Vivid Green » low energy

Standard designs and ‘bare board’ reduce investment in insulated garden buildings

Russell — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:32:34 +0000

Standard designs at a discount All of our insulated garden buildings to date have been bespoke but, in recognition that there is a significant cost saving if customers choose a design that we have already built, we are now offering some of our designs at a discount of 10-15%. The other option we are offering is ‘self completion’ or ‘bare board’. We install the insulated garden building, complete with roof membrane, external cladding, windows and doors and customers put in the electrics, internal plasterboard, heating and decoration. For those with the time and capability this offers a further 15-20% saving. In both cass the buildings are just as well insulated as our bespoke designs with the same quality of materials and workmanship. Prices below exclude VAT and are for installation within 100 miles of Harpenden. Call for prices beyond and for detailed specification.

Edden: 2.4x 2.4m; £6,500 complete, £4,700 bare board

Jaray: 4 x 3m; £13,500 complete, £11,500 bare board

Moore: 5 x 2.7m; £14,400 complete, £12,200 bare board

Collier: 6 x 3m; £17,800 complete, £15,320 bare board

McClelland: 3 x 3m; £12,100 complete, £9,900 bare board

Rawlings: 3.2 x 3m; £11,700 complete, £9,500 bare board

Wikinson: 5 x 5m; £23,000 complete, £19,800 bare board

Fowkes: 6 x 3m; £13,500 complete, £11,000 bare board

Russell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:05:58 +0000

Recent builds

Insulated garden office with verandah

We recently completed this insulated garden office in our home town of Harpenden. With a hipped roof clad in cedar shingles and a verrandah for the client to hang his hammock, the office provides a good sized work space away from the clients two young chindren. Although the building required planning permission because it is higher than the 2.5m limit, this was readily granted. With 120mm of insulation in the roof and our standard 100mm thick walls and floor, the office has been very warm even during the recent cold. External cladding is vertical cedar and the decking is larch. The photo is not great but we shall be taking more if and when the we see the sun again.

Low energy holiday home

Neil — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:51:08 +0000

Spent last weekend at the AECB (Association for Environment Conscious Buildings) in Oxford which was very inspiring and came back with the idea of designing a very low energy holiday lodge. Better insulated lodges are beginning to appear on the market but the level of insulation is still way below that which could dramatically reduce heating bills, never mind reducing carbon emissions. However, the Passiv Haus concept, pioneered by architects and engineers in mainland Europe, could reduce energy costs to 10-20% of their current level. Combined with appropriate renewable energy systems, low energy lighting etc. there is the potential to create a lodge which is extremely comfortable and, even in Winter, costs very little to heat. At its most extreme there is the prospect of buildings which are entirely off-grid.

As well as reducing utility bills other benefits include:

reduction or elimination of infrastructure costs: electricity, gas even drainage and water
extension of the season to year round
opening up of land which is difficult to serve
novelty value of staying in a Passiv Haus
attractive to customers with strong environmental or ethical concerns

More detail can be found by following the links below but if you are interested in working on a design with us please call.

http://www.aecb.net/

http://www.passivhaus.org.uk/

http://www.vividgreen.co.uk/garden-offices-advice.php

Garden buildings and planning rules

Neil — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:01:28 +0000

Planning restrictions and garden buildings

When the Government changed the planning rules relating to outbuildings on 1 October last year we thought flat roofs were the only answer. So we designed a couple of flat roofed buildings to meet the demand: the Penthouse 8 and Penthouse 7.5. Both these Vivid Green buildings incorporate all of our design principles: low energy, low maintenance, plenty of natural light. Headroom is between 2075 and 2150mm (6’ 9” to 7’). Both buildings offer attractive space for an office, studio or workshop.

Penthouse 8

Penthouse 7.5

However, over the last few months we have designed several other buildings for customers who wanted to site the structure close to one or more boundaries but liked the idea of a more attractive roof shape. The following sketches give an idea of the options available if you can leave at least one metre between your boundary and the wall of the building.

Flat roof & lantern

Flat roof with lantern

The simplest way of adding headroom and light is a lantern. Glass lanterns can be very expensive but we have found a polycarbonate version which offers a great alternative. Double and triple skinned versions offer superior thermal and sound insulation. Headroom is typically 2075 to 2150 (6’ 9” to 7’) plus an extra 300-500mm (1’ -1’ 7”) under the lantern.

Shallow hip

Shallow hip

A shallow pitch of at least 15 degrees offers the option of cladding the roof with cedar shingles and just a few more degrees opens up lots of options including eco-slates (imitation slates manufactured from recycled plastic). Because of the need for a slope, the height of the walls (eaves height) is reduced but greater headroom can be achieved throughout the rest of the building. Typically 1800mm (5’ 10”) at the eaves, headroom increases to 1930mm (6’ 4”) 500mm in from the walls and is 2600mm (8’ 6”) in the centre.

Shallow hip + gablets

Gablet roof with porch

When the garden is a little bigger there is the potential to add ‘gablets’ to the roof: triangular gable ends. These can be left solid but, using triangular windows makes a very attractive roof shape and provides additional light. Headroom is similar to the shallow hip design above.

Both shallow hip designs require one wall to be inset by approx 600mm to allow installation of doors. This creates an attractive porch or veranda depending on size

For more details, call or email us: 01582 469076 or neil@vividgreen.co.uk

Planning guidance

If you want to know more about planning regulations take a look at this web site: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/wales/genpub/en/1105619048902.html