ecofab

Picture
Lanlivery School Extensions. New building (right) integrating with the original extension (back).
Ecofab provides an affordable system of integration of straw bales into buildings using simple technologies together with local, reclaimed or recycled materials. The success of the system relies on the synthesis of the strawbale module with standard building industry modules and dimensions.
The prefabrication enables pre assembly, economies of scale and reduces on-site times, as well as cutting expenses, providing greater quality control, standards of building and economic efficiency. This improved efficiency and quality control produces a more accurate building system that can reach levels of insulation and air tightness consistent with standards such as passivhaus and AECB levels silver and gold.

evolution

ECOFAB evolved from onsite methods applied to several school buildings involving simple timber frame construction incorporating straw bale as an insulation.
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This principle of framed straw bale construction was developed towards prefabrication using low-tech, offsite workshop based production. This prefabrication principle was employed in order to reduce building costs, simplify and speed up construction and provides quick and easy build cost analysis. 
 

ethics

The company ‘ECOFAB’ has principally been established to secure affordable buildings for all sectors of the community. The notion for the community by the community underpins many of the projects which led to the companies formation. The system provides efficient construction, combining detailed planning and design, small-scale, local offsite manufacturing and controlled on-site erection under one umbrella. ​​
This design and build approach offers a more efficient process, clearer lines of communication and accountability between customer, designer, contractors and end users. This also enables options for partial self build with community groups and private individuals.
ECOFAB is also ideal for specifying Architects, surveyors and engineers. 

ECOFAB has enjoyed close working relationships with Dorset County Council's Architects Department, where collaboration and concept design produced award-winning results at Swanage Children's Centre.

Ecology

The building method aims to maximise the use of organic, reclaimed, recycled or local materials within construction. Examples include locally sourced timber, local straw, reclaimed lambs wool and sheet materials produced from timber by-products.​​
Designs provide maximum efficiency in the use of energy for construction and through the buildings life cycle. Lightweight construction & minimal foundations provide a ‘touch lightly’ approach to development.​
What makes eco-fab stand out from the crowd is its exclusive use of reclaimed, recycled and reused products for its principal components.  Many of these including timber byproducts and its principal component of straw provide the opportunity to lock up carbon in the building thereby reducing the impact of greenhouse gases.  This means that, even without the additions of renewable energy technology, eco-fab buildings commence life with carbon credit are far in excess of most other comparable building systems with few exceptions. 

efficiency

The ECOFAB system generally comprises a super insulated envelope achieving U-Values as low as 0.11 w/m2k.  When coupled with high performance composite timber frame triple glazed windows with whole window u-values as low as 0.7w/m2k and air permeability of less than 1m3/m2Hr@50pascals, this exemplar building system meets many of the standards required by stringent energy benchmarks such as Passivhaus and CSH Level 5 together with the AECB silver and gold standards.​
Although the materials used would be normally classified as ‘lightweight’ the nature of their incorporation into the building system and the sheer volume of material used ensure that the ‘decrement delay’ factor is extremely high for these buildings.  In simple terms, the buildings moderate extremes of external temperature and maintains a comfortable internal temperature and humidity throughout all seasons, with only minimal energy inputs during the short heating season.Due to the low levels of energy demand, renewable sources such as air source heat pumps, solar thermal panels and small wood burners complement these efficient buildings. This is particularly the case when mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is incorporated.  This latter technology can become partially integrated into the fabric of the buildings through inbuilt service voids thereby reducing costs.
​Building efficiency is not all about the fabric and technology.  Core principles of sustainable design and construction need to apply.  The ECOFAB design team ensure that full site analysis is undertaken in relation to each and every project in order to exploit the maximum potential of any given location and to mitigate against limitations of site.  Additional in depth analysis is undertaken regarding the proposed use of buildings as this will dictate decisions about mechanical and electrical systems and even building fabric choices.
Efficiency is also core to the construction phase.  The modular nature of construction, the use of standard building industry dimensioned timber and sheet material ensure that there is virtually zero waste off site, within the workshop and only minimal waste on site.  Bulk ordering and delivery of key materials, large storage facilities and local-based haulage achieve further efficiencies in transportation reducing carbon emissions further.

technical

Ecofab provides an affordable system of integration of straw bales into buildings using simple technologies together with local, reclaimed or recycled materials. The success of the system relies on the synthesis of the strawbale module with standard building industry modules and dimensions.
​
The prefabrication enables pre assembly, economies of scale and reduces on-site times, as well as cutting expenses, providing greater quality control, standards of building and economic efficiency. This improved efficiency and quality control produces a more accurate building system that can reach levels of insulation and air tightness consistent with standards such as passivhaus and AECB levels silver and gold.