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Developer Kevin O'Flaherty explains to John Hearne why he decided to maximise the energy spec on this, his first full development. "Looking at the high end of the market, with oil getting more and more expensive, people want the best."
Extensive glazing across the building’s southern façade maximises passive solar gains. But with Atlantic winds lashing the same façade, durability and air-tightness are also essential. Window and Roofing Concepts in Oranmore provide all external windows and doors. “It’s a 24mm high performance thermal unit providing a U value of 1.1 with a light transmission of 67%.” Says MD Declan Lally. “It’s a uPVC based product with no visible welded joints, a textured structure resembling that of a wooden window, available in over 2,000 colours with dual colour inside and out.” Although the uPVC—like the large amount of concrete used in the houses—count against the development in environmental terms, the absence of visible welded joints improves thermal performance and facilitates a fifteen year marine guarantee. “These windows,” says Lally, “require zero maintenance.”
The low maintenance imperative also informs much of the landscaping on the site. Natural washed stone from the shoreline set around external service areas and beneath entry staircases retards weed growth while much of the materials excavated onsite are reused in the landscaping. Boulders are incorporated into retaining walls and bog oak discovered during excavations is used decoratively at the entrance. An extensive area of naturally scalloped stone to the rear of the building will be developed into a communal pond. All of the units are provided with at least two car parking spaces each. Feeding onto the highly congested Spiddal-Barna road, this is an element of the development that lacks a sustainable dimension.
When it comes to energy consumption, the range of technologies employed by the development are all fully integrated. 63% of the hot water used will be come from the sun. Each apartment is equipped with two roof-mounted solar panels, while the semi-detached house has five. Each of these systems feed a 300L tank – or a 500L tank in the case of the house – in the utility room. The flat-plate panels, provided by Nivektron in Spiddal are Danish-made Arcon panels. On a dull February afternoon, with an icy wind beating at the windows, the panels themselves are registering a temperature of 18.9 degrees on the roof. In the highly insulated tanks meanwhile, a period of sunshine the previous day has left a store of water at 25 degrees. While most of the space heating is provided by condensing gas boilers, the integration of the two systems allows either to compensate depending on parameters set by the householder. “You’ve basically got your hot water cylinder,” Kevin Noone of Nivektron explains, “and any excess in the cylinder then is diverted into the space heating system at certain points to be dictated by the user interface.” But with most Irish sunshine happening at a time when there are very low space heating requirements, can solar provide an adequate back-up to the primary system? “Absolutely.” says Noone. “This time last year, in February we got three solid weeks of sunshine. You’re not always going to grab the benefit of that, but you’ll get every two out of five days that will bring up the temperature in the apartment, especially since they’ve got that great, southerly facing aspect as well.”
Although the uPVC element of low energy windows - like the large amount of concrete used in the houses - count against the development in environmental terms, the absence of visible welded joints improves thermal performance and facilitates a fifteen year marine guarantee
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