Certified Passive House Designer
Daniel Kelso
February 2023
Article
We have a Passive House designer in the AU office!!
AU? are proud to announce that our Co-Director, Daniel, has successfully passed the Passive House Designer course and is now officially a Passive House Certified Designer.
Sustainable design is embedded at every level of the AU process and it's increasingly something our clients are seeking us out for. It lies absolutely hand in glove with our community-led design approach. A future of scarcity is not something we want to see as it will affect every aspect of the communal life we think is so important.
To get there we can see that one of the biggest challenges ahead for the construction industry is to retrofit the UK's housing stock and secure the energy future for generations yet to come. We want to be right there at the forefront of best practice.
We're looking forward to developing our understanding and skills in the office and building on top of Dan's new qualification as a team!
For those of you who are new to Passive house:
Passive House is a building design approach and methodology that aims to create highly energy-efficient buildings that consume very little energy for heating and cooling, this also applies to the retrofit of existing homes and is covered by the EnerPHit certificate. Developed in Germany in the 1990s, it has since been adopted all around the world and sets the standard for low energy use homes. The Passive House approach is based on a set of rigorous design principles and performance criteria that focus on maximizing the building's energy efficiency and reducing its environmental impact. Data shows that Passive Houses or Enerphit buildings can use up to 90% less energy for heating than conventional buildings.
Passive House buildings and Enerphit Retrofits are designed to use minimal energy to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature, even in extreme climates. They achieve this by using a combination of strategies such as high levels of insulation, airtight construction, and high-performance windows and doors that prevent heat loss.
The Passive House approach also includes the use of passive solar design strategies to take advantage of natural heating and cooling sources such as sunlight, shading, and ventilation. The goal is to minimize the need for mechanical heating and cooling systems, which are often the biggest energy consumers in buildings. Certified buildings are highly comfortable, healthy, and sustainable, providing a high-quality indoor environment with stable temperatures, good air quality, and low noise levels; huge unquantifiable benefits of Passive House.
To be certified as a Passive House, a building must meet strict performance criteria for energy use, air leakage, and indoor air quality. This certification process is rigorous and has many checks along the way, from design stage through to completion. This ensures that Passive House buildings meet a high standard of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, not just on paper but for its entire lifespan.
It must be noted that Passive House design principles can be applied to any types of buildings, from single-family homes to large commercial or community buildings. At AU we also strongly believe that the WikiHouse system is ideally set up to work with the Passive House principles. We believe Passive House is the best way to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in buildings while providing a comfortable and healthy indoor environment for our clients.
Get in touch if you would like to learn more or discuss a project you have in mind.
