bespoke housing

Hanse House
Quality, bespoke, prefabricated, energy efficient homes




Having recently celebrated 80 years of house building, German company Hanse Haus, have a wealth of experience under their belts and unlike many self build experiences, those who have built with Hanse Haus can testify that it takes a lot to get hot under the collar with this top quality, efficient and dedicated company as a build partner. Whatever your criteria, when it comes to building quality, bespoke, prefabricated, and energy efficient houses, Hanse Haus have a lot to offer. Not least so an appreciation that for their customer’s, time is of the essence. “We guarantee that homes are built on time, and normally within a 6 week time frame. On top of that, Hanse Haus homes are always built on budget, which puts the homeowner on sure footing from the very start”, says Bruno Kleinheinz, Head of Operations and Production. 

With new contracts in the UK throughout 2009 (in South Wales, Bath, Nottingham, Cornwall, Tewkesbury, Guernsey and Exeter) and into 2010, product development across the brand, and building standards that are already compliant with new UK standards due to be introduced next year, Hanse Haus are a top of their game and ensure a reliable choice. Individual design Whilst a friendly team of Hanse Haus advisors are there to help with everything from planning questions to finding the perfect site and offering an unbeatable selection of finishes and fittings, “one of the companies main goals is to realise individual (self or Hanse Haus drawn) designs and show that in pre-fabricated homes, it is possible to get the house you truly want”, says Giles Hirst, head of Hanse Haus sales in the UK. Energy efficiency at it’s best Hanse Haus takes a number of measures to promote its philosophy of building environmentally friendly and energy efficient houses. Not only are Hanse Haus homes based on a timber frame (from sustainable sources), which has the lowest energy consumption and CO2 emission of any commonly used building material, but innovative design functions and technologically advanced intelligent energy-saving heating systems are utilised to avoid excessive energy losses. Quality, bespoke, prefabricated, energy efficient homes Hanse House Insulation Innovation 

The company builds homes with optimal insulation to minimise heating costs for the client, keeping as much heat in the house as possible. Hanse Haus’ thermal walls use 150mm rigid external insulation, internal mineral wool insulation and a vapour diffusion barrier for optimal air tightness. An additional layer of heavy gypsum boarding ensures a comfortable environment in all seasons. “It’s the implementation of these finer details that make us really stand out from the crowd”, says Bruno Kleinheinz, head of operations and production at Hanse Haus. “Furthermore, our walls have a very low U-Value at just 0.12 W/m2k, whereas the required UK U-value is 0.35 W/m2k. This means that our walls are more effective at keeping the warm air inside, and due to our houses being airtight, warm air isn’t lost through gaps or because of airflow”. 

All Hanse Haus homes are fitted with heat-retaining triple-glazing in all glazed areas. This provides an added advantage of allowing the sun’s own natural heat to penetrate far into the interior of the house and contribute to a positive energy balance, particularly in the winter months. Hanse Haus also produce a strong insulating layer in the roof with very low heat conductivity preventing heat loss within the roof space. A vapour diffusion barrier provides effective protection against the elements. Additional insulation is also provided through cellars and foundations. These are specified depending on the client’s requirements, and offer extra insulation to minimise the loss of heat into the surrounding soil. Intelligent energy-saving technology Hanse Haus provides clients with the option of installing cutting-edge energy-saving technology into their homes to provide for tomorrows needs. 

Geothermal heat pumps, for instance, use energy stored deep within the soil underneath the house gathered from probes that extend 100 metres down into the earth. The company also offers air/water heat pumps, solar panels, gas-fired technology such as modern boilers that optimise energy consumption with a pollution-free burn (and is therefore hugely beneficial to the environment), as well as Rainwater harvesting systems, which collect rainwater on the roof and storing it in a cellar tank, which then allows the house to run from two water systems. One supplies drinking water and the rainwater is then left to supply WCs, washing machines and gardens. New building regulations When it comes to the new UK building standards upgrades, which are due to be put into place next year, 

Hanse Haus already have it in the bag. One of the new regulations stipulates a serious re-vamp of thermal standards, ensuring that all new dwellings are far better insulated and draught proofed and additionally have high efficiency boilers from renewable sources where-ever possible. Furthermore, the use of both solar power and heat-pumps for water heating will be a prime requirement. “To this extent the existing Hanse-Haus construction far exceeds the present regulations and will still exceed the new requirements.     

Pg2