Anyone living in or building Passive House?

mrs.q

Hello all!
(I'm a newbie to the site , so apologies if this topic has been discussed previously)
We are hoping to build a passive home in the West, and would love to hear from anyone who has done so, or is in the process of doing so. We are talking to a Galway company, who seem very professional, however, we would appreciate anybody with personal experience of building/living in one, to share their pro's & con's of the process & end result. How did the costings/budget go, any unforeseen extra costs, any problems with the structure etc.
Many thanks!

CJhaughey

We have a scanhome, it isn't a full passive design but many passive elements have been used, lots of glass in the S aspect, small/few windows to the north, and we opted for a woodburner which means that it won't meet passive house standards.
The company is very good to deal with, they come on time and when the price is agreed that is the price, no hidden extras or other funny business.
You have to pay the mileage for the construction team and the foundation crew and half their accomodation costs but the whole process is very fast and no time was wasted, the weather was awful when the shell arrived and it didn't slow them down one jot!
The house itself is very comfortable no problems at all.

Sparky78

CJhaughey wrote: »

We have a scanhome, it isn't a full passive design but many passive elements have been used, lots of glass in the S aspect, small/few windows to the north, and we opted for a woodburner which means that it won't meet passive house standards.
The company is very good to deal with, they come on time and when the price is agreed that is the price, no hidden extras or other funny business.
You have to pay the mileage for the construction team and the foundation crew and half their accomodation costs but the whole process is very fast and no time was wasted, the weather was awful when the shell arrived and it didn't slow them down one jot!
The house itself is very comfortable no problems at all.

Just wondering how you find it in this hot weather?
Do you do anything to reduce solar gain?
Thanks

sydthebeat

mrs q...

AFAIK theres only 1 certified passive house in ireland, that being the MosArt house...

many other builds may have many passive elements, but unless the dwelling is certified by the pasive house institute its not to be considered passive... but im definitely open for correction on that....

CJhaughey

Sparky78
The first year we were in it 2006 was a scorcher and we found it hot!
Last year we got some blinds made up for the windows on the S side and these have helped, but the house still heats up, I suppose if we could afford plantation shutters they would be the way to go by keeping radiant heat outside the structure.
I intend on making a kind of wooden structure over the deck and grow climbing plants up and over the deck, what plants I have not yet decided but something with large leaves.
The house doesn't overheat the HRV makes it easier to remove excess heat by switching the bypass over to straight through (no heat recovery).

Sydthebeat.
AFAIK the Scanhome is one of if not the best performing Passive houses in the world, I am not sure it isn't certified by the Passivhaus institute I have some xls files that I will post.

Mellor

sydthebeat wrote: »

mrs q...

AFAIK theres only 1 certified passive house in ireland, that being the MosArt house...

many other builds may have many passive elements, but unless the dwelling is certified by the pasive house institute its not to be considered passive... but im definitely open for correction on that....

AFAIK (also) the MosArt is the only certified passive house.
But I wouldn't take this be mean its the only passive house. the PI Cert only proves its a passive house, it doesn't add to its passive nature (obviously everyone knows this, i'm not suggesting other wise). But my point is that a house coudld be fully up to passive standard yet uncertified. There are likely to be a few that are close at least.

CJhaughey wrote: »

Sparky78
The first year we were in it 2006 was a scorcher and we found it hot!
Last year we got some blinds made up for the windows on the S side and these have helped, but the house still heats up, I suppose if we could afford plantation shutters they would be the way to go by keeping radiant heat outside the structure.
I intend on making a kind of wooden structure over the deck and grow climbing plants up and over the deck, what plants I have not yet decided but something with large leaves.

The blinds will do a little, but they don't have a huge effect, this is because they are inside the window and the heat hits here (instead of the floor) and from here will circulate around the room. Put a decent bit of thought into the deck canopy, the correct size will act as a bri-soleil and block the high angle summer sun, but allow the winter sun. You don't want it too big to block too much. Ideally it could be slightly adjustable

tsquare

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