{"id":1648,"date":"2015-03-18T18:58:56","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T18:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.joind.co.uk\/?p=1648"},"modified":"2015-07-23T19:52:29","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T19:52:29","slug":"light","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/design\/light\/","title":{"rendered":"light and the ash tree"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-1648 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/design\/inspirations\/light-on-rammed-earth-floor\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Light-on-rammed-earth-floor-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Light falls on the rammed earth floor at zero carbon house Birmingham\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3024\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3024'>\n\t\t\t\tWabi-sabi: casting light on &#8220;imperfections&#8221;\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/design\/insulation-airtightness\/natural-light-through-a-shutter-400-x-220\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Natural-light-through-a-shutter-400-x-220-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Natural light through a shutter at zero carbon house Birmingham\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2840\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2840'>\n\t\t\t\tDaylight dancing on the walls\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/design\/insulation-airtightness\/dancing-light-400-x-220\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Dancing-light-400-x-220-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Light dances on the walls of the zero carbon house, Birmingham\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2831\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2831'>\n\t\t\t\tDancing daylight\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/design\/light\/light-on-hand-400-x-220\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Light-on-hand-400-x-220-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"A shaft of light on Jake Lever&#039;s golden hands artwork in zero carbon house, Birmingham\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2807\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2807'>\n\t\t\t\tShafts of daylight\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/design\/light\/lightt-on-the-wall-400-x-220\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Lightt-on-the-wall-400-x-220-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Light dancing on the wall of zero carbon house, Birmingham\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2808\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2808'>\n\t\t\t\tNatural light plays\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>We created a house that is bathed in natural light. The more daylight in\u00a0a home, the less electricity is used in lighting.\u00a0 The changing patterns and colours of the natural light in <strong>zero carbon house<\/strong> give a constantly shifting connection with the rhythms of the sky, the day and the year. Sunlight is important too in heating the house.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Double-height living area<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We enjoy a double height living room with natural light coming in through the roof.\u00a0 Top lighting is typically at least five times brighter than window lighting as there are no obstructions to the sky and it\u2019s brighter at its zenith.\u00a0 That means only one fifth of the heat loss compared with a window, so it\u2019s a very energy-efficient way of lighting.\u00a0 We also have triple-glazed roof lights over the stairs, bedroom and the top floor Long Room.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Mirrors<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We put mirror linings onto the splayed surrounds to our windows and rooflights, which reflect shimmering patches of sunlight around the house. Mirrors are used to intensify the light to great effect in the bathroom too.\u00a0 Our nephew counted his reflection there 28 times.\u00a0 As well as increasing and animating the natural light, the mirrors also spread sunlight and useful heat to parts of the house that wouldn\u2019t otherwise receive it.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Honeycomb door<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The sliding door between our lobby and the main house is made from Mykon, a lightweight, double-skinned material that filters and reflects lights into the house with a touch of magic. We like the irregular honeycomb hexagonal core.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Honeycomb landing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We used the same Mykon material to our stair landing, so natural daylight from above can filter down to the ground floor hall.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ash tree<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The ash tree in the back garden is an important feature of our zero carbon home. \u00a0The floor to ceiling windows overlooking the back garden face south-west so they need to be shaded in the summer. \u00a0The leaves of the ash tree shade the glass from the high summer sun. In the winter, when sunshine is welcome and gives useful heat gains, the bare trees allows the low winter rays to penetrate deep into the house.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-4' class='gallery galleryid-1648 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/design\/light\/ash-tree-in-summer-and-winter\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Ash-tree-in-summer-and-winter-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Two photos of the ash tree in zero carbon house Birmingham, one in summer and one in winter\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-4-3523\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-4-3523'>\n\t\t\t\tThe ash tree in summer and winter\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #8fb258;\">You might also be interested in:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Architectural design\" href=\"\/design\/\">design<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Architectural design\" href=\"\/design\/architectural-design\/\">architectural design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We created a house that is bathed in natural light. The more daylight in\u00a0a home, the less electricity is used&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2831,"parent":2030,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1648","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1648"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3562,"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1648\/revisions\/3562"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}