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EnerPHit
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.
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Official magazine of EascaEasca
Rise of the passive house E-mail
Wednesday, 01 February 2012

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
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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