Naked house, the pre-fabricated passive house construction company, is launching a new ultra-low cost construction option aimed at charitable and community based organisations.

Report author Prof Diana Ürge-Vorsatz praises “fantastic” Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown passive house policy

2016’s UK Passivhaus Conference, which took place in London in October, was the biggest yet, with 300 delegates and another 100 visitors to the expo that ran in parallel. Also in attendance were students from half a dozen architecture schools, some of whom had risen before dawn for the chance to attend.

Leading timber frame manufacturer Cygnum picked up five awards during one week in October, in recognition of some of the high profile passive-certified projects it has completed in recent years.

A stylish new home in South Manchester has achieved exceptional levels of airtightness through a combination of careful detailing and a high performance structure, provided by the Kingspan TEK building system.

ISH, the world’s “leading trade fair for the bathroom experience, building services, energy, air-conditioning technology and renewable energies” takes place from 14 to 18 March 2017 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

The AECB (Association for Environment Conscious Building) has invested over five years of extensive research to put together a unique online advanced retrofit training course, which brings together a wealth of knowledge on low energy retrofit and methodology.

MBC Timber Frame Ltd has announced the opening of its new manufacturing and design premises at Quedgeley Court, Gloucester. The company told Passive House Plus that it has the capacity to manufacture 50,000 to 60,000 square metres of passive housing per year at the new facility. 

Prefab passive house specialists naked house Ltd recently completed the installation of a fully integrated passive house services system at their Marsh Road project in Shropshire. MVHR and solar thermal system are a standard part of the naked house system, with extra optional modules to enhance the building’s potential to save the occupants’ running costs. At Marsh Road, this included a log burner, thermal store and central logic control system. 

Although full passive house training is regarded as the best way to gain an in-depth understanding of all aspects of passive house design, some construction professionals may not have the time or resources to be able to attend the typical two week passive house course. 

Ventilation system manufacturer Aereco has announced the launch of its new Aereco Quality Standard.

Leading passive house design and product supplier Young Design Build has announced that it has become the Irish and UK agent for D&M solar shading, the leading German manufacturer of external shutter technology and blind solutions. Stephen Young of Young Design Build told Passive House Plus that D&M’s systems are designed to prevent overheating in buildings with large expanses of glass. 

Passive House + has been widely praised for its editorial content, technical information and the relevance of its advertising in a survey of AECB members.

Saffron Acres is a social housing development in Leicester that is set to be the largest affordable passive house scheme in the country.

Low energy building and airtightness specialists Partel have warned of the importance of ensuring any flat roof construction is properly designed to prevent interstitial condensation and the accumulation of moisture. 

The big winners at this year’s UK Passivhaus Awards were Tigh na Croit by HLM Architects, which won in the Rural category, and Lansdowne Drive by Tectonics Architects, winner in the Urban Category. 

Leading passive house consultancy Encraft has advised that the standard is affordable for large scale housing projects — and cheaper over the whole life cycle of a development — once there is some investment in learning and education up front.  

Thirty leading environmental and energy groups have written to the new secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Greg Clark urging the government to maintain its commitment to crucial EU targets on energy post Brexit — including the demand that all new buildings be ‘nearly zero energy’ (NZEB) from 2021. 

The refurbishment of a landmark listed property on London’s Leicester Square has seen Marmox Thermoblocks specified in very large quantities for an unusual application. Number 48 Leicester Square is being completely redeveloped behind the retained 1920s stone facade, with Make Architects leading the design team on behalf of client, Linseed Assets, while Pacific Construction is the main contractor.

Passive house indeed works everywhere was the core message at the second annual South Pacific Passive House Conference, writes Andrew Michler. The conference was held in Melbourne on 12-13 February. While just a handful of passive houses have been completed in Australia so far, a sizable contingent from New Zealand came to the conference armed with multiple examples of how even warm climate buildings benefit from the energy savings, comfort and critically the health of a passive house. With a major spike in asthma from damp and mouldy homes, the principles such as airtightness, controlled air exchange, and thermal bridge free design are finally being accepted as the best solution in this part of the world. 

Casa Architects has achieved NPPF 55 statusfor the development of a new passive housein a listed parkland near Frome, Somerset.NPPF 55, recognised as one of the mostdifficult planning applications to achieve, setsstrict planning restrictions to allow only trulyoutstanding or innovative architecture of thevery highest quality and standard to be built in the English countryside.

Two leading Irish manufacturers of passive house components have both received passive house certification for their systems. 

Buckinghamshire-based passive house door manufacturer Urban Front can now integrate airtight, insulated, thermally broken Petwalk pet flaps into their door systems, as one of the company’s latest door projects shows. 

Leading international sustainable technology manufacturer Viessmann has collaborated with high end prefabricated house manufacturer Huf Haus, to equip a UK residential property with first-of-its-kind technology. 

Innovative ventilation supplier Lunos has picked up awards for its decentralised heat recovery ventilation and demand-controlled ventilation systems.