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◾ Contemporary Renovation – HAMPTON
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◾ Extension & Refurbishment – Dulwich
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PIVOTAL BESPOKE
Imagine a breathtaking new home that’s been designed, crafted and constructed to your own specifications, right down to the very last detail.
With PIVOTAL DESIGN & BUILD, it is all possible.
We have an unrivalled reputation for building magnificent, one-of-a-kind custom homes that combine classic elegance with the finest contemporary materials. From concept to delivery, our discreet, bespoke house building service provides expert advice, support and ingenuity to leave you with a truly stunning residence that will exceed all expectations. Whether you have already secured a piece of land, or you wish to replace an existing property with your very own bespoke-built home, you can trust us to turn your vision into a reality. We undertake projects from £2m.
We have an unrivalled reputation for building magnificent, one-of-a-kind custom homes that combine classic elegance with the finest contemporary materials. From concept to delivery, our discreet, bespoke house building service provides expert advice, support and ingenuity to leave you with a truly stunning residence that will exceed all expectations. Whether you have already secured a piece of land, or you wish to replace an existing property with your very own bespoke-built home, you can trust us to turn your vision into a reality. We undertake projects from £2m.
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The anatomy of a high performance home
Use the menu bar to the right to explore
the key elements of a high performance home.
the key elements of a high performance home.
Windows tend to be the weak point in any wall assembly. Selecting better windows therefore makes a significant impact on the overall performance of your home. High quality windows also reduce drafts through improved air-tightness. Both of these factors make living in your home a more comfortable experience.
Upgrading the amount of insulation around the entire building envelope helps reduce energy demands and increase comfort. There are a lot of different strategies to create a super insulated building, but one of the best is exterior continuous insulation (ECI) because it also helps reduce thermal bridges.
A typical exterior wall in a home today only has insulation between the studs. The problem with this strategy is there's no thermal protection between the outside and inside of a stud. This creates a thermal bridge and allows thermal energy to move through the stud in-and-out of the home, depending on the season. The solution is to introduce a thermal break to slow down the heat loss through the studs and better insulate the building.
One of the goals of modern construction is to make the building envelope extremely air-tight to prevent infiltration or loss of conditioned air. A small change in the air-tightness of a building can make a big difference in both performance and comfort.
In the past, buildings were so leaky that it was not necessary to mechanically bring fresh air into the home. As modern construction becomes more air-tight it becomes increasingly important to both bring in fresh air and exhaust stale air, keeping the air pressure in the home balanced. An energy recovery ventilator (ERV) pre-conditions the incoming outdoor air with the energy of the out-going stale air.
A high performance mechanical system is one that can deliver above average comfort and energy efficiency. Zoning, sizing, and layout all need to be thought through to provide efficient comfort. One of the best ways of increasing energy efficiency today is by using heat pump technology, whether it's an air-source heat pump that sits outside your home and exchanges thermal energy with the outdoor air or a geothermal ground-source pump that exchanges thermal energy with the earth.
A zero energy home is one that produces as much energy as it consumes. All of the features listed above can help reduce the amount of energy a building consumes, which then reduces the size of the PV solar array needed to reach a 100% offset and become net zero.
Going all-electric is placing a bet on a greener future. By not connecting any fossil fuels, homes that go all-electric are fully prepared for the on-going transition to 100% clean energy within the electrical grid. Given the current high cost of electricity, high performance matters even more when building an all-electric home. Adding PV solar, geothermal, or exploring incentive programs with your local utility are all great ways of offsetting these higher monthly costs.
