Contractor Osborne wanted to push the boundaries of sustainability, so it built a demonstration house packed with green features, from solar panels on the roof to heat pumps under the floor. Sonia Soltani paid a visit

Osborne House is a treasure trove of energy-efficient products to inspire specifiers in their quest for sustainability. The latest addition to BRE's Innovation Park in Watford, it was built using modern methods of construction and is intended to offer a comprehensive model of sustainable housing. It was devised by contractor Osborne and it bristles with green technologies, from ground-source heat pumps and recycled materials to sustainable cladding and solar panels.


The house performs 40% better than the Part L carbon emission target

The house performs 40% better than the Part L carbon emission target

Credit: Mike Benwell


More than 65 companies contributed to the house's creation but Innovare Systems, a subsidiary of Osborne, provided the structural insulated panels that form its shell. Paul Ensch, director of Innovare Systems, says: "We wanted to create a demonstration house to look at innovations through the whole supply chain.

The aim of this project was to be able to walk around the house and see the latest developments from every side of the supply chain."

The purpose was also to achieve new records in reducing carbon emissions and to create a dwelling that would sail through the tough rules in the new Part L of the ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Regulations. Ensch says the project team wanted to push the boundaries of sustainability further and the first monitored results reveal a genuine success. The house, which is about to be completed after a 12-week building programme, performs 40% better than the ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Regulations requirements on carbon emissions (see "Energy efficiency", below).


The house performs 40% better than the Part L carbon emission target

The house performs 40% better than the Part L carbon emission target

Credit: Mike Benwell


Ensch says the house was designed to improve industry standards and show that modern methods of construction could cut energy running costs: Osborne House uses 48% of the energy of a similar conventional dwelling, according to the Energy Saving Trust. "We considered the whole house and took a holistic approach by looking at each element - the thermal insulation, ventilation, cold bridging and heating systems - to respond to the demands for energy efficiency," says Ensch.

The house uses the standard Jabhouse system featuring enhanced insulation: 50 mm of insulation of either side of the 130 mm wall panels. The panels are made of 100% recyclable expanded polystyrene and create a structural shell that includes the internal leaf of external walls and party walls, first and second floors and roof system. The tile-clad cassette roof requires no trusses or rafters. Other innovations include prefabricated bathroom pods and doorsets and a plug-together wiring system.

The layout of the house is conventional with the kitchen, living room, toilets and storage facilities on the ground floor. The first floor serves as an exhibition area for the supply-chain partners and the second floor has a bedroom with en-suite bathroom and a study area.


The house was built in 12 weeks using modern methods. It will be on display for two years

The house was built in 12 weeks using modern methods. It will be on display for two years

Credit: Mike Benwell


The house creates energy through ground source heat pumps, solar hot-water heating and a heat recovery ventilating system.

As for the cost of all this, Ensch says costs are comparable with traditional building techniques.

Furthermore, a lot of the products on display are not prototypes but available on the market today. "We wanted to prove that meeting energy-efficient requirements was achievable with that's on offer," says Ensch.

The house is the fourth exemplary house in BRE's Innovation Park. It follows Hanson's concrete house, Van Elle and Metek's steel house and Century Homes' timber house.

On completion, BRE will be looking at environmental performance and sustainability to assess whether Osborne House achieves an excellent rating under the EcoHomes scheme. The house will be on display for two years from the end of the month.

Energy efficiency

Osborne claims its house requires about one-third of the energy for space heating and cooling as the same house built to 2006 ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Regulations standards:

ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Regulations standard 62 kWh/m2/year
Osborne House detached 22 kWh/m2/year
Osborne House semi-detached 17 kWh/m2/year

The house also supersedes Energy Saving Trust rating:

Good practice 52 kWh/m2/year
Best practice 40 kWh/m2/year

Project team

client BRE
contractor Osborne
building design consultants Baily Garner, WSP, Tully De’Ath
walls, internal partitions, roof and floor cassettes Innovare Systems
foundations Bullivant
precast concrete Melton Concrete
insulation system Cellecta
underfloor heating Velta
drainage system WT Burden
structural insulated panels structure Vencel Resil
roof coverings and cladding Umicore/All Metal Roofing/Marley Eternit
sheet material WT Eden
windows Swedish Timber Products
rooflight Fakro
solar panels Worcester Bosch
bathroom pod Offsite Solutions
cladding, brickwork Ibstock
cladding, mortar CPI
cladding, brick sundries BRC/Acorn Insulation
cladding, render Alumasc
cladding, timber and shutters Travis Perkins
cladding, rubber tiles EBC
aluminium feature channel Metalline

Architectural Fabrications

electrical fittings K Electrical/MK Electric
radiators Heat Profile
doors and frames, externally Russell Doors
doors and frames, internally Premdor Speed Sets
lift Wessex Medicare
venting, ventilation heat recovery Greenwood Airvac
sanitaryware Twyfords, Mira and Deva
insulation Encon
drylining installer and materials Lefarge
kitchen units, appliances, fencing and decking Symphony, BSH, Jackson Fencing
paving and paviours Marshalls
shutters&²Ô²ú²õ±è;±áä´Ú±ð±ô±ð
entertainment technology fitter Digital Plumbers

Housing