PassivHaus Refurb

[Mark Siddall]

It won't suprise you to see which EU country has no examples in the Best Practice Section.

http://www.energieinstitut.at/Retrofit/?to=0&forward=S_19&id=2f7ea24da6318ff2e3daa7002bbdaf8a&dmy=4fa4f1854b6a146862caf26689a38e7e

Mark

[Nick Grant]

Why at the Passivhaus conference did the audience giggle when it was announced that all new UK buildings would be zero carbon by 2016? 🙂

[SimmondsMills]

We are aiming to build a PH extension and start the PH refurbishment of our own home in Hereford in July this year. Here are the planning application drawings (we are waiting on a decision after a positive meeting with the planning officer). The detail is slowly being worked up….

[SimmondsMills]

Today we received planning permission for this project after a positive response from the planning committee. Have had it modeled with PHPP…will post results in due course.

[Anonymous]

OK I was impressed by these pictures and today I read the Carbonlite standard saying that refurb to passivhaus is established technology. Previously, I'd assumed a new build was necessary.

Could somebody kindly point me to the established wisdom?

Thanks, Dave

[SimmondsMills]

Experience on refurb to near Passivhaus levels for whole building performance (hard to reach, or not worth reaching, the new build target on existing buildings) exists mainly abroad of course, and on this project we have simply applied the principles underlying CarbonLite, used PHPP to model the house -and make design decisions, and drawn on general advanced practice where ever we can find it – USA, Canada,Austria and Germany etc. PHI staff have given a few useful pointers, but are terribly busy.

Apply basic PH/CarbonLite principles first, use PHPP to make design decisions and model results, and aim as close to the new build targets as possible.

This will be written up as a full case study, and I will post for example air pressure test results as soon as carried out. Otherwise is an experiment at present, rather than demonstrating established wisdom.

Personally I would like to see a Silver standard refurb carried out on a house – but as a full set of integrated measures in line with CLP guidance and using PHPP.

Anyone doing this?

More pictures when I can.

[SimmondsMills]

Great! Are you going to have a go using PHPP to do design modelling?

[SimmondsMills]

There is some more on my project here:
http://simmondsmills.com/home_page.php?id=15
and pictures of work in progress:
http://simmondsmills.com/project.php?id=31

[SimmondsMills]

UPDATED POST on 25 Feb 09

Green Building Magazine article on project below. Very good Romanian workers fitting 250mm neopor type EPS insulation to the house and extension this week. Will try to upload new photos on simmonds.mills website soon! Unfortunately potential Ecobuild talk slot on this project seems to have disappeared unaccountably. Still, Mark Siddall will be showing a few pictures in his Ecobuild slot.

I have amended the article and uploaded it again (on 25 Feb 09) – having realised that the the Primary Energy Limit was meant to read as 78 not 120 kWh/m2.yr

I have to say the 'magic heat effect' (lots of insulation, very few small radiators..lovely warm rooms) has now kicked in (all insulations complete), so on final airtightness measures, then air pressure test maybe next week.

[Mark Siddall]

It is worth noting that this change from 120 kWh/m2.a to 78 kWh/m2.a will also mean that, according to CLP Standards, the CO2 emissions will fall from 22 kg/m2.a to 15 kg/m2.a

Mark

[SimmondsMills]

Do check out p20, 21 etc here (https://aecb.net/PDFs/carbonlite/AECB_VOL3_EnergyStandard_V6FINAL.pdf) for further clarification of Primary Energy Demand.

[SimmondsMills]

Our first pressure test, before the extension wall were plastered came in at 1.56. We found a number of small leaks in areas of membrane, and also noted how much air seemed to be coming in through the mortar joints (mainly perpends) of the concrete blockwork extension walls. The walls are now being plastered and we still hope to get to the 'magic' CarbonLite target of 0.75. The full air test report will be uploaded when ready. Generally no 'large' leaks were identified so after plastering any remaining leaks are likely to be associated with multitudinous 'micro' leaks through brickwork assumed in the strategy to be airtight (e.g., see article describing basement/ground floor/wall details). Even at 1.56 perfectly adequate for proper functioning of the MVHR. More soon…

and yes, it would be nice to get the job finished! 3 weeks?…

[SimmondsMills]

You can see more info on where this at at http://www.simmondsmills.com (projects section). Air pressure test final = 0.97 m3/m2hr@50 Pa. I will add here for those of you who don't want to go to another website the AECB conference presentation on the project. On the website, I have put up a thermography report…with lots of nice infra red images….mmmm, lovely.

Oh, I have to say that the house is very very nice to be in…and I am thinking here about the thermal environment, the air quality – all those things you read about in the Passivhaus documentation: it's fascinating to be in a Passivhaus Refurb, and to 'feel it'!

The wild meadow flower roof is beautiful too…it's not all about energy you know…

[SimmondsMills]

As some may know AECB has been advising the TSB on its retrofit for the Future Competition. Some of the presentations AECB gave are here, and this link is direct to the presentation I did on our refurbishment project. The powerpoint slides are accompanied by audio commentary of the speakers. http://retrofitforthefuture.ning.com/video/andy-simmonds-case-study-in

My presentation is missing a slide which may be useful, here is the missing slide.

[Robert Rickey]

We have just found our house and I want to achieve the best performance possible. I am new to AECB and Passivhaus, but I will get the PHPP soon. Setting the target is important, so can you recap the current best practice thinking for refurb? We will be adding a first floor studio to the garage as well, which could be Carbonlite Gold as it will be mostly new build.

[SimmondsMills]

See https://aecb.net/forum/index.php?topic=2134.0 (I HAVE CORRECTED THIS LINK)
re observations on Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) relevant to this thread.
By the way (BTW) MVHR is now to be called Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) or as my children call it 'The Wind Machine' (TWM) – in order to lose the 'MECHANICAL'/'IRON LUNG' connotations that get some people so over excited….

[Andy Mitchell]

And in discussion with Wolfgang Feist at the AECB conference this year, he said that the ducts are still very clean now 18 years on.

[Nick Grant]

Andy, what are we allowed to call MEV these days?

[David Olivier]

Is this renaming part of the UK tendency to re-shuffle the chairs or reorganise the company/govt. dept. and feel one is accomplishing something?!

The whole topic was studied in detail by the R-2000 Program in Canada which found that airtight houses with MVHR were healthier in some respects than conventional houses. Actually I awlays refer to them being draughtproof as that is a more attractive concept.

I can't really see much better acronyms than MVHR and MEV. Comfort ventilation sounds rather bland and wind machine might be misunderstood.

I hope the TSB projects will include a number with MEV, not just MVHR. On my calculations, MVHR appears to be a waste of money unless buildings can be made as tight as Andy's house, since MEV neutralises the background air infiltration throiugh cracks and gaps, whereas MVHR doesn't.

D.

[Nick Grant]

David

Your MEV v MVHR analysis was excellent and made me think re our own house should I ever get around to fine tuning.

Nick

[Alan Clarke]

I hope the TSB projects will include a number with MEV, not just MVHR. On my calculations, MVHR appears to be a waste of money unless buildings can be made as tight as Andy's house, since MEV neutralises the background air infiltration throiugh cracks and gaps, whereas MVHR doesn't.

D.

Unfortunately with the TSB measures being rated for cost effectiveness in SAP, MEV won't feature as SAP assumes that MEV performs the same as natural ventilation but with additional electrical consumption.

Alan

[SimmondsMills]

I have uploaded in the file' section a pdf showing Relative humidity levels and temperatures and gas consumption for the period nov 09 – end jan 2010.
see database entry at https://aecb.net/cbpd/viewProject.php?id=7#downloads

We are working on a lovely new 'front end' for the database and also will be using it to show the TSB Retrofit projects in the near future in conjunction TSB. Hence it will be come a fully searchable and good looking combined database for refurbished and new build low energy buildings.

[Peter Bayer]

Andy

Given that £45,000 equates to around 30% of the price of a semi ( £150,000 around here ) I think there is some way to go before passive house refurb is seen as affordable. The people who would benefit the most struggle to afford basic maintenance, at this level whole areas would be left out in the cold.
It might be an idea to define affordable, what percentage of house price would be acceptable to:-
a, House owner occupiers?
b, Grant providers?
c, Landlords?

Peter

[SimmondsMills]

Also – if you spend less on energy efficiency measures on homes, then all the savings are going to be taken up in increased comfort levels (temp.) rather than actual energy (fuel bill) and emissions savings. given post below – implying we shouldn't feel guilty about living in warmer houses (UK has coldest homes in europe?) then green deal levels of investment will result in warmer homes, but prob not lower bills or emissions.

[Peter Bayer]

Given the lack of government action in these matters I keep hoping for the price breakthrough that will lead to mass adoption, hence asking for an opinion on where that price point might be ( clearly not £45,000 )
I fully accept your case as put in your last three posts but as with most on here you're preaching to the converted, I just worry about how to win people round while all things eco as perceived as luxuries for the privileged.

[SimmondsMills]

When I say that the Government has not done its sums, I am not forgetting DECC advisor Prof. David MacKay's book and ongoing work with DECC, however what I am saying is that extensive energy efficiency appears to be an underrecognised and under utilised resource, if it was better recognised that would change DECCs '2050' pathway options to a low carbon future (I am told it is hard to use the DECC site to model engery efficiency propoerly), so energy efficiency as applied particularly to buildings is too important a potential to be left unresearched. This means that I prefer to see pioneers try to drive down the costs of low energy refurbs, but we shouldn't allow costs to dictate the level at which we pitch national refurbishment levels, say, if it ends up after pioneering stage costing an average of say £30,000/house (maybe work spread over a period of time) for a level of retrofit that allows increased comfort and c. 60 – 80% (measured) water and space heating energy reduction, then as it benefits UK as a whole as well as the tenant/owner, then the investment in these meaures should reflect that – so a mixture of self finance with grant funding or interest free loans, paid back over 25 – 30 years. Large scale adoption of this approach would negate the need to build #no. power stations of whatever sort and will be cheaper for UK plc (ie all of us) than just building more supply. I realise that there are currently no big businesses fighting for energy efficiency, in the way that they are more interested in investing in supply side options. With deregulated energy markets, 'least cost planning' is not possible and therefore no financial benefit to big business to invest in efficiency (?) that just makes peoples houses warmer and cheaper to run.

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