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.
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.
Key stats:Number of units: 15 Construction: Timber frame / masonry Project value: £2.6million TFA: 949m2 Completed: December 2022 Certified: February 2023 |
Designed by Glasgow-based PHT members ECD Architects, the affordable homes development comprises a mix of terraced bungalows and two storey, semi-detached dwellings.
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.
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.
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.
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 |
Join us at the UK Passivhaus Conference 2023
Drymen 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.
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Further information
Conic Way and Montrose Way Passivhaus Homes
Passivhaus Social Housing: Maximising benefits, minimising costs
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