Brenda and Robert Vale

Professor Brenda Vale and Doctor Robert Vale are architects, writers, pioneer researchers, and experts in the field of sustainable housing.

After studying architecture together at the University of Cambridge, in 1975 the Vales published "The Autonomous House", a technical guide for developing housing solutions that are energy-self-sufficient, environmentally friendly, relatively easy to maintain, and have a traditional appearance. The book has been translated into five languages and is widely recognized as a basic text in the field of green building.

Through the 1980s the Vales designed a number of commercial buildings in England, notably the thick-walled, superinsulated Woodhouse Medical Centre in Sheffield.

In the 1990s the Vales completed two important green building projects in Nottinghamshire: the first in 1993, the first autonomous building in the United Kingdom, a four-bedroom house for themselves in the historic town of Southwell. Their book "The New Autonomous House" documents the design and construction of this house, which is warmed and powered by the sun, produces its drinking water from rain, composts its effluent, and is consistent with its historic context. The house is completely off-grid except for the telephone line and a connection to the electrical supply. The latter supplies power from the grid when the occupants are using more electricity than is being produced by the solar panels mounted behind the house, and exports at times of surplus generation.

The other is the Hockerton Housing Project, five one-story residential units using the same design tactic of thick walls, thermal mass, and superinsulation. The local housing authority now plans, as part of its official policy, for a hundred autonomous houses to be built in the area by the end of the century.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996, the Vales emigrated to New Zealand, where they hold professorships at the School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington. In previous years both were working at The University of Auckland, mainly as Doctoral research projects supervision, working with masters and doctoral candidates one of the last projects consultancy that conducted by Professor Vale was an housing analysis in arid work environments of the PhD (ABD) Paul Martin Vanzer.

Commissioned by the Australian government, they have developed a unique building rating system called NABERS which measures the ongoing environmental impact of existing buildings. According to Brenda, this is their most important work.

See also

• autonomous building
• green building
• sustainability

Publications

• Vale, Brenda; Vale, Robert (2009). Time to Eat the Dog?: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-28790-3. 
• Vale, Brenda; Vale, Robert (2008). New Domestic Detailing. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-0605-9. 
• Vale, Brenda; Vale, Robert; Mithraratne, N (2007). The Role of Whole Life Costs and Values. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-8063-9. 
• Vale, Brenda; Vale, Robert (2000). The New Autonomous House. Thames & Hudson Ltd. ISBN 0-500-34176-1. 
• Vale, Brenda; Vale, Robert (1992). Green Architecture: Design for an Energy-Conscious Future. Bulfinch Press Little Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-8212-1866-2. 
• Vale, Brenda; Vale, Robert (1991). Towards a Green Architecture: six practical case studies. RIBA Publications. ISBN 978-0-947877-47-7. 
• Vale, Brenda (1982). Albion: a Romance of the Twenty-First Century. Devon, UK: Spindlewood. ISBN 978-0-907349-15-0. 
• Vale, Brenda; Vale, Robert; James, D (1980). ISBN 978-0-333-25868-2. 

External links

• Description and photos of Southwell and the Hockerton Housing Project
• Hockerton Housing Project official website
• the NABERS rating system