The Brighton Waste House investigates strategies for constructing a contemporary, low energy, permanent domestic building using over 85% ‘waste’ material drawn from household and construction sites.
When fully completed The Waste House will be one of the first A* energy-efficient rated sustainable buildings in the UK.
The Brighton Waste House aims to prove that fluffy, crumbly and organic low carbon materials can compete effectively with their more established high-energy, high-carbon counterparts. It will test innovative green prefabrication techniques as agents of wastage reduction. The Waste House will use high-tech construction methods to reduce time on site, material waste and accuracy on site, and prove that a comprehensive understanding of lightweight insulations and heavyweight energy storage materials will result in a reduction of expensive high-tech equipment to create a low carbon house.
Materials that has gone into the house include, old vinyl banners that you might see tied to street lamps during festivals, that tend to be date sensitive and are therefore only used once, are being used as internal vapour control layers. Thrown-away bricks, ply sheets and wood from other construction projects, as well as “rubbish” including old plastic razors, denim jeans, DVD’s and video cassettes, that are being slotted into wall cavities to help with insulation in the house, and will be monitored to see how efficient their insulation qualities are.
Old toothbrushes are also being used in the wall cavities, including over 20,000 of them that have only been used once by business class & first class passenger flying from Gatwick.
10 tonnes of chalk waste and 10% of clay create a rammed earth wall, with the help from a compressor and pneumatic rammer. Rammed earth can contribute to the overall energy-efficiency of buildings. The density, thickness and thermal conductivity of rammed earth make it a particularly suitable material for passive solar heating. Warmth takes almost 12 hours to work its way through a wall 35 cm thick.
The Waste House is engaging the community by working with City College Brighton and Hove, and Mears Group, allowing students and apprentices a chance to work on a live construction project.
The Waste House has the support of Brighton’s Green MP, Caroline Lucas, and is closely linked with the City Council, alongside construction and cultural organisations. Its university location is fitting since Brighton was ranked fifth out of 143 higher education institutions in the 2013 People & Planet’s Green League Table and seen ‘to be among the pioneers leading the HE sector’s transition to a low-carbon future.’