Velux Group opens carbon neutral homes
Velux Group has opened two Velux CarbonLight Homes, the carbon neutral homes being built as part of Model Home 2020 experiment, in the UK for house builders, academics and developers, ahead of the first test family moving in late 2012.
Designed and built to the new Government definition of zero carbon, the CarbonLight Homes encourage the use of natural daylight and sustainable lifestyle. Being an open plan design, it incorporates high levels of daylight and natural ventilation in order to minimise energy consumption among residents and generate a sense of community.
The homes show that common-sense design can be used to create inspirational sustainable houses that can be easily replicated by the UK’s volume house builders.
The CarbonLight Homes were developed in a strategic partnership between the Velux Group, HTA Architects, Kettering Borough Council, Willmott Dixon and the North Northants Development Company WindowMaster, Velfac, Drexel and Weiss. Sonnenkraft supplied the products for the house.
Model Home 2020 is an experiment launched by the Velux Group to develop sustainable buildings for the future, which can be both climate-neutral and comfortable and attractive places to live, through use of daylight and fresh air. The project is in full accordance with the next generation of design principles, referred to as ‘Active House,’ whose objective is to achieve a balance between energy efficiency and optimal indoor climate with a building that dynamically adjusts to its surroundings and is also climate-neutral.
Model Home 2020 comprises six demonstration projects. The two experiments in Denmark were built in a partnership between the VELUX Group and VELFAC. Each of the Model Home projects was implemented in close cooperation with local and regional partners, suppliers, architects, engineers and researchers.
Each building must reflect and respond to the different climatic, cultural and architectural conditions of the countries in which they are built. The houses will be open to the public for 6-12 months after completion and then sold. Each house will be monitored during occupancy to learn how the experiments turn out in real-life conditions.
The experiments in Denmark – Home for Life in Aarhus and Green Lighthouse in Copenhagen – have been in use for a year, while those in Germany and Austria opened in the autumn of 2010. Homes in the UK and France opened in 2011.
