WindowMaster Clutching at Straw on Balehaus Natural Ventilation Project

Feb. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- WindowMaster (www.windowmaster.com) has supplied a natural ventilation system, including its weather station, for the innovative Balehaus building on the Bath University campus.

The Bath Balehaus is constructed from straw modules created by Modcell which are erected around a timber frame and covered in lime render and wood cladding. ModCell is the creation of White Design (http://white-design.co.uk) in Bristol and bath-based Integral Engineering Design (www.integral-engineering.co.uk).

The NV Advance™ natural ventilation system was retrofitted to the building by WindowMaster’s service department.

The Balehaus is designed as a low energy building and the WindowMaster system allows air temperature and quality in the house to be maintained with minimal energy expenditure. It automatically opens and closes windows in response to internal and external temperature, CO2 levels and weather conditions.

Ian Symonds of WindowMaster said: “The system was retrofitted to the finished building and we had to conceal all the required cabling in a sympathetic way. In addition we had to conceal actuators and cabling in the window assemblies.

“The system we installed controls three zones across the open plan building and includes CO2 and temperature monitoring and a weather station.”

The experimental building was constructed from straw because it is an environmentally-friendly, renewable building material. The crop used for the straw can be grown locally and, because it absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows, buildings made from it can be seen as having zero (or even a negative) carbon footprint.

Also, due to straw’s high insulating properties, houses made of straw bales need almost no conventional heating, keeping running costs low and minimising environmental impact. The research team will be assessing straw bales and hemp as building materials so that they can be used more widely in the building industry for housing, helping the UK achieve its targets for reducing carbon emissions.

Professor Pete Walker, director of the Building Research Establishment Centre in Innovative Construction Materials at the University of Bath, said: “Up to this point straw bales have not really been seen as a credible building material by much of the industry, even though straw has been used in building for centuries, and straw bales have been used for about 100 years.

“Straw bales are an agricultural by-product and the material can be re-grown so is totally sustainable and renewable. The straw can be grown on a farm that is local to the construction site which saves on transport and minimises the carbon footprint of the building.”

“Standard bales are 450 mm thick and provide very high levels of insulation so you need very little additional heating.

The BaleHaus at Bath will be monitored for a year for its insulating properties, humidity levels, air tightness and sound insulation qualities. Sensors in the walls will monitor temperature and humidity levels and computer simulations of the heat and moisture generated by people.

Craig White, director of White Design and ModCell added, “The zero carbon housing challenge the industry faces is not going to be met with conventional design and materials. BaleHaus at Bath is an entirely new and renewable way to construct homes fit for the challenge.

“Made from natural materials that are beautiful, affordable and sustainable, BaleHaus is a living, breathing home that is cool in summer and warm in winter, helps families reduce their CO2 footprint without compromising how they choose to live their lives and sets a new and very different benchmark for sustainable homes in the 21st century.”

WindowMaster, Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions, was chosen to provide the window automation system for the Balehaus at Bath because of its ability to provide a complete installation, in particular the central computer control system. In addition, the installation includes motors, window actuators, various sensors and a weather station.

The control system understands and knows how the wind speed and direction on all façades will influence the airflow through the windows on each level and location in the façade. WindowMaster determines the Cp values (pressure coefficients) individually for each window by calculating the relevant air pressures from different wind speeds and directions.

WindowMaster carries out computational fluid dynamic (CFD) calculations for 16 wind directions for the specific building and its surroundings. Based on the calculations the Cp values are determined and programmed into the control system, which enables the precise control of the individual windows resulting in an optimal indoor climate. Each zone operates independently of the others according to the specific external conditions relevant to those windows and the internal environment.


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Photo caption: WindowMaster has retrofitted its NV Advance™ natural ventilation system to the innovative Balehaus building on the Bath University campus.


Notes to editors:

WindowMaster is based in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and is Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions.  

The company is part of the VKR Group, based in Denmark, which also includes VELUX roof windows, VELFAC window and facade systems, Rationel Windows and Faber sun-screening products. The Group employs more than 13,000 people in more than 40 countries.


For further information contact:

John Howard or Mike Holland
Smye Holland Associates
Telephone:  01733 564906
Email: johnh@smye-holland.com

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WindowMaster is based in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and is Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions.
The company is part of the VKR Group, based in Denmark, which also includes VELUX roof windows, VELFAC window and facade systems, Rationel Windows and Faber sun-screening products. The Group employs more than 13,000 people in more than 40 countries.