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Page 5 of 20
When it came to building their own home, energy efficiency was always a
priority for homeowner Kevin Davenport and his wife Aisling, who moved
in this July. “We lived abroad for a long time, and we just knew we
didn’t want to build like any other Irish house. We’ve lived in too many
bad Irish houses,” says Kevin. “We have two cats who will not leave
this house, whereas before they would go off all the time. They’re just
constantly in the house. It’s a good sign if the cats like it, I think.”
Building from scratch also allowed the couple to purpose-build the
house around the needs of their son, who has special needs.
"I suppose there is an impression that these are things that rich people
do,” Kevin says of building a passive house. “But we had our budget,
and I think it just shows it's not a vanity project. We're normal people
and we're just choosing to build a house this way because ultimately
we'll save the money, and for environmental reasons as well, from an
ethical point of view.”
Selected project details
Architect: Paul McNally Ecological Architecture
Contractor: Mount Carrick Environmental
Timber frame: Dempsey Timber Engineering
Civil & structural engineering: Tanner Structural Designs
Windows: Munster Joinery
Doors: Ecoglaze
Airtightness products & Gutex Ultratherm: Ecological Building systems
Floor insulation: Aerobord Supergrund
Window surround insulation: Kingspan
Heat recovery ventilation: Pure Renewable Energy
Mechanical contractor: Real Energy
Airtightness testing: QR Energy Rating Systems
Windows and doors: Munster Joinery & Ecoglaze
External cladding: Greenspan
Rainwater harvesting: Rainharvesting Ireland
The house is situated on a very tight site
Project overview:
Building type: 136 square metre detached two-storey timber frame house with warm attic construction.
Location: Ballinteer, Dublin 18
Completion date: June 2011
Budget: Construction cost €1,600 per square metre plus vat,
excluding costs associated with site preparation and completion,
drainage, services connections etc
Passive house certification: certified
Space heating demand (PHPP): 13kWh/m2/year
Heat load (PHPP): 8 W/m2
Airtightness: 0.46 air changes per hour at 50 pascals pressure
BER: A3 (45.77 kWh/m2/yr)
Ground floor: Supergrund ground floor slab. 50% GGBS 100mm concrete on 300mm EPS.
U-value: 0.112 W/m2K
Walls: Greenspan Aquapanel rendered cement board externally on
treated battens to ventilated cavity, 80mm Gutex Ultratherm wood fibre
insulation on 200mm timber frame with cellulose insulation, 9mm smartply
racking board, pro clima Intello vapour check and airtightness system
with pro clima tape and grommets, 70mm service cavity with Rockwool
insulation and painted plasterboard wall linings.
U-value: 0.118W/m2K
Roof: Forticrete rooftile on battens and counter-battens, on pro
clima Solitex breather membrane, on 80mm Aerobord Platinum EPS
insulation, on smartply racking board, on 300mm joists with full-flll
Rockwool insulation, on pro clima Intello vapour barrier and airtight
membrane, on 50mm service cavity with Rockwool fill and plaster
ceilings.
U-value: 0.085 W/m2K
Windows: Munster Joinery PassiV Future Proof PVC windows, soft
coat low-e glass, Argon gas filling. U-value ranges from 0.78 to 0.94
W/m2K. Each window installed in 90mm Kingspan Thermabate PIR insulation
surround. Passive House Institute certified.
Door: Internorm Selection door
U-value = 0.79 W/m2K. Passive House Institute certified
Heating system: Victrix 23.6 kW modulating condensing gas boiler
for space heating and DHW support. Distributed in Variotherm wall panels
and underfloor panels. Kingspan Thermomax solar evacuated tubes
Ventilation: Paul Novus 300MVH heat recovery ventilation system with a certified efficiency of 93%
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