Just 6 months after unloading the wood, we have now finalized the construction of a new modern, sustainable and very low energy home located in the centre of Sabadell.
This single family home between party walls has been built using CLT wood and comprises 175 square meters distributed on three floors. The ground floor houses the kitchen-dining room and the living room, as well as the front and rear patios that are a traditional feature of this type of homes. The first floor has a bedroom, study, corridor and bathroom; whilst a further two bedrooms, corridor and bathroom are located on the second floor.
The house is based on the Blauhaus architecture concept, which advocates the recovery of the traditional English-style homes that are to be found in a number of cities throughout Catalonia, and which today have fallen into disrepair. The aim is to transform them into impeccable eco-friendly designer homes that reflect contemporary trends.
A key aspect of this concept is to ensure they blend into their urban settings, yet without losing the essence that reflects the cultural heritage of these 19th century single-family homes, with their characteristic structure made up of a ground floor and one or two upper storeys, narrow façade, a considerable buildable depth and the spacious patio area.
Passivhaus standards
This project features the hallmarks of all House Habitat projects, including the application of Passivhaus standards to minimize energy consumption and the use of healthy and sustainable materials.
This house in Sabadell was designed to guarantee maximum airtightness and insulation, avoiding thermal bridging as far as possible. The various actions carried out included a shadow study in order to ensure that the southern façade (rear patio) offered optimum solar protection in summer whilst at the same time allowing sufficient sunlight to enter in winter. In addition, all the windows, which are made of wood and offer high levels of performance, come with a stacking shutter system that meets the needs for comfort and tightness.
The home has an ‘A’ energy efficiency rating. Renewable energies – photovoltaic solar and an air source heat pump for domestic hot water – are used to meet the low heating and air conditioning requirements.
Estimated annual heating requirements are 8.7 kWh/(m²a), and air conditioning needs stand at 8 kWh/(m²a), which means that the average monthly heating and cooling bill will come to some 40 euros. This result is particularly due to CLT’s insulating capacity and the use of both interior and exterior insulation (ETICS).
Wood is highly valued for use in urban construction projects between party walls: it beats all other materials in terms of compliance with regulations regarding insulation and noise in the smallest surface areas.
In addition to the benefits of wood as a sound insulator, the house also features a system that prevents the vibration of the exterior unit, based on the needs detected following a detailed acoustic study.
This project is further proof that wood is an outstanding choice for the construction of modern, energy efficient and sustainable buildings between party walls on city centre plots, where taking advantage of all the available space is a priority. Furthermore, the high degree of prefabrication makes for a rapid and predictable construction method.
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