Passivhaus Trust & AECB Local Group: Mid and North Wales site visit to Y Wern

The newly formed Passivhaus Trust & AECB Local Group for Mid and North Wales kicked off their third meeting with a lively site visit to Y Wern, near Welshpool, on 17 September. Nearly 30 people, from architects and technologists to timber and concrete suppliers, developers, academics, clients, & Welsh Government employees, travelled from as far as Cardiff and Manchester to see the project first-hand.

AECB & Passivhaus Trust Local Group: Mid and North Wales site visit to Y Wern

Local group leaders Jasper Meade and Tabitha Binding hosted the event, while Passivhaus Trust member Harry Bowen, MWP, along with Steve Owen and Jamie Jones, walked attendees through the development: 17 high-performance homes arranged across five blocks.

MWP adopted the Passivhaus standard for all new-builds projects in 2020, the first step in their ambitious plan to deliver all future schemes to Net Zero by 2030. They work with local contractors and supply chains to deliver comfortable, healthy low energy homes.

At Y Wern, the homes sit on a beam and block insulated ground floor; the walls are timber frame twin wall with a smartply lining as the airtightness layer. The balloon frame design uses metal web joints for ease of pipe runs for the first floor and is topped by a non-accessible stubbed trussed rafter roof. The homes are clad in a mix of brick, timber cladding and render. Small arrays of PV supply the home, with excess energy going first to the water tank and then back to the grid. The Zehnder MVHR unit is sited ingeniously horizontally in the floor void between the downstairs shower room and the upstairs bathroom.

AECB & Passivhaus Trust Local Group: Mid and North Wales site visit to Y Wern

Once certified by Mead Consulting, the development will be handed over to social housing provider Barcud in mid-October.

Visitors were impressed by the homes’ spaciousness, quiet interiors and affordable cost. As one attendee noted, “MWP are showing how Passivhaus can upskill local supply chains to deliver high performance homes.”

AECB & Passivhaus Trust Local Group: Mid and North Wales site visit to Y Wern

The evening wrapped up with more discussion at a nearby pub. The Mid and North Wales Local Group is already planning its next meeting for November, while the South & West Wales Local Group next meet on 15 October.

For any questions or queries please contact: tabitha@passivhaustrust.org.uk