| The passive solar house concept was born in Germany but has been gaining a lot a ground in Ireland in the past few years. It is becoming even more important with the steady march of building regulations in Ireland towards the ‘zero-carbon house’.
In terms of energy efficiency (space heating requirement) a passive house will consume typically;
- 90% less energy than a standard house built in 2007
- 70% less energy than an low energy house (BER = A3)
These figures are pretty amazing and what is more incredible is that Magner Homes can build to this standard from as little as 5% over the cost of construction of a standard house. This additional cost will be quickly recovered within the first few years of your new home thanks to the minimal energy bills that it delivers.
What is even more interesting is that this building performance standard can be achieved with almost any construction method (e.g. block, timber, Quinnlite block)
Irrespective of construction method, a house built to the Passive House standard will have the following characteristics
- Southern orientation
- 50% better building fabric insulation (u-value) than standard construction
- Triple glaze windows
- Maximum of 15 kWh/m2 per year of delivered energy for space heating
- Air infiltration rate will be less than 0.6 m3/m2hr at 50 Pa.
- Thermal Bridging will be reduced to a minimum
- Heat Recovery Ventilation system (> 90% efficient)
All of this means that, in theory, there is no need for a heating system in the house. However, in practise, all passive houses have a back-up heating system.
Magner Homes would love to be your builder and has the full range of services in-house needed to deliver your new house to the Passive House standard.
Benefits of Passive Homes
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