Wash-up meeting - February

As things draw to a close on site, a wash up meeting was held in mid-February to review the project and ensure the crucial handover period went as planned.

The 14 attendees demonstrated the complexity of the project, but also the acknowledgement of all stakeholders that complicated project require high levels of cooperation between all project team members.

The meeting covered all sections of the project, from the initial concept through to ongoing maintenance

requirements and end-user impacts. Of particular focus was the operation of what appears to be a complex heating and hot water system. It was concluded that whilst the design of the system has been intricate, the operation now it has been installed should be robust and simple. Richard Hiblen described the overall system as being a standard cylinder, just with more inputs.

The overall consensus was that the major benefits to the tenant had been achieved through the significant improvements to the building envelope and that in order to benefit from the additional technologies installed, good provision of information to the tenant is crucial.

Solar thermal and Dehumidification - January

By the beginning of January both the Solar UK solar thermal system and the SolarVenti dehumidification systems had been installed.

Solar Thermal - This system was chosen due to its high performance and robust build. The traditional problems of tube failure due to the metal-glass seals have been designed out using 100% glass tubes. The system has been connected to the bottom of the DPS heat tank in order to prioritise hot water collection within the dwelling.

Modelled performance indicates that the 2.8m2 collector area will produce approximately 60% of the domestic hot water demand within the dwelling, but heat meters have been installed to measure the in use performance.

Dehumidification - A SolarVenti system has been installed on the dwelling in order to improve humidity levels within the dwelling and provide a degree of free heat through warm air vents. The principles of the system (pictured at the bottom of the roof) are described by SolarVenti below:

'SolarVenti dehumidifiers are designed to make use of the significant relative humidity differences that occur during non summer months. On a cold clear winter morning, most of the water vapour in the air has dropped out as dew or frost, so the relative humidity is low. As soon as the sun hits the SolarVenti panel, it will start to suck in cool air, warm it and push it into your property. Because warmer air has a greater propensity for carrying moisture, this picks up the dampness in your property and it is actively dispersed through any ventilation gaps in your house (air bricks, poorly fitted windows, under doors etc.) leaving your property nicely dry and ventilated with fresh, slightly warmed air.'