Passivhaus Design
Passivhaus is a worldwide best practice comfort and energy standard for all building types. We have been working in this specialism since 2009 and have been instrumental in bringing Passivhaus to the UK.
It underpins all the work KMA undertakes, whether you choose to certify your building or simply use the performance modelling as a design tool. We choose to work with this because it gives excellent comfort, very low energy use and a very good QA process for design and construction.
The design process requires attention to detail and the building is rigorously tested during construction to assess construction quality.
What is Passivhaus?
A ‘passivhaus’ building is defined by having very low energy use whilst being very comfortable and cosy, with fresh air, in all weathers and at all times of year.
This is achieved by focusing on the designing and constructing the building fabric very well – know as ‘fabric first’. Most of the heating is provided by optimising solar energy through the building’s glazing, using the internal heat gains from the building and using heat recovery to warm the fresh air that comes into the building. This is calculated for your specific building and location.
The very small amount of heating that is needed, along with energy for hot water and lighting can then be supplied more easily by renewables and/or mains services.
There are 6 key principles to the passivhaus standard:
Key principles of Passivhaus
Excellent Insulation
All elements of a building need to minimise heat loss and this includes excellent levels of insulation. This is not the whole story though, and it is important that the insulation is as continuous as possible, well installed and any ‘thermal bridges’ designed out. This is to a higher standard than the current building regulations, giving a much better result. The extent of insulation will depend on the building size and form.
High Performance Glazing
The inner face of the high performance glazing stays above 17 degrees C, avoiding creating drafts and cold spots which not only require energy to counteract, but improving comfort. In Scotland, triple glazing is required to achieve this, and requirements for glazing vary depending on geographic location worldwide. Suitable products are now readily available.
Draft Free Construction
The inner face of the high performance glazing stays above 17 degrees C, avoiding creating drafts and cold spots which not only require energy to counteract, but improving comfort. In Scotland, triple glazing is required to achieve this, and requirements for glazing vary depending on geographic location worldwide. Suitable products are now readily available.
Thermal Bridge Free Construction
The inner face of the high performance glazing stays above 17 degrees C, avoiding creating drafts and cold spots which not only require energy to counteract, but improving comfort. In Scotland, triple glazing is required to achieve this, and requirements for glazing vary depending on geographic location worldwide. Suitable products are now readily available.
Good ventilation
The inner face of the high performance glazing stays above 17 degrees C, avoiding creating drafts and cold spots which not only require energy to counteract, but improving comfort. In Scotland, triple glazing is required to achieve this, and requirements for glazing vary depending on geographic location worldwide. Suitable products are now readily available.
Design Optimisation
The inner face of the high performance glazing stays above 17 degrees C, avoiding creating drafts and cold spots which not only require energy to counteract, but improving comfort. In Scotland, triple glazing is required to achieve this, and requirements for glazing vary depending on geographic location worldwide. Suitable products are now readily available.
Passivhaus design process
- Passivhaus Designer – your consultant who is embedded in the design team and works to optimise your design, including helping you choose a suitable performance target. We lead on this and fully integrate it into the process
- Passivhaus Certifier – an independent consultant who assesses the design and provides separate QA of the design and construction, as well as assessing if the building may be certified as Passivhaus.
What we do
Passivhaus Designer - in house for our projects
For our own architectural projects this approach is fully integrated into all projects. This allows you to make informed decisions about building performance and comfort throughout the process, with the impact of those choices at your fingertips.
You can choose whether or not to certify your project and we work with you to choose an appropriate performance target for your new building. These include:
- Passivhaus – classic, plus and premium;
- Passivhaus Low Energy Standard and
- AECB Building Standard.
The Scottish Building Standards are currently developing a ‘passivhaus equivalent’ which is due to integrate this into all housing over the coming few years, with those of us experienced in the field, leading by example now and as the industry upskills.
All of these standards act as benchmarks and work hand in handwith wider eco and sustainability priorities such as responsible material specification.
Passivhaus Designer - external consultancy
Passivhaus certification - why consider it?
What is certification?
It is a rigorous and independent QA process. Supporting documentation from the design and construction process provided by the design team and contractor is reviewed to assess whether your project meets the standard and will perform as you expect. The Passivhaus Trust has an excellent certification guide.
Why certify your building?
Clients know that they are getting the building they expect that is comfortable and fresh, easy to heat, has a low impact on the environment and, as passivhaus closes the ‘performance gap’, the building will do as it says on the tin. This is becoming more and more important to clients at all scales especially as energy markets become more volatile. Comfort in buildings is something that everyone should be able to take for granted and passivhaus has been shown to deliver this. In different settings this has different benefits. For example, in schools and offices attainment is shown to increase. Certification provides the independent QA that demonstrates a building has been designed and constructed to achieve this and keeps a focus on building performance as part of the wider project process.
Designers gain from the certification process as a second set of eyes to review the project and share their expertise during the design stage with a pre-construction check for peace of mind. Designers can also gain or renew their ‘certified Passivhaus Designer’ certificate by completing a certified project.
Our roles
We work with the certification process:
- as passivhaus designer: preparing projects for certification in our role as Passivhaus Designers. We work with a range of different certifiers, depending on your building type and requirements.
- certification assessment: In addition to this, Kirsty works as part of the WARM team for assessing certification of projects.
Please call us at KMA to discuss passivhaus consultancy and passivhaus certification to see which service is right for your project, and we will direct you from there.
Projects
We work on projects across Scotland and as far away as sub-Antarctica. Our projects include homes, schools, offices, exhibition and arts buildings, sports facilities, visitor centres and emergency shelters. All are underpinned by commitment to comfort and low environmental impact.