Why aren't almost all new builds done like this?

[n0chex]

As above paid an extra 40k to save 1k a year , bad investment if you ask me and I doubt all the equipment which is suppose to be green heaters etc. will last 40 years but his tin foil hat should.

 

[StewartR]

As above paid an extra 40k to save 1k a year , bad investment if you ask me..

Well, it didn't say that the energy efficiency measures cost £40k. What it said was that the cost of building the house was £40k above the UK average, but it wasn't clear how much of that was due to the efficiency measures and how much due to other factors (size, location, specification, etc). Shame really.

 

[n0chex]

True Stewart, but what I read it as is the 40k was spent on trying to make it more energy efficient over the " average " house. The average house meaning in the street or next door.

 

[StewartR]

True Stewart, but what I read it as is the 40k was spent on trying to make it more energy efficient over the " average " house. The average house meaning in the street or next door.

Maybe. It was annoyingly imprecise.

 

[n0chex]

Or money to waste

 

[srichards]

I'd have thought any new build would be fairly energy efficient already.

 

[StewartR]

I'd have thought any new build would be fairly energy efficient already.

"Fairly" efficient compared to the standards of the 1990s, certainly. Extremely efficient compared to older times. But still some considerable way short of the 'Passivhaus' standard.

 

[Llamaman]

Is 'passivhaus' what they play in a chill-out tent?

[/down wit ta yoof innit bruv]

 

[JonathanRyan]

According to Sir Kevin McCloud there are only 400 passive houses in the UK. Friend of a friend has one and I know that they only managed to get the readings low enough to be certified by blocking the chimney up. Strangely they had to unblock the chimney to avoid the whole suffocating thing.

 

[Steeps]

I spoke to a large developer about why they only added solar heating/PV cells to the social housing and not the standard stock on a new development. Their response was that while it might only cost 4k to add renewables to a property (less than 1-2% of the value depending on the house size) it makes them more desirable than their competitors therefore they would have to increase the price to show this premium which could affect how quickly the development sold compared to their competiors. If other developers started fitting renewables as standard then they would follow. It wasn't worth their effort fitting such a system which would require installation, further warranty and upkeep when it isn't required in the building regs. They didn't even offer it as an addon to the new properties either!

 

[StewartR]

I know that they only managed to get the readings low enough to be certified by blocking the chimney up. Strangely they had to unblock the chimney to avoid the whole suffocating thing.

That's just mad. A passive house shouldnt even have a chimney to start with. It should be airtight, with a controlled ventilation system incorporating a heat recovery system.

 

[StewartR]

Their response was that while it might only cost 4k to add renewables to a property (less than 1-2% of the value depending on the house size) it makes them more desirable than their competitors therefore they would have to increase the price to show this premium which could affect how quickly the development sold compared to their competiors.

That makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[Llamaman]

That makes no sense whatsoever.

Glad it wasn't just me.

But we all know houses exist outside of supply/demand - that's why increasing demand (through increased finance) without increasing supply won't lead to rising prices...

 

[JonathanRyan]

That's just mad. A passive house shouldnt even have a chimney to start with. It should be airtight, with a controlled ventilation system incorporating a heat recovery system.

Yeah, I don't understand the chimney either. But the people doing the test said it was normal to block them up.

 

[JonathanRyan]

I spoke to a large developer about why they only added solar heating/PV cells to the social housing and not the standard stock on a new development. Their response was that while it might only cost 4k to add renewables to a property (less than 1-2% of the value depending on the house size) it makes them more desirable than their competitors therefore they would have to increase the price to show this premium which could affect how quickly the development sold compared to their competiors. If other developers started fitting renewables as standard then they would follow. It wasn't worth their effort fitting such a system which would require installation, further warranty and upkeep when it isn't required in the building regs. They didn't even offer it as an addon to the new properties either!

Also.....it's a LOT more expensive to retrofit them. As in people who retrofit them get a lot more money for doing it.

My neighbours (the ones with the ground source system) are having photovoltaics fitted right now next to their solar hot water system. It's on the 3rd day of install and scaffolding was there for a week before they started. I have no idea how it can take so long. My guess is they get paid by the hour.

 

[StewartR]

My neighbours (the ones with the ground source system) are having photovoltaics fitted right now next to their solar hot water system. It's on the 3rd day of install and scaffolding was there for a week before they started. I have no idea how it can take so long. My guess is they get paid by the hour.

Our PV system took much less time. Scaffolding delivered and erected Tuesday, PV system installed and commissioned Wednesday, scaffolding taken away Thursday.

But having said that, my understanding is that scaffolding firms will often put the stuff up and take it down at times that suit them (eg when they can combine jobs in one area), rather than exactly as required by the builders. For example our PV installers only needed the scaffold there for one day, so they were only paying the scaffolding firm for one day, but they told us that the scaffold could be there for up to 3 days either side of the installation. (It wasn't, as it turned out, but it might have been.)

 

[JonathanRyan]

Yeah, I know most builders don't own scaffolding and most scaffolders don't have enough space to store all their kit so it's often put up early. But they have been "working" on the actual install since Monday morning. And I really can't see why it's more than a day's work. It took a whole day to fit the rails.

 

[Nod]

Are you getting it done with some help from a grant, Jonathan? It's not unknown for firms to pad grant type work to line their pockets...

 

[Llamaman]

Are you getting it done with some help from a grant

No, there's John, Steve, Dave and Big Mike.

 

[StewartR]

Are you getting it done with some help from a grant, Jonathan?

Ahem...

My neighbours (the ones with the ground source system) are having photovoltaics fitted right now next to their solar hot water system.