Zero Bills aims to be the first commercially viable home with no net annual energy bills and enough surplus electricity to power a small electric car. Built with traditional construction materials, Zed Factory incorporated high levels of energy efficiency and renewable energy into the design. A mansard roof was created with a clear integrated photovoltaic roof on one side and Marley’s Acme single camber clay tiles in Red Sand Faced and Red Smooth as clay wall cladding on the other.
Rehan Khodabuccus, from Zed Factory, explains: “As well as looking at energy efficient products for the home, we also needed to consider the construction materials themselves to make a building with the lowest embodied carbon possible. Responsible sourcing was also very important, not only from an HQM assessment point of view but also because we wanted to maximise the use of materials from the UK to minimise the carbon footprint. We wanted a clay tile to create a traditional aesthetic as a contrast against the solar PV on the other side of the mansard roof. We selected the Marley tiles based on their responsible sourcing and sustainability credentials.”
The Acme single camber clay plain tiles have a ‘Very Good’ BES 6001 responsible sourcing accreditation, an A+ rating under the BRE Green Guide and low embodied carbon.