Every new home needs planning permission before it can be built, and each site has its own challenges and opportunities. We’re experts at designing homes that receive planning permission first time, even in Areas Of Natural Beauty and Conservation Areas. This is because we take a highly considered approach to every planning application and build up a robust, policy-based submission. This guide aims to explain more about the process and what is involved, looking at some of the key questions you might have if you want to build your own home. A CGI that we used for our latest planning application in London. When do you need it? Planning permission is required to build something brand new, replace an existing dwelling, make a major change to a building or change the use of a building. Certain things can be done without planning, such as extensions in specific circumstances (under Permitted Development Rights ). If there is any ambiguity around requiring planning permission, visit the local planning authority’s website (i.e. the council), the Planning Portal or Gov.uk  to gather more details. The wider National Planning Policy Framework  must be considered first, but the local plan will layer on the extra detail applicable to your site. Visiting your local council’s website is always a good idea. They have important information on the local development frameworks and what is required in an application, as well as records of previous planning applications for the same site and any neighboring sites which can be useful. Can I apply for planning permission myself? You don’t need to be a qualified architect, designer or planning consultant to submit an application but it can be a complicated process. You will need to invest plenty of time to understand the local and national policies as well as the submission requirements before creating an application that responds to them. You will be expected to provide detailed drawings and site information for the proposal - and we would always advise leaving this complicated process to a designer, architect or planning specialist with a proven track record of planning success as it is a field that takes some expertise to navigate. Should I seek pre-application advice? When you have some concerns about the potential success of your project, you may wish to first seek pre-application advice - we recommend it under certain circumstances. This allows you to raise specific questions with a local planning officer before a full application. Learn more about pre-apps here . Planning officers in the local council can help by outlining what is required from the full application and identifying or discussing any issues early on. The pre-app process is encouraged by some councils. They’re often very busy with submissions and might only reach an application a few days before the deadline, at which point evidence of a pre-app can give them clarity and direction for their response. In some cases, councils say that they speed up the process. Planning apps consider the context of an application, e.g. the location of the house on the site. What is outline planning permission? Outline planning applications are much more likely to be used for larger scale housing developments where the overall principles of the project are being established without the expense of working up a full scheme. On individual self build projects they are less common and not usually necessary if you have a designer on board. An application for outline planning permission is generally to establish the right to build in order to sell a plot with planning. It is a formal planning approval but very different from a pre-app which is used to test the waters. If you’re doing an application without the help of an architect and have no experience in the planning process, it can be a useful step. The level of detail required is unique to each authority and the decision should answer the main questions you have about the scheme, e.g. whether you can build in that location, at that scale etc. Once outline planning permission has been granted, the next step is to make a reserved matters application - this covers the detailed information excluded from the outline planning application such as the appearance of the home etc. Creating a successful full planning application At Facit Homes, we have a policy-based strategy for our applications. Planning policies not being adhered to in a proposed development are the most likely reason for a failed application. We discover the key issues the application might face by examining the policies and liaising with our planning consultant on what potential issues there might be. Pre-application advice is generally sought in projects that might prove contentious or where there are extra considerations at play, such as being in a Conservation Area. There are four key steps to creating a successful planning application. 1. Research. We can’t emphasise enough just how important it is to rigorously research national and local planning policies and compare them with the proposed site’s details. We often look for other relevant permissions in the area, or properties close by. This approach should surface site-specific issues and restrictions, as well as any issues raised by the context of the area, for example, the height of the neighbouring buildings. Local planning history and previous applications for the site are also important areas to cover. Knowledge is power. 2. Design. Detailed drawings of the proposed build are an essential part of a full planning application. The best design often achieves a middle ground between policy and ambition - and must be at the right scale. It is always worth investing in an excellent designer, especially one that will understand the requirements and restrictions and has a great track record with planning because of the high quality of their designs. 3. Planning expertise. A planning consultant is often an intelligent choice. They are able to frame a proposal in terms of relevant policies and show how the submission meets the guidelines for their approval. The rigorous and methodical approach of a planning consultant ensures an application is more likely to be acceptable to the local authority. They can make it easy for the planners to give permission. Although they come at a cost, working with a planning consultant sets the tone for the planners and increases the chances of a positive result. On simple projects, your designer or architect may feel that they can fulfill this function themselves, especially if they have worked on similar schemes before. 4. Reports. All planning applications require various assessments of the site. Examples include an archaeology report, bat survey, sustainability report, flood risk assessment and heritage statement. These can be compiled by your architect, generally using other qualified consultants, and must be thorough. If the correct reports aren’t included, the application might not be validated and then face delays or be refused during the statutory time period. The planning application for this project required bat surveys and resulted in bat boxes designed into the facade. How much does a planning application cost? There is a statutory framework which regulates the cost to £462 for a residential new build planning application with any council. Of course, this cost doesn’t include any design or planning consultant fees you may have incurred, nor the cost of site assessments, surveys and reports. It also does not cover the cost of pre-app advice , if used, or any appeal that you may have to lodge is refused permission. Pre-apps can be far more expensive than a full planning application but their cost is often reflected in the resources allocated. A higher cost can mean a better service and pre-app advice can make the final application a simpler process, leading to councils looking favourably on applications that sought pre-app advice. If permission is granted for your application subject to conditions (a typical scenario), then requests to discharge any of those conditions (e.g. materials, landscaping) cost £116. There is an additional £20 processing fee for submitting documents via the Planning Portal, which is where most applications are now made. The fee calculator on the Planning Portal website  is a handy tool that might help benchmark what you should expect to spend. How long does it take? Planning applications have to be determined within 8 weeks from submission (or 13 weeks for unusually large or complex applications). If the decision takes longer without your agreement, it is possible to appeal. If the proposal is large or complex/controversial, the Planning Officer might recommend that the application be taken to a Planning Committee rather than be determined under their own delegated powers. Again, this period of 8-13 weeks does not include a pre-app or the time it takes to gather the correct information and create the detailed designs for the application. After submitting the application, neighbours likely to be affected by the proposal can view the plans and comments and you can view their responses by contacting your local authority. Once granted, planning permission will last for 3 years, so the build must start within that time. What should be included? The local council’s website and the Planning Portal include detailed advice about what needs to be submitted in an application. The requirements change from council to council and the policies differ in language, which can make them difficult to understand. You can expect to have to provide: Description of the proposal, including the relevant policies that affect it Planning assessment for the layout, scale, design, accessibility Detailed drawings, including site plan, floor plans, elevations, foundations Reports, such as planning, heritage and arboricultural Images and analysis of the site and local area Area description and any relevant planning history Surveys Environmental information Pre-app feedback and response A planning app always needs images and analysis of the site, such as above. Using a planning consultant Each local planning authority has its own policies and each one takes some understanding. Although not an essential requirement, as we mentioned above, a planning consultant helps navigate the complex planning jargon in the policies and can also demonstrate dedication to the process. They are an expert in their field. Their input can ensure that the proposal is framed directly in policy, avoiding inconsistent interpretation of guidelines by the planning officers. Their experience and knowledge of multiple local authorities is also valuable - it helps them to know when to appeal a refusal - for example, if there is no policy framework that supports the refusal. What happens next? Once you have submitted your planning application, the Council will review it and ensure it has everything they need. If it does, they will ‘validate’ the application, which means that it is live and ready for consideration. This is when the clock starts and the 8 week countdown begins. It is usual to expect questions from the planning officers in approx. 6 weeks. Prepare for them to request an extension of time if there are discussions they need to have to help them decide. Sometimes it is necessary to extend the time period allocated to the planners. The important thing here is to give reasonable time for a decision, but also set the terms. Leaving the extension open ended means the process could drift on without a deadline. A planning application is either refused or approved subject to conditions. The conditions help you to start on site and simultaneously preserve the site for the future. Examples are: Approved based on the condition that any further developments to the house would require another full planning application, i.e. an extension would not fall under permitted development Approved pending Planning Officer inspection of the materials used Approved subject to Flood Risk Assessment that must be carried out If your planning application is refused, you can appeal the decision (we’d recommend following the advice of a planning consultant or designer for this). The appeal will be examined by a member of the independent Planning Inspectorate who will review and possibly overturn the council’s decision. The Planning Inspectorate is an agency that deals with planning appeals all over the country and reviews the local authority’s decision based on the policies and framework.

All new homes require planning permission from the local authority before they can be built and submitting an application can feel like a huge step and a risk. What is less well known is the option of pre-application advice: insights from the local authority before a planning application is submitted. We used a pre-app for Stour House because it was a contemporary design for a replacement dwelling in an AONB. What is a pre-app? A pre-app is a request for specific planning advice from the planning officers employed by the local authority, i.e. the council. It surfaces information around the project and relevant policies that helps the individual to understand the rules, amend their proposal if necessary and achieve a successful planning application the first time round. But it is no guarantee. Each local planning authority has its own local planning policies that all applications should adhere to - alongside the national framework which dictates some of the wider rules. The policies are usually similar from council to council, even if they are phrased differently each time. This is where a planning consultant comes in handy (more on this later). Rather than a yes/no answer, a pre-app provides the applicant with outline advice which might include suggestions of changes to be made to the proposal. It can act as a warning or reassurance for applicants before the time and expense of a full planning submission. A pre-app gives you the opportunity to ask the fundamental questions and investigate any concerns you have about the site and project, e.g. ‘Can I build a house here?’ It will also help you to understand policy requirements of the local council and any constraints for the site. Identifying potential problems early on offers you the opportunity to explore alternative solutions with your designer before the final planning application is submitted. They can save time and money in the planning process by avoiding costly mistakes that could result in a failed planning application. A ‘good pre-app’ is one that offers a clear (positive or negative) opinion of your scheme. When is a pre-app necessary? It can be good to test the waters if you’re unsure. A planning consultant is often the best person to ask, but your architect and designer can also advise you about completing a pre-app. Is your site in a conservation area? Does your project represent a change in the area? Has the site had a previous application refused? Is it a brand new dwelling, as opposed to a replacement? Does it change the ‘use’ of the land? If you answered yes to one or more of the questions above, you might want to consider a pre-app. It can give a n early insight into the council’s likely response to the planning application. A conservation area, for example, means that council’s planning officers will have comment and authority on design, as well as size. It may be important to have conversations about the design early on, indicating the intended style of the build and offering some reference material. A pre-app for this home in a Conservation Area helped us establish some basic design principles Is a pre-app process always the same? In theory, each local planning authority determines its own process and so the information required for your pre-app may differ. What is involved and the type of service isn’t always consistent. For example, the amount of detail you’re required to submit, the cost of the consultation and length of time it takes to get an answer may vary. In practice, it’s fairly straightforward. Even if the costs and the information requested during the process are slightly different each time, the councils mostly take a similar approach. It always involves a discussion with a planning officer. Whether an in-person consultation or an online form, it is a submission of a project proposal including some of the essential details, such as size and location on the plot. As the type of pre app service on offer differs in councils (you might be expected to meet the planning officer in person at your site or discuss it via email) so too the value of this advice. Some authorities offer advice on how to use the pre-app advice service . This procedural advice from a member of that authority ensures that the pre-application is completed correctly and might include an in-person appointment. What should be included in a pre-app? Your pre-app might include a cover letter and pre-app submission document. Our advice is to only ask only the questions that are critical - including the information for the basis of these questions. If you provide detailed drawings of the intended design, you might initiate a complicated and lengthy design conversation despite your pre-app being aimed at assessing the outline details, e.g. volume or location. Site analysis to help explain the context of the scheme to the planners The cover letter (often written by your planning consultant) will include some of the following: Project proposal description Site location plan, indicating site ownership and boundaries Area description and any relevant history Any planning history, if relevant The policies that are relevant to the proposal Planning assessment for the layout, scale, design, accessibility, trees etc. The pre-app document (created by your architect or designer) includes relevant documents referenced in the cover letter as well as further explanation, including: Photos of the site Photos of the area and architecture Surveys Drawings, such as site analysis and a proposed site layout Environmental information Basic or vague designs of the property outline, if required (see below) Many use the pre-app process to discuss site issues such as roads, footpaths and boundaries or ask about potential problems and whether the council might impose conditions to overcome them rather than refuse planning permission. An example of a vague design to show a concept and gauge the planners' response What do I get from a pre-app? You will receive feedback on the proposal from the planning officer. It is usually a written response, however, it could take the form of notes from an in person meeting. It will provide advice on the issues specified in relation to relevant policies. The planning officer may not comment on other sections of the proposal, if not specifically asked to. The feedback is always useful. It might be non-committal but should answer your fundamental question. Positive feedback can give you confidence for success. Negative feedback should be constructive and will help to avoid a failed planning application. An outright no will save you the time and money involved in a full planning application. What is the timescale? Once you have worked with your architect or designer, and planning consultant, to produce the relevant information and make a submission, a response usually takes from 2-8 weeks, potentially longer if the process is stretched out by an in-person meeting with the council. The time it takes to complete a pre-app does not include the 8 or so weeks for the actual planning application so if you’re tight on time and have confidence in your application then this may not the best route to go down. What is the cost? Pre-apps can be free for extensions and other minor works. For new builds, expect the cost to be anything from £50 to £3,000 for a meeting and response letter. The price is set by each council and is sometimes dependent on the size of the build. The downside of pre-applications is that there are no statutory frameworks. While planning applications have to be determined within 8 weeks, pre-apps don’t have a time limit or standard cost. It’s worth noting that paying more for a pre-app is not necessarily a bad thing. Some councils charge very little and provide a very poor service. Charging more can mean that they have more time to spend on the process and provide better advice. Remember that this cost does not include the work that your architect or designer will do to assemble all the relevant information for your submission. Be aware (things to note) Successful planning applications address all relevant planning policies and persuade the local authority planners that the proposed build satisfies all relevant criteria. Be prepared. Preparation is key to a positive pre-app and successful planning application. We often take a formulaic approach that anticipates all the responses from the local authority. Plan ahead and be as well prepared as possible. Inconsistent. Pre-app planning advice can be unreliable and expensive . Each local authority has a slightly different process and the quality of service can vary. No guarantee.  Any advice given is often the opinion of the particular planning officer rather than the entire authority so a positive response from your pre-app does not guarantee that your planning application will be approved and vice versa. Ask only the critical questions. In some scenarios, disclosing detailed designs and requesting feedback risks the planning officer asking (and expecting) amendments to the scheme that you might not be prepared to make. Confidential. All pre-apps are private. These conversations are not published on the register for all to see. Cooperation . Working cooperatively with the council to find mutually acceptable compromise often results in the planning officer being more supportive of your build than they might otherwise have been. Planning “speak” . Policies take some understanding. Each planning authority has its own policies and they are often written in complex language. A planning consultant will help you to navigate the policy speak and planning language and can also demonstrate your dedication to the process. Planning pre-apps with Facit Homes Planning applications are part of our turnkey service, but more often than not we don’t seek pre-application advice. We understand planning requirements and won’t complete a pre-app if we are confident that our design and project adheres to policies and gives planning officers every reason to approve the application. The exceptions to this rule are projects that have a combination of reasons outlined above, such as a new dwelling with a change of ‘use’ for a plot in a conservation area - or a replacement dwelling in a new location on the plot. Our excellent success rate points to a reliable process. On the rare occasions that we do complete pre-apps, our in-house design team discusses our submission with our planning consultant. He gives us great advice before we get started and looks over all documentation without visiting the site - giving us the planning officer’s perspective. We don’t give too much information away and the pre-app is always focused on the questions we have about the project. Researching all local policies that might be relevant or cause an issue ensures we create a realistic proposal. Our planning consultant puts the pre-app into planning speak, referencing any policies and using planning language - a powerful tool that shouldn’t be underestimated. An early concept design we have worked up following pre-application advice Although not always essential, it is worth noting the benefits of working with a good planning consultant on a pre-app and full planning application. Their input can ensure that all proposals are framed in policy, avoiding inconsistent interpretation of guidelines by the planners. A planning consultant also knows when to fight back and when to concede. In our only application to be refused, we pushed back with ‘why’ following the advice of our planning consultant (and our in-house experience). In this case, the planning officers had no framework under which to refuse the application as all policies had been adhered to. It came down to inconsistencies in their communications and interpretations, and the application was granted on appeal. An example The project involved a contemporary design for a new dwelling in a prestigious residential Conservation Area in London. Replacing an existing run-down tennis court, the intended location for this new home is slightly overlooked by a few existing properties and we needed to change the use of the plot. We completed a pre-app to check that a new property of a certain size and style in that location was feasible. The advice from the pre-app meeting was that the property height should be reduced and the location reoriented to the middle of the site. Our design followed these comments and resulted in a successful planning application. For an in depth introduction into one council’s view on planning, you might want to listen to this podcast episode from House Planning Help .

If you don’t recognise the name, you may recognise the material by this picture. [It's not the timber, the door or the windows.] No? Read on. What is COR-TEN®? Put simply, it is a type of steel. More specifically it is a high strength, low alloy structural steel created by United States Steel in 1930 to resist abrasion and corrosion. The brand name is inspired by  its two key properties; cor rosion resistance and ten sile strength. Developed by mixing a particular combination of steel and alloying elements, COR-TEN® steel (also written as corten and cor-ten) is known as 'weathering steel' due to the protective layer of rust that weathers - and protects - the material. This protective rust ‘patina’ on the surface prevents further corrosion from penetrating deeper in to the metal. A Facit Home just after completion. The picture further down the page shows the COR-TEN® cladding after about a year of weathering. It is often stated that it was invented to prevent having to paint steel, a more traditional but laborious way of protecting its surface. Material properties Every steel is technically an alloy of iron combined with carbon, and often other elements. Low alloy steel is a steel product that takes max 8% of its makeup from these other alloying elements. Such steels have improved properties such as strength, toughness, wear resistance or corrosion resistance. COR-TEN® steel is structural steel combined with chromium, copper and nickel alloying elements to increase the resistance to corrosion. Other low alloy steels rust with exposure to moisture and air. This type of rust is porous and detaches from the metal after a certain time, weakening it - whereas weathering steel has specific elements that produce a stable rust layer that is much less porous and more adhesive to the metal. The result is a much lower corrosion rate than would be found on ordinary structural steel (a more controlled corrosion). Traditional uses Originally used for railroad cars by United States Steel, it became used in the 1950s and 1960s for outdoor art installations due to its natural weathering and durability, as well as distressed aesthetic. The first major use of COR-TEN® in architecture was the John Deere World HQ in Moline Illinois, designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1964. John Deere World HQ. Source: Architects Magazine It has been used as a structural steel for bridges, such as one built in 1967 for York University  or more recently Høse Bridge by Rintala Eggertsson Architects , and famously on Anthony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’ sculpture in Gateshead. Many contemporary architectural projects make use of this structural and aesthetic material, with just some of them outlined in Dezeen’s archives here . Why choose COR-TEN®? We love using COR-TEN® steel cladding for a number of reasons. Fabrication: As a sheet material it is easy to digitally manufacture into cladding panels, creating a lot of design potential. Installation: In panel form it is relatively quick and easy to install. The less time we spend on site installing the cladding, the less our customers have to pay. Simple! Low maintenance: Rusting to form its own protective layer, it requires no upkeep. This is one of the reasons it is often used on bridges that would be difficult to access. Longevity: The rusted layer provides protection for the exterior layer of the home and lengthens the life cycle of the material - it should last for centuries! Aesthetic: We love the texture, the patina and the rusting process that turns it a glorious rich burnt orange colour. Check out the projects below to see it in use. Cladding design can include a layered effect, like this Facit Home in Hertfordshire. What is cladding? Cladding is the application of one material over another in order to create an outer skin or layer for a building. It provides the home with protection from the weather and often improves the overall aesthetic, as well as sometimes providing an extra layer of insulation. COR-TEN® is not only suitable for the outer layer of the home. We’ve recently used it to manufacture unique steel tree columns that support a cantilevered first floor. The steel tree columns were manufactured from COR-TEN steel. Projects with COR-TEN® cladding Flower House - Facit Homes COR-TEN® combined with charred black timber creates a contrasting colour scheme. The timber cladding on the upper level and the paneled COR-TEN® ground floor level of this home emphasise the different structural shapes. More project information here . 2. Smith Residence - MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Described in more detail in a Dezeen article , this project is one of our favourite examples of COR-TEN® covering the majority of a home. 3. Rural House - RCR Arquitectes Rural House takes up a position on the site to enhance the landscape values, like the emergence of cracks caused by water as it runs down the slope. 4. Chesham Lodge - Facit Homes This design   incorporated overlapping COR-TEN® panels that create a layered effect for the outside of this home. The material rusts naturally, adding an abstract texture and visual appeal. The COR-TEN® panels are bright and contribute to the industrial look created by the solar shading and large windows in this home. 5. The Corten House - DMOA Architecten Another Dezeen feature is this home by DMOA Architecten . Aptly dubbed The Corten House, this home is surrounded by steel fins - an architecturally impressive property. 6. Pocketsdell House - Facit Homes Introducing…… the latest Facit Homes project  with COR-TEN® steel cladding.

Based in the countryside in Hertfordshire, our customers thought about their furry, flying neighbours when they decided to design and build a new home. What is a bat box? Bat boxes are artificial roosts designed to encourage bats into areas where there are few roosting sites. There are various designs of bat boxes, from wooden ones that you can make yourself to external ready-assembled boxes that can be mounted on trees and buildings, or integrated boxes that can be built into external walls. Spot the rectangular gaps for the bats in the gabled roof. In our project in Hertfordshire, we have integrated bat boxes on the south west facing gable end wall so that the building can be a home for more than one family. The bat boxes we used are from Habibat  and create an appropriate environment for bats to roost during the day. In construction Installed after the Facit Chassis™ is built but before the external timber cladding is put in place, these bat boxes are barely noticeable once the home is completed. In construction: once the cladding is installed only the gaps will be visible. Integrated into the structure, they appear as small rectangular gaps in the cladding and help with the conservation of a native species, contributing to a healthy biodiversity in the environment.   The cladding being installed over the bat boxes. The bat survey carried out in April 2017 states that, "Any measures to enhance the roosting opportunities within the development, such as the provision of incorporated bat boxes or external bat boxes, would be of biodiversity benefit and potentially could result in positive ecological benefit in the long term." Cladding complete!

When you build your own home, you are in the unique position of being able to decide on not only the design and layout, but also its standard of energy performance. How far you wish to go in the pursuit of energy efficiency is a personal decision, but it can dramatically affect both the running costs of your home and its impact on the environment. While the minimum building regulations requirements have increased over the years, many choose to go far beyond them and create much higher performance homes. Passivhaus (English: Passive House) is the most well known, and highest, standard for energy efficient homes. It is something to which many aspire, without perhaps knowing exactly what it entails. A Facit Home designed to Passivhaus principles. What exactly is Passivhaus? Passivhaus is a voluntary building performance standard.  The brainchild of a Swedish academic, Bo Adamson, and Dr Wolfgang Feist of the German Institute for Housing and the Environment, it is a set of rigorous requirements for house designers and builders to meet in order to create a Passivhaus certified, low-energy home. Recognised around the world, it seeks to all but eliminate the home's need for dedicated heat generation. It relies predominantly on passive heat gain from the occupants and the sun, and its retention within the building. A specific software package is used to calculate the predicted energy demand of the design, which needs to be less than 15kWh/m²/yr. By way of comparison, that is about 10% of the energy a standard home uses for heating. The 5 key elements used to achieve this are: Super-insulated building envelope - U-value lower than 0.15W/mk2 Airtight construction - air leakage lower than 0.6m3/h/m2@50pa Triple glazing - U-value lower than 0.8W/mk2 No thermal bridges - removing conduction of heat from inside to out through careful detailing MVHR system - bringing in fresh air and retaining heat from the stale air it extracts Beyond this, meeting the standard mainly comes down to manipulating the design. As a methodology that focuses on energy preservation or ‘passive’ energy principles, meeting a Passivhaus' specific requirements can affect the overall appearance of the home. Designing for the rules is often only possible with the right site and orientation. It can be complicated and limit the home’s architectural potential. For example, a Passivhaus typically needs south facing windows to optimise solar gain and many are designed with a very functional form in order to achieve the strict standards. A Facit Home with large, south facing windows for solar gain - and solar shading to keep it cool in summer. Is it necessary to build to Passivhaus certified standard? There is no doubt that all new homes should be seeking to reduce energy consumption, so with Passivhaus being the gold standard it has clear merit. However, whilst it’s a great aspiration, when we consider the UK’s climate (where the average winter temperature is around 5-7 degrees) you can question whether it is necessary to go to such lengths. It is possible to get too focused on hitting Passivhaus targets and lose sight of your main intent; building a highly energy efficient home that suits the context in which it will sit. Achieving Passivhaus standard can have significant upfront cost implications that only really result in incremental gains, as well as constraints and compromises on the design. It is also debatable whether it is worth going the extra mile to have your home formally certified as a Passivhaus, which itself is a chargeable service (and not something everyone who builds to the standard even actually does!) Spot the photovoltaic panels added for energy generation on this south facing Facit Home. What standard does Facit Homes build to? The 'fabric first'  approach that we take is the bedrock of Passivhaus and delivers most of the performance with none of the box ticking requirements. By adhering to the key principles above, and in some cases exceeding Passivhaus levels, we create high performance, energy efficient homes that do not compromise on design. Using our fully customisable timber structure, the Facit Chassis™, we can create the home you want whilst being confident of always having a super-insulated, airtight building envelope to keep you warm. With triple glazing and MVHR as standard too, our well considered fabric first approach will perform to a similar level as Passivhaus on all but the coldest few days of the year in the UK. What else should you consider? The environmental cost of embodied energy is not considered as part of the Passivhaus standard. Embodied energy is the sum of energy required to produce a product or material. In this case, it is the energy used to design and build a home. A Passivhaus can be built with concrete or brick, materials that have a much higher embodied energy than timber. A 2011 research study  that Facit Homes undertook investigated the cost of embodied energy in creating homes with Passivhaus standard U-values using various materials. It found that a customer would have to live in a masonry home for an extra 100 years for the operational energy savings to even out the embodied cost, when compared to a Facit Home. That is why we use sustainable, FSC certified timber for our structure. Campaigns such as ‘Wood CO2ts less’ by Wood for Good  website promote timber as a renewable resource, a carbon trap and a great substitute for CO2 intensive materials like concrete. A Facit Home in construction. FSC certified plywood is used for all Facit Chassis™. So should you build a Passivhaus? A highly respected standard, Passivhaus is achievable if you have the budget and dedication, and are happy for it to potentially define the design of your home. However, not meeting it doesn’t stop you from creating an environmentally friendly and energy efficient home that will work perfectly for you, as we have proven over the years for our customers. For more information about the fabric first approach of a Facit Home, have a look at our previous article .

The ‘fabric’ of a building refers to “structural materials, cladding, insulation, finishes, etc., that enclose the interior of a building, separating the internal from the external.” This is also referred to as the ‘building envelope’. Principles and measurements like airtightness, U-values, thermal bridging, triple glazing and solar gain are a big part of the fabric first approach and contribute to minimising the energy usage required in a home.   What is fabric first? The fabric first approach involves carefully considering the design and construction of the building envelope in order to lower the home's energy consumption. Put simply - it is creating an airtight, insulated building that reduces the amount of energy required to heat the home. It prioritises the performance of the building fabric. A Facit Home designed using the fabric first approach Even though it might be one of the simplest, most effective and affordable ways to create an environmentally optimised 'eco home', the fabric first approach is a term that is relatively unknown outside of the industry. Passivhaus  is perhaps better known - but even that is firmly based on the principles of fabric first. Digitising the design and construction process means that we can rigorously ensure each Facit Home  follows these principles. Prioritising energy preservation over generation, we use digital manufacturing technology to create homes that exceed building regulations requirements and meet some important Passivhaus standards. What is airtightness? Airtightness is exactly what it sounds like. An airtight building envelope doesn’t allow air to escape, or enter, where it is not intended to. Leaking precious warm air out into the world and feeling cold drafts from ill-fitting doors and windows are effectively eradicated. Measured by how much air escapes from gaps in the building fabric, building regulations state that the air leakage can be no more than 10 cubic metres of air escaping per hour for every square metre of the building envelope, expressed as 10m3/h/m2@50pa or 10m3/hr . Our homes regularly come in at around 1.5m3/hr , far exceeding building regulations and just over the Passivhaus score of ‘less than 1m3/hr’ . In the industry as a whole,  5m3/hr  is becoming fairly standard, especially as more traditional house builders adopted more modern approaches. Some of the more complex Facit Chassis™ components Our digital approach allows us to precisely design and manufacture the timber superstructure of each Facit Home, which we call the Facit Chassis™ . Assembled from digitally manufactured plywood ‘components’, each custom designed chassis creates an essentially airtight building envelope. To bring the airtightness score down even further, improving the building’s performance, the chassis is then wrapped with an airtight vapour membrane that keeps moisture out and warm air in. How do you ventilate an airtight home? Airtight homes still need fresh air, so they normally have a Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system. This simple and efficient system brings in fresh air whilst recovering and reusing the heat from the stale air it extracts from spaces like kitchens and bathrooms. Our systems retain up to 94% of this heat, transferring it to the fresh air coming in via a heat exchanger in the main unit. Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery is a mouthful, and one of the most commonly misunderstood terms in sustainable construction. It really should be rebranded as a ‘fresh air’ system! A diagram of the MVHR system in a Facit Home Stack ventilation is another method that we often employ to bring fresh cooler air into the home during the night in warmer months. It involves including a central rooflight above the stair that opens to allow warm air to pass up and out of the building, drawing in cooler air from ground floor windows set to a locked ventilation opening. How does insulation contribute? Insulating the building envelope will keep the cold out and the warmth in, just like putting on a big winter coat. Different building methods will provide different levels of insulation, but our timber structural components are all super-insulated. Each component is filled with a pressure injected EPS insulation that is chosen for its low embodied energy (the sum of all the energy required to produce it). The Facit Chassis™ has 316mm thick components that contain 280mm of insulation - meaning that 89% of the wall is actually insulation, keeping things nice and toasty inside our homes. All external walls and the roof are made up of the same super-insulated components and our insulated raft foundation system then acts like a pair of slippers for the home. Thermally efficient, technically advanced and quick to install, it uses a minimal amount of concrete and provides the maximum amount of support. Our levels of insulation create excellent U-values across the building envelope which meet the stringent Passivhaus standards. What is a U-value? Also known as thermal transmittance, the U-value is the rate of heat transfer through a structure. It measures the heat loss of a home and, similar to the airtightness score, the better insulated a structure is, the lower the U-value. A Facit Home has U-values of 0.12W/mk2 for external walls and roof, compared with a building regulations requirement of 0.26W/mk2, and 0.1W/m2K for the foundations. VELFAC windows in one of our past projects Triple glazed windows As a necessary gap in a building envelope, window openings should be designed and detailed precisely so they can be as airtight as possible. High performance windows are then essential to reduce heat loss. Digitally designing our homes means that we can send exact specifications to our suppliers and ensure that the wall components are manufactured so that the windows fit perfectly. VELFAC triple-glazed composite windows are our product of choice for their durability, low maintenance, thermal performance and aesthetic appeal. Triple glazed windows retain more heat and are an important part of the fabric first approach, with clear benefits over standard double glazed units. What is solar gain? Designing south facing windows into a home where possible means that you can harness more of the sun’s warmth to heat the home during the winter. Solar gain is the result of heat from the low angle sun being used to gently warm a building. It maximises the use of a natural, endlessly sustainable resource (the sun) and the homes then retain that heat (through airtightness and insulation). In order to avoid overheating in summer, we typically use some sort of shading above the windows to deflect the powerful high angle rays. Solar shading on a Facit Home What is thermal bridging? Thermal bridging is the transfer of heat from inside to outside via a conductive material. This usually occurs at weak spots such as junctions between walls, floors and roofs, and around windows and doors. Timber is not as conductive as other materials, which is why it is our material of choice for the frame. The depth of our chassis (316mm) means that each home loses next to no heat via thermal bridging. We carefully detail around any more conductive structural steel elements to keep them within the timber envelope of the building and avoid making a thermal bridge between this material and the outside. Have any more questions? Get in touch by emailing info@facit-homes.com  or calling us on 020 3034 0720.

Graven Hill , the UK’s largest custom build development near Bicester in Oxfordshire, is hosting an open day on Saturday 10 March for aspiring self-builders to find out more about this pioneering project. Alongside presentations, workshops and a bus tour of the site, there will be the chance to speak to the Graven Hill team about any questions you may have. Facit Homes will also be there to discuss how we could help bring your new home to life on the site. There are 2 sessions available, starting at 10am and 11.30am and spaces should be booked in advance online or by phone. Click the image below for more information about the programme and to secure your spot. We hope to see you there!

Beyond the design flexibility that the digital manufacturing of the Facit Chassis offers, there is also a level of integration not normally found in structural systems. Other traditional structures may require a service void to be created on the inside, to run things like electrics and plumbing through, which adds to the overall thickness of the wall. Alternatively, they may need to be hacked in to and reworked on site to accommodate such things, or even require everyone’s nemesis ‘boxing out’ to hide pipes and ducts. It either means more work/time on site, or the loss of the clean lines most people favour. The Facit Chassis is designed with all of these requirements in mind; service channels are predetermined and created within the depth of the components on the 3D computer model, so we know where every cable, pipe and duct will go. It makes things so much easier on site as everything is able to be installed without the need to make it up as you go along. On more complicated areas such as bathrooms the Facit Chassis has special components which make the installation of things like concealed WC cisterns and wall mounted taps a breeze. It’s one of the reasons why our interiors look so great.

As the core product of a Facit Home, the Facit Chassis is so much more than a standard timber frame. Carefully developed over a number of years, it not only provides a robust, solid structure and a super-insulated, airtight building envelope, it allows us the sort of creative freedom most home designers dream about. The key to this lies in our digital manufacturing process. Every Facit Chassis is designed using BIM (Building Information Modelling) software; an intelligent, digital 3D model-based platform with which we have created a huge library of virtual Facit Chassis components. From load-bearing wall and roof components to internal door portals, they form the main building blocks of our homes. But with every project being unique there is always a need for ‘special’ components, the ones that offer our architects the flexibility required to design each individual home. Be it a specific size/shape window opening or a geometrically complicated junction detail, these specials really help set Facit Homes apart. From the information about each component found in the 3D model, we employ some technical wizardry to convert the virtual into an exact physical replica. A cutting pattern for the constituent parts that make up each component is generated and then laid out on to a virtual flat sheet. It’s a little bit like the patterns used for dressmaking and laying them out efficiently is known as ‘nesting’, always ensuring the minimum raw material waste. With this information then passing to our CNC (Computer Numerical Control) cutting machine as digital code, the parts are precision cut from sheets of plywood and assembled by hand into the final component. The result is a perfect recreation of what was designed. This ‘digital made real’ ability means that we can design all sorts of complex forms safe in the knowledge that the Facit Chassis can accommodate them whilst maintaining the quality and performance we expect from all of our homes.

Once we have a concept design for a new home agreed with the client our architects immediately start to develop the design in three dimensions. Our digital 3D BIM model forms the basis for a huge amount of the information required to manufacture a Facit Home so it makes sense for us to be resolving key design decisions in this environment from the outset. Plus we can ensure everything will work in reality which cannot be guaranteed with 2D drawings. One of our favourite little pieces of software allows us to create a fully rendered virtual walkthrough of the design from our 3D model, both inside and out, which can be updated in real-time by the architect. If we move a wall in the model, it instantly changes in the walkthrough so we can constantly test out what is going to be the best option. It also means we can give our clients an idea of the look and feel of their future home really early on and work with them to make sure it is going to end up exactly as they want it to be when we build it.

Part of the process for monitoring progress on site at one of our homes revolves around a nifty little bit of kit – our 360° camera.  At regular intervals our site agents take snaps of every room and send them back to the studio where the design team can look at exactly what is happening. By viewing the images in a clever piece of software, our architects can virtually inspect the site and provide feedback and comments to the build team to ensure every detail is correct. By digitally bringing the site to the studio, our team continues to work closely together at each step of the project so that we deliver the high quality of design and finish our clients expect in their home. And we get some pretty crazy images too!

We are delighted to have gained planning permission for a replacement dwelling on a picture perfect site in West Sussex. View of the new home from site entrance The large, rural site contains a small cottage that has been subject to a number of ad hoc extensions and additions over the years, but is now in a very poor state of repair. The decision was therefore taken to replace it with a new, high performance home that would allow our customers' family to establish themselves in the area for the long term. There were a number of considerations for the new scheme, including significant ecological elements as well as water neutrality requirements. Bat roosts were discovered in the roof which necessitates a licence from Natural England for the demolition of the existing property, as well as a mitigation and biodiversity enhancement strategy to encourage their return to the site once the new home is built. Stunning views to the west of the site The brief from our customers was for a contemporary home that would sit comfortably in the context of the site and surrounding area. There are stunning views out to the west, which inspired the orientation and form of the new home, with those views being enjoyed from all the principal spaces including the open plan living area and the 3 bedrooms upstairs. Taking inspiration from buildings and design characteristics found in the local area, we worked up a concept design with a simple, vernacular form. A rectangular floor plan and a steep pitched roof run parallel to the road, with a feature catslide roof covering the staircase which pops out of the side of the plan to add interest. A veranda outside the living area creates a covered outdoor space to be enjoyed all year round On the west side, a single storey snug with vaulted ceiling protrudes out from the main form of the building, creating a comfortable family space with a huge picture window to frame the view. The vernacular form is complimented by contemporary details and materials A simple material palette of timber weatherboarding and slate roof tiles is given a contemporary accent with the addition of vertical timber cladding to the pop out stair and a standing seam metal roof to the snug and veranda. We are very excited to get started on the build early in the New Year and can't wait to see this countryside gem in the flesh.