Isle of Wight Grand Designs

[Ferdinand]

if you want one there is a 2 Ha site down the road for sale with PP ready to build...

 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-66993055.html

[ADLIan]

Just a few comments on the IoW house EPC;

• I know the assessor and he is vastly experienced, an expert on SAP and very unlikely to have got it wrong
• The assessor does not list the recommendations in an EPC - these are automatically generated within the EPC software
• The SAP rating is a measure of energy cost. Electricity is a lot more expensive than say gas within SAP so will impact (negatively) on the rating
• The SAP rating is not used to assess Building Regulation compliance (which is based on CO2 emissions)
• Difficult to say why this house has such a low EPC as we do not have  the detailed information but I imagine it is due to being all electric, the large glazed area, no air leakage test (default used) and a poorly specified/designed MVHR system (which can increase energy use!)
• A house can have a poor EPC (D or E) and still pass the Building Regs

[ProDave]

35 minutes ago, ADLIan said:

Just a few comments on the IoW house EPC;

• I know the assessor and he is vastly experienced, an expert on SAP and very unlikely to have got it wrong
• The assessor does not list the recommendations in an EPC - these are automatically generated within the EPC software
• The SAP rating is a measure of energy cost. Electricity is a lot more expensive than say gas within SAP so will impact (negatively) on the rating
• The SAP rating is not used to assess Building Regulation compliance (which is based on CO2 emissions)
• Difficult to say why this house has such a low EPC as we do not have  the detailed information but I imagine it is due to being all electric, the large glazed area, no air leakage test (default used) and a poorly specified/designed MVHR system (which can increase energy use!)
• A house can have a poor EPC (D or E) and still pass the Building Regs

But as far as we can see, he has failed to take into account the COP of the GSHP, so has assumed it is being heated with resistance heating at the actual heat power needed, not via a heat pump that will use 1/3 to 1/4 of that amount of electricity.

[ADLIan]

The EPC states a GSHP has been used so the COP (though we do not know if manufacturer data or default value used) has been accounted for.

[jack]

We discussed this episode of GD a while ago. There was something very much not right about the way this family reacted to the father's near-death experience. From memory, the build and move was meant to be a new start that would give them some freedom and lower their stress levels, but instead it massively increased their stress during the build while committing him to a lifetime of stressful work to pay for it all. Very sad episode I thought. They could have built something small and beautiful for half the cost, and it would have given them a better life experience imo.

 

The other thing I remember is how insane the cost estimates were, even for GD. Going from memory, I think they'd planned to build this for something like £500k, including the pool and surrounding area. This was with them doing absolutely nothing, and included acres of expensive glazing, and highly labour-intensive finishes such as the external stone-work and experimental oiled paper (?) panels. My wife and I both laughed out loud when they suggested this cost. I think it was £1.3m or £1.4m in the end. 

[ToughButterCup]

6 minutes ago, jack said:

[...]

There was something very much not right about the way this family reacted to the father's near-death experience. From memory, the build and move was meant to be a new start that would give them some freedom and lower their stress levels, but instead it massively increased their stress during the build while committing him to a lifetime of stressful work to pay for it all.

[...]

 

And was exactly why GD got its fangs into the project. Nowt to do with building.....  

Our cat nearly killed me (a play-bite gave me sepsis).   It changed my mind about the need to take non-verbal cat behaviour very seriously indeed. 

And then we started a self-build project which we couldn't afford  - hold on a minute  ?

[NSS]

Yes, but how often do you see the architect of a 'client' with a budget of 'x' design a home with a likely cost of 'y'. 

[Jeremy Harris]

Some people really couldn't care less about the EPC, as long as the house gets signed off as complying with building regs.  That may well have been the case for this house, and perhaps neither the architect or client thought that a decent EPC was worth aiming for. 

 

IIRC, the architect was the same chap that did the GD bungalow conversion on the IoW.  That wasn't particularly energy efficient either, as I recall.

 

The IoW is a bit of an unusual place, IMHO.  We spent a week there looking at plots, simply because there seemed to be quite a few affordable plots on the island.  The prices there seemed to bear no comparison with those just a few miles away on the mainland.  It's a bit like a time warp, though, and we gained the impression that the island was like living ten or twenty years in the past. 

[jack]

4 hours ago, NSS said:

Yes, but how often do you see the architect of a 'client' with a budget of 'x' design a home with a likely cost of 'y'. 

 

All the time, although the designer wasn't an architect in this case. I think it was the guy who build his own home on the Isle of Wight a few seasons earlier.

 

Either way, I don't think any architect in the UK would suggest you could build a huge 6 bedroom (all with ensuite) home with pool, gym, music room, massive games room (etc, etc, etc) with loads of expensive and experimental finishes, acres of Swiss (I think?) triple glazing, all built into a hill, with no prior building experience and doing literally no work yourself, and managing all of this for what looks like well under £1000/m². That's just bonkers.

 

4 hours ago, AnonymousBosch said:

And was exactly why GD got its fangs into the project. Nowt to do with building.....  

 

Of course.

 

[redtop]

we are just about to finalise SAP prediction (prior to starting the build).  We need to hit 85B.  I can get there with a high efficeincy combi boiler (good en from worcester) with a posh heat recovery flue.  Keeping everything the same and swap boiler for ASHP and SAP drops to 74.  mechanical ventilation, great. MVHR drops SAP by a few points.  Have assumed air proof thingy of 4, maybe if that was lower then the MVHR / ASHP would have a positive effect. 

 

go figure

[jack]

3 hours ago, redtop said:

we are just about to finalise SAP prediction (prior to starting the build).  We need to hit 85B.  I can get there with a high efficeincy combi boiler (good en from worcester) with a posh heat recovery flue.  Keeping everything the same and swap boiler for ASHP and SAP drops to 74.  mechanical ventilation, great. MVHR drops SAP by a few points.  Have assumed air proof thingy of 4, maybe if that was lower then the MVHR / ASHP would have a positive effect. 

 

Most things I've read suggest MVHR is only really effective below around 3 ACH, and ideally I think you'd want to aim for 1 ACH.

 

There are some cheap wins for SAP points. Assuming it works with your layout, shower waste water heat recovery adds a few points for probably well under £1000 supplied and fitted.

 

[Declan52]

1 hour ago, AnonymousBosch said:

 

And was exactly why GD got its fangs into the project. Nowt to do with building.....  

Our cat nearly killed me (a play-bite gave me sepsis).   It changed my mind about the need to take non-verbal cat behaviour very seriously indeed. 

And then we started a self-build project which we couldn't afford  - hold on a minute  ?

You missed your chance Ian.  You dangling in between the joists checking your crown jewels where still attached while Kevin stood by commenting on your eco durisol blocks would have made gd TV.

[ToughButterCup]

Lets not fuss about a small thing like that.

[AliG]

I don’t remember it from GD. But it seems like the architect’s house being talked about is also for sale.

 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54996618.html

 

Can’t say I like it.

 

It quotes a bigger space heating requirement per metre but a much better SAP. I didn’t know that the SAP was driven by the projected cost but that makes sense with the E on the bigger house versus C on what appears to be a worse insulated house.

[newhome]

I prefer the Grand Designs house over the architect’s one, but it is 3 times the price! 

[le-cerveau]

Would the SAP not affect his RHI payments, with such an appalling rating he could get a massive RHI payment for his GSHP!

Or am I just being cynical!

[newhome]

12 minutes ago, le-cerveau said:

Would the SAP not affect his RHI payments, with such an appalling rating he could get a massive RHI payment for his GSHP!

Or am I just being cynical!

 

Not cynical at all. People are told to get upgrades / renovations done after they get RHI agreed as the payments are greater. 

[lizzie]

Don't like the architects one at all!