. (already painted)
    Fitting the attic manifolds was a little more complicated, the supply manifold went as planned

    Here you can see the 2 x 90-degree bends attached to the silencer going into the manifold and all the ducts coming off.
    The exhaust manifold wouldn’t go in as planned and had to be rotated 90-degrees to fit between the truss webs, fortunately I had plenty of 180mm 90-degree bends for the final connections.
         
    Exhaust from below and side (one duct moved between pictures).
    All the exhaust ducts were relatively easy to run (crawling through the webs).  7 of the supply runs had to cross the attic and not wanting ducts in the main storage area, these were turned down to run along the joist space.  On the supply manifold you can see 5 of the 90-degree elbows turning then down and below the left 3 (2 from the side and one of the front ) look like this from below:


    This was the plan, but on the far side as the came up beyond the truss webs (non-boarded area) I didn’t use the 90-degree bends on the far end just curved them into place.

    You can see the runs under the attic boards (incomplete) and moving off to the respective locations.
    By Thursday we had installed all the ducts and terminals (so 3 days with a builder and all the tools).
    We then decided to fix the first-floor terminals into their final positions (just plasterboard for first floor) so either screwing/banding them to rafters, screwing to the attic boards where available, or inserting small offcuts to attach them to.
    The decision was made to paint out the plant room so we removed the MVHR units and ducts, bagged the ground floor ducts and the builders sanded and filled all the screws.  It was painted on the Friday (advantages of a builder and his contacts).
    During the week I realised I needed to order some extra circlips (not easy to get large ones) so I ordered them via CVC and also my RH sensors which were quickly delivered.  I installed these into the units (whilst dismounted) not an easy task, very fiddly and not to be recommended on a unit that is already installed. And the sensor heads into a short length of 180mm insulated duct.  On the ground floor units we had a short length connecting the silencer to the MVHR unit, but one was not planned for the first floor ones, however as the silencers are flexible and compressible I inserted a short length on top of the House supply and exhaust connectors for this purpose and inserted the sensor there.
                  
    Sensors installed in insulated ducting (simply tie wrapped into place)
    I then just had to wait for my final delivery.
    I am planning to plumb my cisterns into the MVHR (Se the previous blog entry) however since then @Auchlossen  has done a similar utilising 75mm ducting so I decided to go down that route (hence the roll of 75mm (AE34C) ducting)  I did use it for some runs.  I ordered 3 x OsmaSoil 3S094G 82mm Reducer to 50mm Grey 860749 to fit over the 75mm ducting and convert it to 50mm plumbing push fit. The plumber will do the rest as detailed in the previous blog.  These fit almost perfectly.
              
    The first picture shoes one pushed up to the seal, the second one shoes one pushed onto the seal.  They are very tight with the seal but will push on and make a good airtight fit.
     
    As part of my initial plan I purchased a HB vent terminal for experimentation, just to prove that these systems are interchangeable I fitted an offcut of 92mm (AE48C) duct into the HB terminal, no problem.

    So, when the question comes up can you mix and match, yes (within reason).  On issue I see with the HB equipment is I am not sure how easy it is to unclip the terminals once in place as there does not seem to be a way to easily und the locking lugs. On the Ubbink equipment you can unlick them by twisting the red click ring until it disengages and then remove the duct!
    The roofers are currently slating the roof and will fit my vent terminals in the appropriate positions with a 500mm length of duct to protrude through the roof insulation.  These will then be connected up to the MVHR ducts when a come back to do the final commissioning, fit outlet terminals and balance the system. (next year).
  2. le-cerveau

    MVHR Balancing

    By le-cerveau,

    Apologies I didn’t take many pictures of the process.
     
    Initial Frustrations:
    Due to a delay in the First Floor (FF) Micro Screed, couldn’t access the house as planned (Thursday after arrival) but had to wait until the following Wednesday, I would have had the balancing complete by the Monday and had a week to do other small jobs, as it was I got the job finished, bit nothing else.
     
    First of all I fitted the ground floor vent terminals, this involved trimming the terminal ends level with the plasterboard

    Fitting the metal connecting terminal with the supplied Tek® Screws and inserting the terminal:
    Tek® Screws are a pig, you need to predrill the metal to use the effectively and I was using the builders impact driver Makita 18V LTX and it was still hard work.  I locked all the terminals in the fully open position and inserted them, hold up and turn to lock in place, these are an update on the spring clip versions as apparently they don’t get a good seal, with the mechanically fixed base plate and a turn to lock valve they are more rigid, true but harder to install! 
                                                                Installed extract valve.                                                                                                                Valve removed leaving housing                                                                              Housing on adaptor.
     
    The first picture shows an installed extract terminal in the Airing Cupboard.
    The second one the metal connector plate (in the Dining Room) with the valve removed.
    The third one an adaptor plate attached to the duct terminal in a room that will have a suspended ceiling (tiles) so to be finished after all messy work, the duct terminal will be adjusted as required.
     
    Then I installed the FF terminals, I had help for this then access to the attic to connect up the external supply and exhaust ducts to the roof terminals, my builders had to cut 2 access holes in the plasterboard (attic already plastered) one to connect the FF supply duct (the attic has insulation between the rafters and below which follows the vertical chords of the attic trusses) so this duct has less insulation that the others but is still in the insulated area.  The second to access the FF exhaust manifold, in the same area (but always planned) these will have insulated doors re-fitted.  They also had to cut free the exhaust duct for the FF unit which the plasterers had plastered around, half covering (I ask you), ie 180mm circular duct with half the duct (a semicircle) inside plaster, half out!  So I connected up the FF units and proceeded with that one, it made it easier accessing the manifolds before installing the GF ducts.  We also had to build a small trestle to go over the FF exhaust duct to lie on to work in the exhaust manifold.
     
    Next, I fired up the FF unit and set the speed to 275m3/h, this was a challenge as the electrician had to make certain circuits live.
     
                           
     
    In the CU the top Right is the lift (3-Phase) required for install T&C, the bottom 5 (left) are the MVHR and others on the circuit, 2 x downstairs power circuits and 2 others I don’t know and didn’t dig into.  A lot of work still to be done there, but I had my power.
     
    The two MVHR units connected up (though the drains weren’t connected until Friday).
     
    I then did my initial measure, I have purchased a Testo 417 with hoods and UKAS calibration (belt and braces), whether I keep it or sell on, not sure yet.
     
    Initial readings gave a total extract of around 275m3/h but supply of nearly 375m3/h, so obviously my systems measure from the extract and just run the supply at the same speed, the calculation showed similar resistances for the system, so I had to adjust the system (use the imbalance) to even out the flows, initially I used a 100m3/h imbalance to even this out (reduced later on).  I then proceeded to balance the terminals, as mine is the Ubbink system the balancing is done in the manifolds with restrictor rings, you have either no restrictor, or a restrictor with 0-12 rings removed (0 = max resistance, 12 = almost no restistance).
     
    The table below shows room, terminal, design flow rates, calculated restrictors and the final ones I ended up with.
     
        Design Flow Rate
    BR Min
    Initial
    Final
    Final
    Room
    m3/h
    l/s
    l/s
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    l/s
    m3/h
    l/s
    en-suite 2
    E1
    45
    12.5
    8
    6
     
    6
    23.0
    6.39
    48.6
    13.5
    en-suite 2
    E2
    6
     
    6
    25.6
    7.11
    en-suite 3
    E3
    45
    12.5
    8
    6
     
    6
    24.1
    6.69
    51.3
    14.3
    en-suite 3
    E4
    5
     
    6
    27.2
    7.56
    Cistern
    E10
    20
    5.6
     
    -
     
    -
    12.0
    3.33
    12.0
    3.3
    Attic
    EA
    25
    6.9
    6
    10
     
    -
    22.9
    6.36
    22.9
    6.4
    A/C
    E5
    25
    6.9
    6
    5
     
    5
    27.9
    7.75
    27.9
    7.8
    Bathroom
    E6
    45
    12.5
    8
    4
     
    4
    24.2
    6.72
    48.8
    13.6
    Bathroom
    E7
    4
     
    4
    24.6
    6.83
    mstr en-suite
    E8
    50
    13.9
    8
    7
     
    7
    27.9
    7.75
    54.7
    15.2
    mstr en-suite
    E9
    6
     
    6
    26.8
    7.44
    Cistern
    E11
    20
    5.6
     
    4
     
    10
    12.6
    3.50
    12.6
    3.5
        275
    76.4
           
    278.8
    77.44
       
    As you can see it was reasonably accurate.  I had to reduce the resistance to the attic and one cistern and one other terminal, otherwise quite easy.
     
    So with the extract done I moved on to the Supply.  Initially I went round and totaled up all the supplies and kept adjusting the imbalance until the total supply was about 275m3/h, which was around 70m3/h, then I set to work adjusting the flows:
     
        Design Flow Rate
    BR Min
    Initial
    Final
    Final
    Room
    m3/h
    l/s
    l/s
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    l/s
    m3/h
    l/s
     
    Bed 2
    S1
    50
    13.9
     
    11
     
    7
    26.1
    7.25
    50.9
    14.1
     
    Bed 2
    S2
    9
     
    6
    24.8
    6.89
     
    Bed 3
    S3
    50
    13.9
     
    6
     
    -
    19.8
    5.50
    49.0
    13.6
     
    Bed 3
    S4
     
    5
     
    6
    29.2
    8.11
     
    Bed 4
    S5
    50
    13.9
     
    7
     
    4
    24.0
    6.67
    49.3
    13.7
     
    Bed 4
    S6
    6
     
    4
    25.3
    7.03
     
    Bed 5
    S7
    50
    13.9
     
    6
     
    4
    24.5
    6.81
    50.7
    14.1
     
    Bed 5
    S8
     
    7
     
    5
    26.2
    7.28
     
    Master Bed
    S9
    50
    13.9
     
    -
     
    -
    24.8
    6.89
    49.6
    13.8
     
    Master Bed
    S10
     
    9
     
    7
    24.8
    6.89
     
    Attic
    SA
    25
    6.9
     
    9
     
    -
    26.2
    7.28
    26.2
    7.3
     
        275
    76.4
    131.37
     
     
    275.7
    76.58
         
     
    AS you can see the difference between calculation and actual is huge, take terminal S3, it has a relatively short run (compared to others) yet I had to remove all restriction and could only get 20m3/h, I balanced up the room with S4 but a total mystery.  S1 was a significantly long run but require more restriction than calculated.  I managed to balance up the system after several hours of too and frow, including slightly adjusting the imbalance to get the system set.
     
    The Ground floor was a similar experience, though with some terminals suspended in the air, the measuring hood neatly sealed over these so measurement was not an issue, and in fact I didn’t need a ladder to reach these ones so it made it easier.
     
    GF setting was 220m3/h (I actually set 225) and again the extract tallied up but the supply was about 40m3/h over so Imbalance require again.
     
        Design Flow Rate
    BR Min
    Initial
    Final
    Final
    Room
    m3/h
    l/s
    l/s
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    l/s
    m3/h
    l/s
     
    Kitchen
    E1
    80
    22.2
    13
    -
     
    -
    44.0
    12.22
    85.8
    23.8
     
    Kitchen
    E2
    7
     
    6
    41.8
    11.61
     
    Laundry
    E6
    50
    13.9
    8
    4
     
    6
    26.6
    7.39
    50.7
    14.1
     
    Laundry
    E7
    3
     
    5
    24.1
    6.69
     
    en-suite 1
    E4
    45
    12.5
    8
    2
     
    6
    27.7
    7.69
    51.4
    14.3
     
    en-suite 1
    E5
    2
     
    7
    23.7
    6.58
     
    WC
    E3
    25
    6.9
    6
    3
     
    5
    26.1
    7.25
    26.1
    7.3
     
    Cistern
    E8
    20
    5.6
     
    1
     
    -
    11.0
    3.06
    11.0
    3.1
     
        220
    61.1
            225.0
    62.50
         
                                 
    Again extract calculation and actual weren’t miles apart, except from I had to remove all restriction from the cistern extract, and subsequently most of the others to balance it out but relatively easy and logical.
     
        Design Flow Rate
    BR Min
    Initial
    Final
    Final
    Room
    m3/h
    l/s
    l/s
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    Rings Removed
    m3/h
    l/s
    m3/h
    l/s
    Lounge (1)
    S1
    50
    13.9
     
    9
     
    4
    25.7
    7.14
    51.8
    14.4
    Lounge (2)
    S2
    7
     
    -
    26.1
    7.25
    Dining
    S3
    30
    8.4
     
    -
     
    3
    30.1
    8.36
    30.1
    8.4
    Front Hall
    S8
    25
    6.9
     
    9
     
    3
    26.2
    7.28
    26.2
    7.3
    Bed 1 (1)
    S6
    45
    12.5
     
    6
     
    12
    22.1
    6.14
    45.6
    12.7
    Bed 1 (2)
    S7
    6
     
    0
    23.5
    6.53
    Study 1
    S5
    35
    9.7
     
    12
     
    1
    35.8
    9.94
    35.8
    9.9
    Study 2
    S4
    35
    9.7
     
    -
     
    2
    36.1
    10.03
    36.1
    10.0
        220
    61.1
    131.37
     
        225.6
    62.67
                                    Supply was another question, nearly a whole day to get this right:  Study 2, the longest run yet only 2 rings removed, same for study 1.  The Bedroom similar runs one with full restriction and one with almost none.  The lounge S1 in longer than S2 though has more restriction required, nothing made sense, eventually balanced, but no rational explanation as to why.
     
    The only think I can think of (and this applies to the First Floor) the calculation programme works for the extract system, but for supply, the location of the duct on the manifold has a huge impact on the initial resistance and flow rates.
     
    Advice for balancing  when doing this go for bold alterations in restriction, I kept nibbling on the GF and have ended up with lots of spare restrictors of various sizes, instead of a load of complete (new) ones.
     
    The final thing I did was remove all the vent terminals so the builders could fill in the larger holes and the painters get on with the final job.
  3. le-cerveau
    It has been a while since I posted and things are progressing, so expect a flurry of posts in the next few months as things are decided before we go to contract, however I have been working on some minor detailing.  I have decided that I want to extract toilet smells directly from the pan (see JSHarris blog part 32)

    I have 6 toilets in the house, in 3 pairs (see the plans on blog 02-The Planning Saga) so can use 3 extract runs, one to each pair, the simple bit.  I then need to work out how to connect to the MVHR system and the toilet cistern.  The MVHR ducting will be Hybalans+, thought the design/supply/install is still be to sorted out.  So I have 3 issues to work out: 1 connecting to the cistern, 2 connecting to the MVHR, 3 connecting the two together.
    Connecting to the cistern.
    After much research looking at low flush toilets and attempting to get information from suppliers (as soon as you go for non-standard ideas they all clam up) I discovered the Geberit Duofresh with build in odour extraction and started enquiring with Geberit about getting the connecting pipe from cistern to pan and using it on a standard cistern.
        Trying to get this bit.  
    The issue being that the bit I want is not available as a part and is solvent welded to the cistern, however after much toing and froing of e-mails and finally a call from the technical department it was agreed that by using the Duofresh cistern (available without the filter and fan unit) I could cut through the pipe and connect it to the MVHR system.  The plan is to cut the vent pipe (it is 50mm) and put on a solvent weld joint with reducer and 40mm push fit adaptor (reason for 40mm push fit later).  I was also planning to seal up the feed into the cistern (vertical pipe) however this is square post the transition bend so not going to be so easy (can’t use a 50mm plug) so I may end up just filling it with expanding foam to seal it.  I have decided on the Geberit cistern as the ability to service them once installed appeals and the Duofresh cistern is only about £10 dearer than the standard cistern.
    Connecting to the MVHR.
    I then needed to work out how to connect the pipe to the MVHR system, the pipe coming from the manifold will be either 92/75 or 75/62 (external/internal dimension) and connect it to two 40mm pipes.  I then realised that soil pipes are 110mm standard and the vent terminals are between 100 &125mm so there was some potential there.  My solution (still to be tested) is to use a vent terminal adaptor onto a solvent weld pipe, my reasoning as follows:
    The 110mm soil pipe has an outside diameter of approximately 110mm and the solvent weld socket has an outside diameter of 121mm.


    The straight vent connector has a diameter of 125mm, the 900 one 118mm, however the vent inserts show a diameter of 114mm, so I suspect the 125mm is an external and the 118mm internal.
        
    The straight vent connector has a diameter of 125mm, the 900 one 118mm, however the vent inserts show a diameter of 114mm, so I suspect the 125mm is an external and the 118mm internal.
    I should be able to connect the vent terminal adaptor over the plain pipe with a push fit sealing ring on it and solvent weld a plug into the other end.
         
    Then insert two 40mm push fit boss adaptors into the bosses on the pipe.
    I should now have an adaptor that connects the 92/75 MVHR pipe to (1-4) 40mm push fit waste pipes.
    Connect the MVHR adaptor to the cistern connector.
    With 40mm push fit sockets on both ends it is a simple job to connect up the two ends either with flexible 40mm pipe or rigid with a length of flexible 40mm pipe at each end:
       
    So now I have a plan to connect the toilets to the MVHR.
    The Geberit parts number is:
    111.353.00.5 (Geberit Duofix frame for wall-hung WC, 112 cm, with Sigma concealed cistern 12 cm, for odour extraction with recirculating air)
    The normal cistern is:
    111.383.005 (Geberit Duofix frame for wall-hung WC, 112 cm, with Sigma concealed cistern 12 cm, wall anchoring and connection bend)
  4. le-cerveau

    03-Where Next

    By le-cerveau,

    Initial post date 21 Jan 2016
    The initial brief for the house was:

    Passivhaus standards
    U-value of walls of 0.1W/(m2.K)
    Passive slab floor with 0.1W/(m2.K)
    low U-values, typically 0.85 to 0.70 W/(m².K) for the entire window including the frame, Triple glazing with built in blinds.
    Underfloor Heating with individual room/hall/passageway controls
    Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation with demand control
    Ground Source Heat Pump and Solar water heating
    Photo Voltaic Tiles (not panels)
    Rain Water harvesting
    Waste Water heat recovery
    Whole downstairs wheelchair accessible including garage, all on same level
    Lift to first floor, wheel chair compatible and enclosed
    Central Data Distribution
    USB charging sockets in all rooms (built in to 13amp sockets)
    LED lighting throughout
    Sun tunnel to windowless rooms
    Building wide WiFi with repeaters as required

    There were 20 pages of elaboration and ideas after this.

    One important point to note is that the house is on mains gas so this will need to be factored in as I go.

    A couple of key early decisions the main structure will be ICF (exact type yet to be decided) and the first floor will be concrete (pre stressed or cast in situ). The main reason being I have a 10.5m span on the ground floor so there is nothing else that will do this sort of gap other than steel. I want the large open plan space so this is the consequence.
    See the plans with dimensions below (Pre planning roof alteration but doesn’t matter):
    GF-plan.pdf
    downloads: 57
    FF-plan.pdf
    downloads: 44
    We want integral blinds in our windows and the only people who do this internorm so we will be fitting KV440 throughout except the little window in the walk-in wardrobe that doesn’t need blinds so that will be a KF410. I have been unable to find any other manufacturer who does integral blinds and meets Passivhaus standards.
    We definitely want underfloor heating, however after reading Jeremys blog, I am not convinced by individual room controls, whole slab/house temp control (more work and investigation required).
    MVHR, a no brainer, however I was looking at demand control, utilising humidity sensitive extract valves, I have found 2: Helios AE range and Aereco BXC, put these in all extract rooms coupled to a constant pressure system, but this can be finessed later as long as I make the initial allowances for ducting the finer details can be done later.
    Ground Source Heat Pump and Solar Thermal, there are probably going to be binned, GSHP is expensive and we have mains gas so why, and Solar Thermal, again reading Jeremys blogs PV makes more sense. As for PV tiles well wait and see what I finally put on the roof, either way it will be in the roof not on.
    Rainwater harvesting, I would like to put in but not essential, even if I only managed to capture half the roofs rain sensibly.
    Waste Water Heat Recovery, the ground floor shower will be a problem, getting a horizontal unit 120mm high in the slab with the correct wet room fall (wheelchair access) and then fall to the soil stack all in the slab without compromising the insulation. The 4 upstairs showers should be easier and can possible be paired together requiring just 2 vertical units. I still want to fit them.
    Obviously the whole ground floor is wheelchair accessible with a lift to the upper floor, so I can design in the lift and have it flush, no annoying little (50mm) ramp on entry.
    Central Data Distribution, the whole house will be flood wired with network cable, TV points, phone points, etc, with a central hob (node zero) in the attic.
    USB charging sockets, might as well, they are readily available and gets rid of a lot of wall warts.
    LED lighting, low energy no brainer.
    Sun Tunnel, I am having second thoughts as all the ones I find have horrendous thermal properties.
    Building wide Wi-Fi, goes with the network wiring, the repeaters will be designed in wiring in place to cover the whole house.

    This was my initial list and current thoughts on them, there are a lot of other issues as well such as DHW flow rates, cold water accumulator to support the bathrooms, Earth Air Heat Exchangers, Micro CHP, I could go on.

    I will quiz the collected knowledge for advice once I have researched what I can on the forums/blogs and then raise each one of the main topics as its own blog entry once decided.
    We will not start the house build until 2017 and as such we have this year to sort out the detail. It will also be a contract job (I am currently in the Netherlands) so I want to get the specification tied down a tightly as possible to avoid those changes (that cost), We are looking at putting it out to tender towards the end of the year so I have until then to get the specs right.       

    vfrdave
    21 Jan 2016 05:17 PM
    For wide wifi coverage try the ubiquiti access points, they give good coverage and seamless handover if more than one access point in use.
    lecerveau
    22 Jan 2016 09:31 AM This is one of the AP's I was looking at last year. However as I will not build until next year and these will be one of the last items installed, I am in no hurry to decide, plus the rate of change in the IT world will probably mean there will be another standard beyond ac and other options by the time I come to purchase. The important thing is to allow for multiple AP and I am thinking 4, 2 per floor basically at each end of the house. Probably overkill but with solid construction and a concrete first floor, I would rather be safe in my provisioning of Network Access Points with PoE ready for the AP's and if I don't have to fit 4 then no great loss.  
    PeterStarck
    22 Jan 2016 10:31 AM Your ideas are interesting because our wall/roof and floor U factors are the same as yours, as are the windows. We have decided not to have heating and to keep systems as simple as possible with our design. We looked into ground/air heat exchangers as part of the MHRV and a host of other technologies and found we couldn't justify using them. This is partly because we live in the south east of England and the weather isn't extreme enough. It will be interesting following your blog. Good luck with the build.
    ThomasFroehlich
    22 Jan 2016 09:20 PM Regarding the Blinds for the windows. Have you considered the option of using Roller blinds with a hidden box above the windows which are not visible from the outside so that you have blinds on your fixed and openable windows and not only on the openable ones like for your second floor bedroom?
    lecerveau
    23 Jan 2016 01:56 PM Thomas, we had considered roller blinds, and we actually have them in our current house here in the Netherlands, that is one reason we want blinds in our windows. They are brilliant for blackout and shading, however they rattle in a strong wind. We only have the one small window without the build-in blinds, we are not overlay fussed and if it needs a blind an add-on in the wardrobe would be acceptable. We may will however still consider external roller shutters for the windows instead of the internal ones as internorm also offer that option.  
    ProDave
    24 Jan 2016 06:22 PM Re blinds in windows, Nordan also do them.

    We briefly considered this, a house up the road has them, tripple glazed with integral venetian blinds.
    It sounded a good idea so I went and had a look, and I did not like the detail.
    Basically it was a 2G window, then a blind on the OUTSIDE and a third separate and openable pain on the outside (openable when the main window is opened inwards)
    The BIG problem with this arrangement is the cords that operate the venetian blinds have to pass through holes in the 2G frame.
    Once I pointed out the shortcomings of this system, SWMBO agreed integral blinds were no longer on the wish list, and we have gone for Rationel triple glazed as they were only slightly worse than internorm in terms of Uw, but half the price.
    1anR
    24 Jan 2016 07:17 PM I don't wish to put you off Internorm, that's who I'm going with for my window package and for me they were cheaper than Rationel, but aren't their integral blinds only on opening windows? ie. between the 3G unit and a 4th pane that you can open once the sash has been opened.
    Norrsken do an option with the blind inside the 3G unit so can be on fixed sashes also. Personally I viewed this as a warranty issue, but have no experience to back this up.
    My final decision is to go with concealed venetian (Hunter Douglas) external blinds, but I do also like the external roller solution.
    samuelsimon
    30 Jan 2016 01:04 PM PeterStarck, on 22 January 2016 - 10:31 AM, said:
    Your ideas are interesting because our wall/roof and floor U factors are the same as yours, as are the windows. We have decided not to have heating and to keep systems as simple as possible with our design. We looked into ground/air heat exchangers as part of the MHRV and a host of other technologies and found we couldn't justify using them. This is partly because we live in the south east of England and the weather isn't extreme enough. It will be interesting following your blog. Good luck with the build. Hi Peter. Have I correctly understood your new build will have no heating system?
    PeterStarck
    31 Jan 2016 10:42 AM According to the PHPP our space heating requirement is very low and can be met by the Genvex Combi 185. This provides warm air through the ventilation ducts by a built in EAHP. If the temperature remained below -10C for any length of time I would just use a small fan heater.
    TerryE
    05 Feb 2016 11:20 AM There is little point in having internal zoning in a house of this spec, as the effective internal U values are on order of magnitude higher than external ones. Pumping heat or cold air into any one room is just going to imbalance the rest of the environment.
    Also designing your cooling solution is going to be as important as your heading solution.
  5. le-cerveau
    Initial post date 21 Jan 2016
    Our planning application took just over 3 months, however there was a lot of work done before this. As I said previously over an extended period the plans bounced back and forth between the Architectural Technologist (AT) and myself, with the occasional face to face when I was up at the existing house.
    The initial submission consisted of the topographic survey and photographs I posted last time, a OS map (very out of date, but required), Application form and Design and access statement and the following:

    GF-Plan.pdf
    downloads: 24
    FF-Plan.pdf
    downloads: 23
    Elevations.pdf
    downloads: 28
    Site-Plan-Final.pdf
    downloads: 23

    During our discussions with my AT we made the following, considered obscured glazing on the SW 1st floor windows overlooking the neighbour, but didn’t put them in the submission.
    I was considering PV in roof and Solar Thermal in roof but put on the submission PV panels on the roof and Evacuated Tubes on the roof. The reason being they are the most obtrusive and if we fit what we want it is less obtrusive or if they tell us it looks wrong we can change to something more sympathetic.
    The reason for all this is to have something to offer the planners when they object and be seen to compromise.

    We got various comments from immediate neighbours and some who are not immediate but still commented anyway. To summarise they said it was overbearing, overlooking, shading, out of character, would decrease the value of their properties, create dust and noise during construction.

    The decrease value of their property is nonsense and nothing to do with planning as is the dust and noise during demolition/construction so easily discounted.
    Out of character, no two houses on the street are the same, bungalows and houses, detached and semi, rendered, brick, stone (slips I suspect) and timber clad and roofs the same, slate, tile, concrete panels you name it (no thatch). We deliberately kept the house in line with the others both sides and it is a 2 storey up slope of us and a bungalow down slope. Our front aspect was designed to go from 2 storey down to single storey over the garage (cat slide roof the AT called it). That left overbearing, overlooking and overshadowing. We were informed by the planning authority that the application would likely be rejected on these 3 points and they also talked about the 2 storey/1-storey elements. That would completely negate the design so we opted for a delay and re-submission of amended plans, also giving us time to rebuff some arguments.

    Overlooking: The house to the SW, we installed obscured glazed windows in the first floor to solve that problem (was in the original thoughts but left out to enable the compromise). As for the bungalow we deliberately put the first floor bathrooms on that side to prevent this problem and the high level window in the built in wardrobe was only put in to break up what would have been a large blank wall.

    Overshadowing (right to light): This was an issue for the bungalow who wanted to sit in their garden and we would be denying them light, however I suspected that it was not a major issue so I did some quick calculations, and utilising some useful web applications, the most useful being www.findmyshadow.com (others are available) plotted out some rough shading diagrams for the existing house and the new house against the bungalow (dimensions from my topographical survey) and summarised my findings on the file below (which was submitted to planning)

    Shading-diagrams.pdf
    downloads: 21

    The basic crux being:
    March we would bring them into shade 1 hour earlier.
    April 1600 we would start to introduce shade but the existing house did so from 1700 ish.
    May Old and new introduce Shading from 1800 but the cottage produces it’s own shade from 1900.
    June-Aug Sun too high to impact
    Sep similar to April
    October similar to March
    Nov – Feb Sun so low no change over current house.
    So some quick work and effectively we negated the shading argument.

    That left the overbearing argument. The issue here is that there is no central government guideline on what is and isn’t overbearing! Many local authorities use the right to light 450 rule as their guideline on acceptable development, mine has none, so we utilised this as a frame of reference. We altered the design, lowering the roof line by 750mm and trimming the eaves, we also put a Hip roof on the SE and SW ends, reducing the roofline further, and re-submitted:

    Elevations-2.pdf
    downloads: 15
    This was still nocked back so we arranged a site visit with the planning officer. At the time I was (still am) living in the Netherlands and with my mother away on holiday the house was empty so I arranged to mome over for the meeting. This was disappoint as it was not the planning officer (the one that matters) but an assistant and an assistant to the assistant! After explaining our thoughts (I held my tongue for a lot of this) the basic problem was that the planning officer didn’t like it! After a discussion with my AT we decided that, there being no reasonable objections, we would stay on track, give them a diagram explaining what may be overbearing and if necessary go to appeal.

    We submitted the following:
    Elevations-Final.pdf
    downloads: 16
    Site-Plan-Final.pdf
    downloads: 16

    And my AT sent a long, comprehensive e-mail to the Planning Officer detailing how we could counter all of their arguments. This e-mail is not included on the planning site (I suspect because it sets a president) but to summarise:
    The existing house (extension) was already inside the 450 line from the bungalow window by 1280mm and the new house only 710mm longer (thick walls) is at 410 so we had an argument that it was not significant. We also quoted other planning authority guidelines on acceptable development. Another site visit was conducted, only 1 week after the previous (I did not attend this time), this time with the planning officer (decision maker) and we were granted permission less than a week later.

    The full public story is available here:
    http://planning.alle...let?PKID=133973

    The moral of the story is You need full details and facts before you start (the topographical survey negated many arguments), be prepared to compromise so plan for it, but be prepared to stand your ground, many objections are baseless and irrelevant and just because an official “doesn’t like it” doesn’t matter it is what is in the rules and guidance that matters.
     

    DeeJunFan
    21 Jan 2016 03:15 PM
    Good post, a lot of effort put in but it goes to show with the right information you can achieve a lot. Site-Plan.pdf
  6. le-cerveau

    01-History

    By le-cerveau,

    Initial post date 08 Jan 2016
    My plan is to knock down the existing bungalow and re-build it with a 2 story house. This blog will be a record of the journey (hopefully), I will pass on any lessons (good and bad) and also ask the wise collective for advice (some of which I may take).

    The first question is why? We have a perfectly functional 4/5 bedroom bungalow that my mother lives in. I own the house (having bought my sister out of her half) and I wish to build a house to retire to. I am currently in the Royal Navy so have never lived in one location for more than 3 years, been in many houses and have an idea of what is good an what is not. Our children (10 and 12) consider this house and the other grandparents as homes but not the houses we inhabit!

    One important factor is my mother is in a wheelchair (not that she lets that stop her) so the house if fully accessible, as you can see from the existing photographs, ramps all round.

    Existing Photographs.pdf
    downloads: 42

    The bungalow itself is a 60/70 build, extended on the back (obvious from the photographs) with the garage re-build also, however, there are mice under the floor boards (in the old part), there is an internal level change between old part and extension (gentle slope), there is damp in the chimney breast (penetration from above) and it leaks like a sieve, yet suffers from horrible condensation and mould.

    So it would be a not inconsiderate sum to put right and the house would still be not ideal, so we have decided to knock down and re-build. We are going 2 storey to provide additional space for the whole family, Ourselves and my mother plus space for my sister and her brood (4 boys) to visit (they live in the USA) as it was her home at one point.

    So initially I created lots of ideas, basically the overall plan was to keep the same footprint, fill in the cut-out bit and make it 2 stories, we filled in slightly more than the cut-out but the frontage was the same. I also created about 20 pages of specifications (my brain dump/wish list). We than sat down with a local architect (Architectural Technologist) who did the garage re-build for us. The overall concept is a modern, efficient house, build along Passive House lines (Insulated slab and walls, warm roof, MVHR, UFH,……).

    His first statement was for us to have a professional topographical survey done; this has paid dividends as it is exact, covers the neighbour’s extremities and all the surrounding ridgelines that were essential when battling with the planning department. He then took my drafts and my 20 page specification and turned it into a viable plan, after a couple of iterations over the next 6 months. The major one of these being to push the house 3 feet to the SW to take if off the boundary and any 3rd party issues, it also move the house further away from the power lines that run down the side of the plot, hopefully simplifying build issues that would be associated with them.

    Topographic Survey.pdf
    downloads: 31

    There were several iterations, subtle changes but this is what we ended up with.

    GF-Plan.pdf
    downloads: 39
    FF-Plan.pdf
    downloads: 34
    Elevations.pdf
    downloads: 39
    Site Plan.pdf
    downloads: 26

    I will stop there for now. The next post will by my battle and ultimate victory with the planners.
     

    ferdinand
    08 Jan 2016 12:40 PM This sounds like an architect who is worth the money.

    I trust you are some way up the hill, unless you want the continued Navy experience.
    lecerveau
    08 Jan 2016 12:58 PM Yes the architect was well worth it (more in the next post).
    We are well up the hill, over 20m higher that main street (Google flood pictures), if our house floods there is a lot of the UK under water!  
    gravelld
    12 Jan 2016 04:56 PM Thanks for introducing me to the term "Architectual Technologist". Can an AT handle the aesthetic parts of architecture as well? On what sort of projects would you not employ one, anyone know?
    joiner
    13 Jan 2016 09:54 AM From my own experience of ATs, as long as you've done what any sensible person would do with an architect and seen examples of their work (and hopefully spoken to their customers - who they will happily have referred you to) and like it, then - again in my experience over a considerable time and a number of different jobs - to all intents and certainly to most purposes you won't tell the difference between an AT and an architect.
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