TCHG Uses H+H Aircrete Blocks For Low Carbon Prototype Home İn Kent

Town & Country Housing Group (TCHG) have constructed a low carbon prototype home in Kent. This prototype will act as a test bed for building to level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

The home is designed to fit in with others in the area and cost £205,000 to build (including the renewable energy technology that was being trialled), on land already owned by the housing group. Residents Joanna and Thomas Clarke and their son Finley have been living in the home since July last year.

In the process they used the H+H Thin Joint system with large format Jumbo Bloks. The house is designed to be as energy efficient as possible, resulting in low running costs for the occupants. Essential to this is a ‘fabric first’ approach whereby the building structure is constructed to be extremely airtight and thermally efficient to reduce heat loss to a minimum. Using Thin Jointed aircrete significantly contributed to this way of building.

Paul White, TCHG Design & Quality Manager commented: “We used H+H aircrete blocks for the project for their high recycled content as well as their inherently high insulative qualities. This allowed us to construct thinner external walls than alternatives on a tight site whilst still achieving a low U-value.”

He added: “Using the Thin Joint system with the Rå Build method is a good option because speed of construction means the inner shell can be made weather tight extremely quickly, faster than using traditional masonry techniques thus preventing the structure becoming damp in wet weather and allowing other trades to start internal work earlier. Furthermore, the system offers some thermal mass (to help regulate the temperature in hot weather) over and above standard timber frame options.”