Sustainability
The design of Ashraya adopts a sustainable strategy in design, construction and operation with aim that the total past, present and future carbon footprint is as low as it can feasibly be. The strategy was developed in a structured way from early in the design process to ensure every individual opportunity to reduce energy was addressed.
A holistic approach has been taken such that methods to improve not only ecological sustainability are selected but also economic and social and sustainability has been carefully considered. For example, locally sourced vernacular materials and local labour have been used where possible. Raw earth from the site is used to make unfired earth blocks by a local brick makers, H G Matthews. This approach ensures that the new building works fit well within the grain of the local vernacular tradition of the area.
Materials have been chosen to weather elegantly over time and require minor but regular low skill maintenance. The reconstituted stone, flint and lime mortar and anodised aluminium are all long lasting and visually pleasing over time.
Envelope
The building is designed around low energy and Passivhaus principles with a highly thermally and acoustically insulated external envelope. This includes paying particular attention to thermal bridging details and air tightness. Orientation has been considered such that glazed facades are oriented due west and due east ensuring all internal areas benefit daylight and passive solar gain throughout the day. The glazing has a low-g-value and deep mullions help to shade the façade in the warmer months.
Heating & Cooling
A ground source heat pump (GSHP) provides the majority of the buildings domestic hot water, space heating and any potential cooling demands. The cooling system is an innovative low carbon solution that makes use of the cold ground 90m deep boreholes. This system bypasses the need for using the heat exchanger and as such requires only a fraction of the energy normally needed for mechanical air conditioning.
Materials
Other sustainable principles are applied across the scheme such as rainwater harvesting and permeable drainage and along with all the other measures; use of local zero carbon materials and integration into the natural surroundings, a powerful connection is made between Ashraya and the environment.