Cotswold stone warehouse becomes Enerphit hostel

The Barrel Store; once a warehouse, now a super-low-energy hostel: photo courtesy New Brewery Arts / The Barrel Store. Photography by Max McClure

This 150-odd-year old historic stone warehouse in the centre of Cirencester has been very carefully converted to create a youth hostel, providing much-needed budget accommodation in this pretty Cotswold town.

An Enerphit retrofit lifts the comfort way above the usual draughty-old-house-that-was-impossible-for-the-owners-to-heat that may be many people’s experience of UK youth hostels. Continue reading “Cotswold stone warehouse becomes Enerphit hostel”

Downsizers’ Passivhaus marries natural materials with high renewable tech

 

This light and airy Passivhaus was built by a retired couple who wanted to downsize from their awkward older home, to one that would be eco-friendly, comfortable, and work well whatever their future needs.

The successful result is an attractive, warm, modern-looking house. The structure is timber frame with wood-based insulation; the roof meanwhile is basically all PVs, and a heat pump and battery complete the comprehensive renewable set-up, minimising the need to import – and pay for – any grid energy.

Read the article I wrote for  Passive House Plus magazine here.

Straw-build Herefordshire Passivhaus – one of my favourite case studies!

black coloured timber clad wall with shaded window and pot plants in front
Detail of the charred cedar facade showing lowered sunshade for summer comfort. Photo: Juraj Mikurcik

Juraj Mikurcik’s beautiful little self-build Passivhaus is a house that I can totally imagine living in myself, and absolutely loving. Continue reading “Straw-build Herefordshire Passivhaus – one of my favourite case studies!”

Uni teaching block launches large Passivhaus in the UK

Case studies for Passive House Plus: new build

UK’s largest passive building opens to 2,400 students and staff

University of Leicester – the new Centre for Medicine

Completed early this year, the new Centre for Medicine at the University of Leicester is by far the largest single building in the UK to meet the passive house standard — and not surprisingly, its design and construction posed tough new challenges on how to meet the rigorous low energy standard on such a large, complicated building. December 2016

 

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Passive school learning refines the design

Building a better passive school

Wilkinson School, Wolverhampton

The team behind a series of passive house schools in Wolverhampton have used the lessons learned from in-depth monitoring of the first two buildings to make the third even better — and cheaper to build. Oct 2015

 

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Natural materials make a warm, homely Passivhaus

Ledbury passive house embraces warmth, wood & light

The ‘modern organic’ style of the Ledbury Passive House

For the builder and his client, aiming for the passive house standard was just one part of an environmentally conscious approach that put natural, healthy materials to the fore.

The style of the house inside and out is what the owner calls ‘modern organic’ – white paint and render, and lots of natural wood. The carpentry is beautifully finished, with charming bespoke touches. Not everyone expects a passive house to be like this…Nov 2015

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A look at the evidence on mechanical ventilation

Natural ventilation often fails – but what is the evidence that mechanical ventilation succeeds? – Investigation for Passive House Plus

There have been a number of studies showing that natural ventilation, dependent as it is on random gaps in the building fabric and the vagaries of wind and weather, is not a reliable source of fresh indoor air. (see here for my article on this)

In theory, mechanical ventilation is under more control, and should work more reliably. But does the evidence bear this out? Does mechanical ventilation deliver good air quality in practice?

I looked into the research to find out whether MVHR, in particular, lived up to the ideal. Continue reading “A look at the evidence on mechanical ventilation”

District Heating – does it work with Passivhaus?

Cost effective district heating schemes need a nice dense energy demand. They also involve a lot of circulating hot water, which with the best will in the world, is going to involve continuous heat loss. Highly-insulated low energy buildings need very little heat – and in the summer, heat gains can be a positive menace.

So can the two work together? I explored the question a bit in this article for Passive House Plus – downloadable here as a pdf.

District Heating – does it work in Passivhaus?