A near but not passive house!

Scotia Major

So i'm planning a new build in the country and have sifted through a lot of what you guys have said. I like the idea of a passive house but I'm keen on having dormers, and then there's windows on the north side (due to the excellent view). Plus we both want a stove to sit in front of, during winter.
So..

Has anyone built near to passive standard??

I.E. MHV, triple glaze windows, well insulated etc etc but still retain stove, windows etc

Any comments on how the house might perform?

sinnerboy

Current building regulations arguably approach passive standard. Those who know plenty on the matter can explain technically how a b reg compliant house will differ from a passive house.

What I would say to anyone new to building is that building regulations now require a vast jump in standards from what was the norm a short half decade ago.

to answer a part of your query - a building regulation compliant house not meeting the passive standard would perform fantastically well i.e. would demand very little fuel and deliver a high level of comfort in terms of heat and ventilation.

On the face of it it sounds like you should not aim for passive but to simply comply with b regs.

But don't mis understand - compliance is not easy.

Eoghan Barra

There is nothing contradictory whatsoever about having a wood burning stove in an energy efficient house, but it will have to be genuinely room-sealed.

Dormers do have a reputation for being incompatible with energy efficiency. Like yourself, we put them in anyway, as in the real world house design has to try to balance several different often conflicting requirements, and light and making the most of the available views are obviously essential parts of that. If plenty of attention is given to detailing when building the dormers, I think you should be able to minimise heat loss to an acceptable degree. We used 9 x 2s to construct the dormers so that there will be plenty of space for cellulose insulation. We also extended the 52mm of softboard insulation that covers the main rafters to include the dormer roofs and their side walls.

You have already done well to identify this forum as an invaluable resource in going forward with a project of this type. Any time spent perusing the countless excellent discussions will be time well spent.

CJhaughey

I built a near passive but probably better called a low energy house.
It has a wood burning stove, the smallest model that Morso make as anything bigger would be too much.
Triple glazed windows all around, minimal glazing to the N (2 windows).
I did draw the line at Dormers though, too much heatloss there.
Large area of glazing to the S 12m²
MHRV which has been excellent in keeping the house ventilated and dry.
The last few winters proved that it needed very little input to be very comfortable.
I burn wood as a main heating source in winter, there is backup electric UFH run on night rate but I haven't used it for a long while now.
Solar provides hot water from March-Oct, even this miserable summer gave adequate hot water, in winter immersion heats the water.

beyondpassive

For self builders looking to go Passive or Part L 2011 Compliant which is Near Passive it would be well worth paying a visit to one of the 4 Passivhaus's opening their doors on friday and Saturday 9th and 10th of November. The heating systems and mandatory renewables are always an issue so its worth getting the experience of the homeowner and learn from their projects. Projects are in Wicklow, Longford, Mayo and Cork and its a great time of the year to visit as its just getting cold but the solar panels are still contributing to space heating.

<SNIP>

One week to go to the Passive House Open days.

<SNIP>

PM for details.

muffler

@ beyondpassive. Any further pimping of your business and website will result in a permanent ban. We have been down this road before.

sas

beyondpassive wrote: »

The heating systems and mandatory renewables are always an issue so its worth getting the experience of the homeowner and learn from their projects. Projects are in Wicklow, Longford, Mayo and Cork and its a great time of the year to visit as its just getting cold but the solar panels are still contributing to space heating.
PM for details.

I added mine (Laois) to the list this morning if anyone is interested. We're doing saturday morning. Would be great to be able accomadate some people here.

beyondpassive

muffler wrote: »

@ beyondpassive. Any further pimping of your business and website will result in a permanent ban. We have been down this road before.

Apologies, Won't happen again. For the record i have no professional or commercial interest in the houses opening their doors on Friday.

beyondpassive

beyondpassive wrote: »

For self builders looking to go Passive or Part L 2011 Compliant which is Near Passive it would be well worth paying a visit to one of the 4 Passivhaus's opening their doors on friday and Saturday 9th and 10th of November. The heating systems and mandatory renewables are always an issue so its worth getting the experience of the homeowner and learn from their projects. Projects are in Wicklow, Longford, Mayo and Cork and its a great time of the year to visit as its just getting cold but the solar panels are still contributing to space heating.

<SNIP>

One week to go to the Passive House Open days.

<SNIP>

PM for details.

Could you PM me on how i could see one of these houses, thanks

beyondpassive

Deleted User wrote: »

Could you PM me on how i could see one of these houses, thanks

PM sent.

muffler

Deleted User wrote: »

Could you PM me on how i could see one of these houses, thanks

beyondpassive wrote: »

PM sent.

I have also posted a few details here but anyone looking for further details should PM beyondpassive as stated.

sinnerboy

So if anyone drives close by but simply passes any of these houses they will be "near passive".








..... getting my coat now

darragh_haven

sinnerboy wrote: »

So if anyone drives close by but simply passes any of these houses they will be "near passive".








..... getting my coat now

If you passed the house...... i think you'd be "beyond Passive"



Sinnerboy, i think you took my coat. Here's yours:cool:

jimmy_t

sas wrote: »

I added mine (Laois) to the list this morning if anyone is interested. We're doing saturday morning. Would be great to be able accomadate some people here.

Hi Sas, where is the list you added your name to? i wont be able to attend your house opening but i am wondering if im looking at the wrong list. the list i'm looking at is http://www.passivhausprojekte.de/projekte.php? and this only shows 3 houses opening this weekend, is this right or is there somewhere else with more information?

Thanks

sydthebeat

jimmy, the list is on the PHAI website in the events section.

SAS' house is a completed passive house, just not yet gone through the certification process.

jimmy_t

sydthebeat wrote: »

jimmy, the list is on the PHAI website in the events section.

SAS' house is a completed passive house, just not yet gone through the certification process.

Thanks Syd, was looking on the IPHA website wasn't aware of the PHAI one

for anyone else looking for the most complete list of passive houses for this weekend: <snip>


sorry jimmy, there a bit of bother regarding posting a link to this event at the moment, thus why i didnt, so ive had to remove it for your sake.
sydthebeat

sydthebeat

IPHA = International association

PHAI = Irish association


(just in case people thought there was a FAI versus IFA kind of thing going on )

BigGeorge

Our certified house is open this Friday morning near Greystones, Co Wicklow. All welcome, just let me know first. Have had a lot of interest so far.

Further Information, Project 2309, www.passivhausprojekte.de
About the house : passivebuild.blogspot.com

jimmy_t

What do ye think of standard block outer leaf, 200mm pumped insulation and quinnlite on the internal, triple glazing, insulated foundations, mhrv and airtight membrane. how far would this go towards passive?

I have advice from a builder to go with pumped block cavity with another layer of insulation on the inside but im thinkin ill lose any thermal mass from having insulation on the inside but the quinnlite could recover some of this?

sinnerboy

The external wall spec must be seen as a bit-part of 3 main elements to get to a low energy building.

1. Design . Compact shape / orientation - does your building know where the sun is ?

2. Technical specifications or "the building on paper". Foundations/walls/roof/windows/junctions detailing/ventilation/heating system/air tightness/renewable energies - all to be calculated and balanced sensibly. Using PHPP to achieve Passiv and using DEAP to comply with B Regs. Comprehensive drawings with all details necessary to realise these exacting standards.

3. The building "in real life". All the effort at step 2 must be followed through on site.

See where walls belong ? They are a sub set of a sub set of considerations.

It's difficult to give you a definite steer without knowing the full picture. But I would tend to avoid lightweight blocks as I believe the extra spend would be more effectively used in many many other areas.

jimmy_t

sinnerboy wrote: »

The external wall spec must be seen as a bit-part of 3 main elements to get to a low energy building.

1. Design . Compact shape / orientation - does your building know where the sun is ?

2. Technical specifications or "the building on paper". Foundations/walls/roof/windows/junctions detailing/ventilation/heating system/air tightness/renewable energies - all to be calculated and balanced sensibly. Using PHPP to achieve Passiv and using DEAP to comply with B Regs. Comprehensive drawings with all details necessary to realise these exacting standards.

3. The building "in real life". All the effort at step 2 must be followed through on site.

See where walls belong ? They are a sub set of a sub set of considerations.

It's difficult to give you a definite steer without knowing the full picture. But I would tend to avoid lightweight blocks as I believe the extra spend would be more effectively used in many many other areas.

Thanks for setting me straight there sinnerboy, very early in the process and have a lot of decisions to make.

Bazil500

sinnerboy wrote: »

to answer a part of your query - a building regulation compliant house not meeting the passive standard would perform fantastically well i.e. would demand very little fuel and deliver a high level of comfort in terms of heat and ventilation.

On the face of it it sounds like you should not aim for passive but to simply comply with b regs.

Sounds like the building standards means block built houses need to come close to ICF and Passive built houses.

I will be building early next year and am researching all options. I've come across ICF and apparently the benefits are

Structural strength = 5 x stronger than typical block build
Insulation - Lower U value
Easy for first fix

Is this true? What are the negatives to ICF? Has anyone any other views on ICF pre or post build based on experience? How does the costs stack up against block builds and are block builds significantly less insulated than ICF?

Loads of questions thown in there but trying to get as much info from people who have experienced these methods as possible.

Any opinions / recommendations on other build options would be appreciated also.

Scotia Major

Bump.
Getting back to this over a year later is there any folks out there who have since built to a near passive house as discribed by the op? I understand a building regulation compliant house would get close to this or has regs moved on again?