CSBT "The Sky's the Limit" - Dec 2004

Delegates from The Green Shop and Rainharvesting Systems Ltd attended an exhibition by Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust to launch Bill Dunster's ANSAS winning "Rural ZED" design.

The three-bedroom property will be sold in a kit form to be put together by anyone who has completed and passed a training course. It will cost around £75,000 and uses reclaimed, recycled and local materials.

Front (south) side of Rural ZED showing sunspace.
Back (north) side showing local FSC Red Cedar cladding. Lower wall area will have a lime render.
Roger, Eddie and Jane at the Green Shop book stall

A prototype house was assembled inside an unused factory in Camborne, Cornwall. The design includes solar panels, micro wind turbine and insulation at a level so far beyond current regulations that it is "future proof".

The Rural Zed is a wood framed building sitting on recycled concrete railway sleepers. The simple woodframed structure has an airtight membrane and is heavily insulated. By employing a sunspace on the south facing (front) of the building and heavyweight internal construction the building the whole building stores thermal energy. The distinctive rooftop cowl provides wind driven ventilation via an efficient heat exchanger.

Roger Budgeon, Green Shop owner, said "It's very encouraging that Bill Dunster has put together a complete solution for housing. The government is planning to build hundreds of thousands of new homes, lets hope a good percentage are ZEDs like this". He added "I really like the design too."

The architect Bill Dunster said "This has the potential to make a big difference. It's exactly the same approach as Ikea. What we are trying to do is demystify the whole construction process and demystify people's fear of the future by showing them how to live high quality lives with integrated conservation techniques, and preventing use of fossil fuels."

Jane Powell ran a book stall showing the Green Shop's great range of sustainable building books. She fell in love with the building. "I want one", said Jane, who'll be visiting the local planning office here soon.

	Tour insdie Rural ZED showing heavyweight construction from china clay waste and cement to provide high thermal mass.

Eddie from Green Shop Solar showed how the Consolar heat store can be used in conjunction with solar panels and a woodburner to provide hot water and heating for the building. Whilst Paul from Rainharvesting Systems explained options for rainwater harvesting to reduce demand on mains water demand.

Notes:
ZED stands for Zero Energy Development. see www.zedfactory.com or www.bedzed.org.uk for more information.
For more information on Cornwall Sustainable Building trust see: www.csbt.org.uk