Efficient homes to slash energy bills

Glasgow Housing Association has teamed up with architects PRP and City Building for the home, which has been dubbed ‘The Glasgow House’.

Work has started on four prototype three-bedroom semi-detached homes, which are expected to be completed in May then tested before more are built for GHA tenants.

Jim Sneddon, GHA’s executive director of regeneration, said: ‘The Glasgow House is no longer just an idea – it is now a development with a real future.

‘This simple, cost-effective design for an energy-efficient home will help families enjoy a better quality of life. The prototype homes are also being built using locally-trained workers and apprentices.’

A typical three-bedroom home, GHA said, usually costs around £1,100 per year to heat.

Two blocks of semi-detached homes are being built with alternative forms of wall construction. The first will have a ‘thin bed insulating hollow clay block construction’ with external wall insulation and render finish.

The second will have highly-insulated, timber-frame with pre-manufactured floor and roof cassettes, and external walls in facing brick.

In both there will be high levels of insulation, windows and sun rooms to capture the energy of the sun, and they will be constructed to minimise heat and energy loss.

Roof and floor panels will be prefabricated off-site to speed up construction and there will be solar thermal panels on the roof to contribute to water heating.

Stuart Carr, of PRP Architects, said: ‘Care has been taken to provide lots of storage space, generous and flexible rooms and plenty of natural light.

‘Every detail has been carefully considered to create comfortable homes which are economical to run and pleasant to live in.’

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