Great House Farm, Cardiff
Built on the outskirts of Cardiff, Great House Farm is a development of one-, two- and three-bedroom properties that boast some of the most advanced sustainability measures of any UK housing project. The homes have been fitted with rainwater harvesting, green roofs, electric car charging points, extensive insulation and thermally treated windows throughout – achieving a Code for Sustainable Homes Level Four for building fabric alone. When embarking on the project, South Wales developer LivEco was tasked with finding a system that would deliver cost-effective, reliable home heating and ventilation – whist ensuring any improvements to the Grade-II listed farm buildings remained as sympathetic as possible to the original style.
The solution
Having worked with NIBE products before, local architect Gillard Associates specified eight NIBE F470 exhaust air heat pumps (EAHPs) to provide the homes with hot water and space heating, as well as an effective ventilation solution, given the development’s high levels of airtightness. LivEco took a fabric-first approach to heat-loss protection, making sure there was no leakage through the walls, windows or roofs. This, matched with lower temperature underfloor heating downstairs and upstairs, means the homes have the ideal setup for the NIBE F470 EAHPs.
Results
The new NIBE units keep the homes well ventilated and at a warm, comfortable temperature – with the added benefit of keeping bills down for residents. The all-in-one systems have intuitive, easy-to-use touchscreen controls, and an integrated hot water cylinder to take up minimal space. With no outdoor units required, the EAHPs also meet the aesthetic constraints that come with developing around listed buildings.
Customer testimonial
“The feedback we’ve had from residents has been overwhelmingly positive, with everyone saying how warm their homes feel and how low their bills have stayed. All the residents have been given a full overview of how to set and operate their systems for best results, and will also benefit from annual service, maintenance and customer care support from Julian Jenkins at local NIBE VIP installer Celtic Energy. We will also be following on from this completed successful first phase with another 23 detached houses, which will be built to a similar standard later this year – and plan to use NIBE products again in this project as well.”
Daniel Ball, director at LivEco