Bryn Bragl Housing.

The answer to sustainable social housing?

Bryn Bragl Housing is a pioneering social housing development in South Wales. The aim? For the 14 homes built to become one of the first energy-positive social housing schemes in Wales.

Innovative ideas.

The design follows the Solcer concept originally developed by the Welsh School of Architecture. The concept is a well-balanced and integrated blend of design methods and technologies: featuring passive design techniques, transpired solar collectors, MVHR, air source heat pumps, photovoltaics, battery storage, and more – an M&E engineer’s playground!

The design work is complete and is currently going through the tender process. Our Performance experts led the successful bid alongside our MEP engineers. Our Sustainability team’s energy modelling for all of the house types allowed us to demonstrate that the design is capable of being energy positive (i.e. putting more energy into the National Grid than it takes out). The house should also be effectively ‘off grid’ from late spring through to the end of the summer months, by running off the solar panels and battery only. They’ll also provide great air quality and high quality accommodation… all for competitive build costs.

Expert monitoring.

This is a truly exciting project that we stand to learn a lot from. Our Performance experts will be monitoring the homes during their first 12 months of occupation. Air quality, temperature, performance of the M&E systems, and energy consumption will all be closely monitored and optimised to do all we can to hit the energy-positive target. It’s fair to say this project is at the vanguard of the UK’s search for the future of sustainable and affordable housing.