DESIGNS FOR ECOHOMES

BaleHaus

Uniquely, BaleHaus is clad with special panels fabricated from straw. Highly insulating, the straw also acts as a “carbon bank”, absorbing enough carbon molecules as it grows to offset all the other materials used in the house’s construction. Thanks to this and its minimal energy appetite, this house’s fabric is better “zero carbon” - its carbon negative.

Design

The super-insulating properties of the strawbale cladding, combined with airtight construction, passive solar design and a combined heat recovery/ventilation system, shrinks the house’s energy usage by 80% compared to houses built to 2006 Building Regulation standards. Community spaces on the site can be used for playing, energy generation or ponds and swales for rainwater recylcing and flood mitigation. But each house also has a private terrace at first floor and a roof terrace, designed to support micro-allotments and capture rainwater to irrigate planting and flush toilets.

Technical

Each BaleHaus “banks” the equivalent of 130 tonnes of CO2, compared to the 70 tonnes emitted during the manufacture of the rest of the house’s components.
This 60 tonne “carbon credit” is enought to offset 10 years of carbon emissions if the BaleHause is powered and heated by fossil fuels, or 40 years if its energy is supplied from renewable sources
30 sqm of photovoltaic panels could supply the houses’ total electricity needs

Innovation

A single switch by the door would turn off all but essential electrical usage every time the occupants leave the house