One of the aims of this project was to minimise energy consumption and, therefore, running and heating costs. It also sought to keep the home’s primary energy needs and CO2 emissions as low as possible.
Thanks to their high heat storage capacity and good insulation properties, clay building materials help reduce overall energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The building, which comprises two homes, meets ambitious performance criteria in accordance with the current EU Buildings Directive and is therefore virtually a zero-energy building. The basic idea of the e4 house is built on saving energy in every area from usage to disposal and decommissioning. According to Korpnik, clay as a building material ticked all the boxes. ‘In designing the building, there was a special focus on finding waste management solutions, and on the choice of materials, installations and other devices that would make the homes easy to use and ensure they last a long time’.