An oversized passive house may be no more sustainable than a correctly sized house built to a more modest spec. In the latest instalment of her journey to build a passive family home, Nessa Duggan finds that visiting some real passive houses may force a change in approach regarding size and complexity, with potentially significant cost benefits.

In the sixth report on her journey to self-build a passive house, Nessa Duggan struggles to reconcile glazing functionality and thermal performance, takes conflicting advice on heating and ventilation, and reaches some decisions on joinery.

In the fifth instalment of her column on designing and building a passive house for her family, Nessa Duggan talks about the importance of getting good advice — on everything from airtight sliding doors down to your choice of timber flooring.

In the fourth instalment of Nessa Duggan’s column on designing and building a passive house for her young family, the focus shifts to overcoming drainage issues to secure planning, and just how small the heat load may be in the family’s new home.

In the third instalment of Nessa Duggan’s column on designing and building a passive house for her young family, she describes the process of designing a house to suit the family’s lifestyle.

In her second column documenting her family’s self-build passive house project, Nessa Duggan details the process of choosing a build system and finding an architect.

One young Irish family has taken the decision to build their new home in Co Louth to the passive house standard. In the first of a series of columns, Nessa Duggan explains the thinking behind the decision to go passive.