Family Scotland Uses Their Farm’s Supply Of Sheep Wool To Insulate Their Home

image: gizmag.com

A farming family in southwest of Scotland wish to have a home that is environment friendly and decided to ask Mark Waghorn Architects for assistance with the design.

Mark Waghorn Architects designed a five bedroom house that has external walls that are insulated using the wool that comes from sheep on the farm. Mark Waghorn told Gizmag that “The wool has come from sheep on the farm, but has been treated in a similar way to sheep wool insulation products on the market,”

Since wool is not enough when it comes to insulation, the house is designed to be triple glazed with windows having a Passivhaus-besting U-vale of 0.7 W/sq m. The design made the house extremely airtight, so  in order to circulate air efficiently, a mechanical ventilation with heat-recovery system is added.

The fabric used for the building is oak from the farm. For heat, the house has an under floor heating powered by a ground sourced heat pump. In addition, there is wood burning kachelofen positioned on a stone wall.

The house and other neighboring houses acquires renewable source of energy from a 100-kW turbine that has enough power for 25 houses. For every house’s water needs, they are met by a borehole that has a solar thermal system for water heating. via [Gizmag]