CarbonLight… with a touch of continental spice!

Last year, we reported on the launch of two zero-carbon homes in Rothwell, Kettering. But what happens if you take one of these VELUX CarbonLight Homes and add to it some continental spice? Well, Maison Air et Lumière in the picturesque Parisian suburb of Verrières-le-Buisson is the answer.

The three-bedroom detached house is one of six demonstration buildings across Europe that make up VELUX’s Model Home 2020 project. Designed to address the dual challenge of energy efficiency and occupant health and wellbeing, each of the buildings respond to the different climatic, cultural and architectural conditions of the countries in which they are built.

VELUX competition winner, Andrew Chaplin – Architect at Kensington Taylor – spent a weekend in Paris and took time out for a private tour of the house. Here, he reports back on what he saw…

“VELUX’s environmental engineer, Nicolas, gives me a guided tour of the house. Here we are – I’m on the right – in one of the three bedrooms on the first floor which benefits from plenty of natural light.

Good levels of daylight are apparent in the house with VELUX setting out to achieve more than a 5% daylight factor in each room. A free daylight optimiser is available on the VELUX website and can predict and document daylight levels and the appearance of space at the building design stage.

In the case of scorching sun light all of the roof lights and windows have blinds which are controlled by an externally mounted weather station on the roof. These self adjust to ensure an adequate daylight level and temperature and some of the windows are fitted with automatic vents for the same purpose.

The design concept of the house is based on three modules which, in section, have a varied roof pitch to optimise daylight and solar gain - 45 degrees for solar hot water and 23 degrees for PV panels. The panels have been designed so that they coordinated with their roof lights and look much better than the bolt-on panels you see on many roofs as the picture shows below. The different pitches also enable whole terraces of homes to be constructed which have variety in roofscape.

The home’s indoor air quality is constantly reviewed by the Building Management System (BMS) which prioritises mechanical venting in winter when a heat exchanger is also used. In summer, natural venting tends to be the mode of warming and cooling the building.

An air to water heat pump provides backup for heating in Winter if needed. Heating is distributed under floors and is zoned to suit rooms with a different orientation and varying needs such as the North and South side of the building. Individual rooms also have temperature, CO2, and humidity sensors providing another layer of control.

Of course, occupants of Maison Air et Lumière will need to get to and from the house in a sustainable manner. Car manufacturer Nissan will provide an electric car that can be charged overnight in the garage for a truly energy-efficient lifestyle!”

You can arrange to visit the CarbonLight Homes in Rothwell, Kettering, here.