Technical Guidance - Steel in Passivhaus Construction

Category: Guidance

A growing number of high performance and Passivhaus steel frame buildings are being designed or are currently under construction throughout the UK in 2022-2023. Over the course of these first projects, it has become clear that there is little specific guidance available to support designers, clients and contractors around steel construction and Passivhaus. This paper aims to fill the gap by setting out some guiding principles.

The integration of a steel frame for Passivhaus brings unique challenges, which design teams may not have encountered to the same degree when aiming for less ambitious fabric performance standards or implementing other forms of construction. This paper draws on knowledge gained in a practical way from the first steel frame Passivhaus projects being constructed in the UK to share lessons learned and to highlight key watch points and risk areas to a wider audience.

For clients, it sets out the context and challenges that must be considered in the decision-making process, and introduces technical factors that may have implications for cost, procurement and sequencing. For designers and contractors, it provides applied guidance in relation to U-value calculations, buildability, site guidance and third party quality evidence required, and presents a framework for a best practice approach to high performance and Passivhaus steel buildings.

 

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 Published: October 2023
v 1.2 issued December 2023

 

 

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