Issue 12, Vol 5 Out Now
The first issue of Passive House Plus is out now and available now from Easons and all good newsagents
nationwide. Click here to subscribe online and have the first issue of Passive House Plus delivered to your doorstep
Featured Article
EnerPHit |
While the principles of low energy building apply equally for new build and upgrades, the reality is that htting passive levels becomes much trickier when retrofitting. The Passive House Institute have taken this on board and created a retrofit standard that is ambitious but achievable.
|
Read More >>
|
Latest Blog Comments
Official magazine of Easca
|
Rise of the passive house |
|
Wednesday, 01 February 2012 |
Page 2 of 20
O'Leary and his team at the academy have also just helped the FÁS training centre in Finglas, north Dublin, devise the world's first passive house craftsmen course, which will be approved by the Passive House Institute and aimed at tradespeople.
an uncertified passive house by Galway-based Scandinavian Homes in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary
"It's been recognised that we need to start training up the builders in parallel with the architects," O'Leary says. "FÁS had a massive insight and foresight to develop that.
FÁS is currently running its first pilot of the course, which will be divided into two parts: one that deals with the building envelope, and one that's focused on mechanical and electrical components.
Martin Carroll of the FÁS training centre in Finglas says they grew interested in green building when the construction downturn hit. As well as the new passive house course, it's also led to them developing courses in solar photovoltaic and wind energy.
"We thought, why not be out there at the front? Why not be leading some of this stuff rather than chasing?" Carroll says. "The passive house was a vehicle to solve two things: to bring us up into the latest building technology, and to develop our own instructors in this green area."
"We hope they can all get work in Ireland," he says of the course participants. "That would be FÁS 's aim, but at the same time if people have to leave the country to find work, these kinds of skills should be an extra bonus to them."
Ireland's status as a passive house pioneer is underlined by the fact that the Passive House Academy is now delivering courses for passive house designers in the US, as well as certifying US buildings.
"There's a lot of expertise and knowhow here in Ireland," Tomás O'Leary says. "I think even for a small business like ourselves, it's not beyond us to think about exporting our knowhow, exporting our services. I'd say the front edge of Irish construction is 20 years ahead of mainstream construction in the US."
O'Leary is convinced the passive house standard can drive serious R&D and employment in Ireland, but stresses that its full potential can only be realised with support from the government.
"The main reason I think we should be going for passive house in Ireland is that it would give us a massive edge," he says.
He points to Irish window manufacturer Munster Joinery's launch of their Passive House Institute certified PassiV Future Proof window as one example. "You have a very large employer of 2,000 people who see passive house as the only game in town," O'Leary says.
Munster Joinery have now been followed by two other companies manufacturing Passive House Institute certified windows in Ireland under licence: Ambiwood, who are manufacturing Optiwin windows, and SmartWin.
Galway-based heat recovery ventilation manufacture Pro Air has also told Construct Ireland it is upgrading its systems to make them eligible for certification by the Passive House Institute. Meanwhile, a wide range of Irish timber frame manufacturers are now offering passive standard homes, including the likes of A-Frame, Advanced Timbercraft, Dempsey Timber Engineering, Eco Timber Frame, Greenhus, Keenan Timber Frame, Kilbroney, Kingspan Century, MBC, Scandinavian Homes, Shoalwater Timber Frame and SIP Energy Homes.
"I think passive house is reaching a tipping point in Ireland," O'Leary says. "We have institutions and bodies like Tesco, Irish Rail, the Department of Education, UCD, FÁS – all of these are now buying into passive house and building passive house."
One question frequently raised is how much extra it costs to hit the passive house standard compared to conventional build. Figures from 5% extra and up are frequently mentioned, but Tomás O'Leary is convinced that anyone determined to keep the cost down can make going passive "as affordable as possible".
He expects the cost of building to the passive standard to fall in the near future. "It's no longer just the one-off house in the countryside," he says. "I'm actually in no doubt that you can design out a lot of the extra expense. I think you're going to notice in the next 12 to 24 months that the extra cost of passive house will come down considerably." He says that as more passive house components are manufactured in Ireland, costs will fall.
Ireland, and indeed the world, is full of green building standards: from BER and LEED to the Code for Sustainable Homes, the Living Building Challenge, Super E and more. Indeed, critics of passive house point out that the standard takes no consideration of whether the materials used in a building are green or not - just how much energy the building uses. So why should it become arguably the most popular green building standard, at least in Ireland?
Wolfgang Feist attributes the popularity of passive house to a variety factors, such as the fact that passive is an open standard anyone can aspire to, and that it tackles common household problems relating to energy consumption, air quality and comfort. “Some 20 years of experience showing that the standard is reliable, long lasting, sustainable and well accepted by persons using the buildings,” he says.
Tomás O’Leary adds: "People are still captivated by the passive house concept. They're looking for comfort, they're interested in air quality. One of the main things is that it's actually proven. I don't know what a B1 house is like, or what a C1 house is like, but I know what a passive house is like and I know what to expect. It's a very simple concept, it applies to every part of the world and to every building."
Passive projects – past, present and future
Such is the rise in passive house construction in Ireland – with the number of certified passive projects growing every week – that attempting to exhaustively document this activity seems like an impossible task. This issue of Construct Ireland alone features thirteen buildings that have been, or are close to being, certified, and a further five that are going for the new passive house standard for retrofit, Ener PHit. And the level of activity in the passive sector is so great there were many projects we had to leave out of this issue, including two masonry projects insulated externally with Rockwool: one detached house built by self-builder Brendan Murphy in Macroom, Co Cork, plus a large extension to a nursing home in Celbridge.
|
|
Building or upgrading?
If you’re pricing, designing or constructing a building – whether
it's an energy upgrade of a small house, or a sustainable new
build home, office or multi unit scheme – we can help.
Click here to get in contact with the companies you need, and receive a copy of the first issue of Passive House Plus for free!
Twitter feed
|