Passivhaus Affiliate

Passivhaus cruises into Loch Lomond!

The popular tourist town of Drymen, part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, now has a new Passivhaus attraction as Stirlingshire’s newest housing development has achieved Passivhaus certification.

Drymen Passivhaus | Image credit: ECD Architects

 

Hanover (Scotland) Housing Association constructed their first house scheme on the site in 1979, but by 2021, the existing homes failed the modern-day energy efficiency standards required for social housing and needed to be replaced.  The housing association looked to the Passivhaus standard to provide energy efficient and comfortable homes for their tenants.

 

QUOTE: Hanover is delighted that our project at Drymen has successfully gained Passivhaus accreditation. Never before has energy efficiency and fuel poverty been more important given the current energy crisis. | Angela Currie, Hanover Scotland chief executive officer

 

Key stats:

Number of units: 15

Construction: Timber frame / masonry

Project value: £2.6million

TFA: 949m2

Completed: December 2022

Certified: February 2023

Drymen Passivhaus | Image credit: ECD Architects

 

Designed by Glasgow-based PHT members ECD Architects, the affordable homes development comprises a mix of terraced bungalows and two storey, semi-detached dwellings.

QUOTE: It is great that our clients are really getting on board and that Passivhaus and sustainability generally are becoming more and more mainstream - there is a real buzz about it and it is a really exciting time for the building industry in general. | Jennifer Rooney, ECD Architects

 

A key feature of the design is the orientation of the buildings, all of which are positioned to achieve maximum solar gains.  The dwellings utilise a standard plan layout which allowes the living areas locaed on the south facades to benefits from consistantly high levels of daylighting.

Drymen Passivhaus - Site Plan | Image credit: ECD Architects

In addition, the development has a particular aesthetic quality as it has specifically designed to sit comforably with the surrounding exising housing.  The design blends in with the surrounding existing housing despite the units preforming significantly ahead of their neighbours with regards to performance.

Drymen Passivhaus | Image credit: ECD Architects

 

 

Construction

To streamline construction and minimise on site build time, the homes have been specially constructed using standard timber frame kit construction to streamline the building process, minimise on site construction time and reduce the need for additional materials.

QUOTE: Training gave us an insight into some of the difficulties of Passivhaus, we approached the project with care and a huge amount of attention to detail which has paid off. | Keith Barclay, Pre Construction Manager, Cruden Building

 

Building performance

Designed energy performance:

 

Montrose Way

Units 24/26

Montrose Way

Units 10,12,14,16, 8,20,22

Conic Way

Units 15 / 17

Conic Way

Units 11 / 13

Airtightness n50 (≤ 0.6ACH @ 50 Pa)                           

 

0.5 @ 50 Pa

 

0.6 @ 50 Pa

0.4 @ 50 Pa

0.5 @ 50 Pa

Space Heating Demand (≤ 15 kWh/m².a)

 

14 kWh/m².a  

 

14 kWh/m².a

15 kWh/m².a

16 kWh/m².a

Heating Load (≤ 10 W/m²)

 

11 W/m²

 

10 W/m²

10 W/m²

10 W/m²

Primary Energy Renewable (PER) Demand (≤ 60 kWh/m².a*)    

 

60 kWh/m².a

 

55 kWh/m².a

53 kWh/m².a

53 kWh/m².a

*+/-15 kWh/m².a allowance if offset by energy generation. See Passivhaus criteria

 

Lessons learned

  • To deliver the project, the contractor, Cruden Building identified the need to familiarise their workforce with Passivhaus construction and so sent members of the team on th Low Carbon Learning training programme at BE-ST.
  • With hindsight, it was considered that the project could have benefited from the inclusion of PV and battery storage to further reduce running costs, during occassional low temperatures.
  • On project completion, a lessons learned document was created which has been useful on the subsequent projects Cruden Building have commenced working on.

 

Key team:

Client/ Developer: Hanover Housing Association

Architect & Passivhaus Consultant: ECD Architects

Contractor: Cruden Building Scotland

Passivhaus Certifier: WARM

Other Consultants: RSP

Drymen Passivhaus | Image credit: ECD Architects

 

 

Join us at the UK Passivhaus Conference 2023

UK Passivhaus Conference 2023 | 16-17 October | in-person in Edinburgh and onlineDrymen Passivhaus is one of a growing number of Passivhaus social housing projects throughout Scotland.

We will also be exploring the delivery of large scale Passivhaus projects during the UK Passivhaus Conference 2023 in Edinburgh. Be sure to register early and take advantage of our early bird discount!  Learn more about delivering Passivhaus social housing in our social housing campaign

 

 

You may also like

How to build a Passivhaus
Passivhaus Social Housing
How to build a Passivhaus: Good Practice Guide

 

Further information

Conic Way and Montrose Way Passivhaus Homes

Passivhaus Social

Passivhaus Social Housing: Maximising benefits, minimising costs

UK Passivhaus Conference 2023

Previous PHT story: Loch Lomond social housing fights fuel poverty with Passivhaus – 25 March 2021

Specification Online: Scotland’s first Passivhaus certified social housing development completes - 09 January 2023

The National: Scotland's first Passivhaus social housing development is completed -20 December 2022

BE-ST: Passivhaus in practice on new-build social housing - 03 November 2022

21st August 2023


Never miss UK Passivhaus news by joining the Passivhaus Trust mailing list Follow us on twitter @PassivhausTrust

< Back To News