Max Fordham House in North London has become the first residential building in the UK to be verified as net zero carbon.
Located in the London Borough of Camden, Max Fordham House achieved net zero carbon for both operational and construction carbon, making it also the first building of any type to achieve this.
Operational verification is based on assessing a year’s actual in-use energy data, while construction verification is based on assessing the emissions associated with the buildings’ materials. The achievement was made in line with the UKGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework.
The RIBA award-winning house was designed by in collaboration with bere:architects and Price & Myers, and built by Bow Tie Construction. Max Fordham himself was also an integral member of the design team.
Ali Shaw, Partner and Principal Engineer at Max Fordham, said: “It was my privilege to provide a pair of hands to help realise Max’s vision and to give him a comfortable, tailored home for his final years. The house being Passivhaus certified and now becoming the first to achieve Net Zero Carbon status is a great way to honour Max and his huge contribution to the delivery of sustainable buildings. Max’s house is a built example of his legacy: it shows how a beautiful home can also meet the highest sustainability standards.
“As a practice, Max Fordham have been pioneers in sustainable, low energy and low carbon building design for over 50 years. Our partnership wants to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergency the world is facing, so we are committed to sharing what we learn with the rest of the industry to help us get there as quickly as possible.”
Optimised to use as little energy in operation as possible, the home’s energy efficiency measures include triple-glazed windows that are carefully designed and positioned so that electric lighting is not needed during the day. These windows are a “net gain” in terms of solar heating, as the innovative internal insulating shutters close when heat would be lost at night. The house requires so little heating that on completion in 2019, Max held a literal “housewarming” to raise the home’s internal temperature and avoid the need for heating for many months. The all-electric home features a roof mounted PV array that meets around 25% of the home’s energy demand, with the remaining electricity supplied by a 100% renewable energy tariff, meaning no offsetting is required for the home to achieve net zero carbon in operation.
Yetunde Abdul, Head of Climate Action at UKGBC, said: “Max Fordham was one of the first organisations to verify their own office buildings as net zero carbon using UKGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework in 2020, and it’s fantastic to see this leadership extended to include Max Fordham’s very own house. Achieving net zero carbon in both construction and in operational energy using UKGBC’s framework is not just an industry first for a residential property but for any built asset, making this a truly pioneering project.”
To read more visit: maxfordham.com/mf-net-zero/max-fordham-house-verified-net-zero-carbon
