Fareham Borough Council has high hopes for Passivhaus Solutions

Fareham Borough Council plan to build six 2 bedroom homes that meet the Passivhaus standard in Cold East Close, Sarisbury Green.

In addition to providing much needed rented homes, the ‘trial’ Passivhaus project aims to showcase the merits of building to the rigorous Standard and will inform future development expectations for Welborne, north of Fareham. The Council has set a target that 10% of residential new builds in Welborne will be Passivhaus Certified.

These are environmentally friendly houses and it is to see how effective they will be for future development. Brian Bayford, Executive member for housing, Fareham Borough Council.

The site consists of former garage access and 4 large back gardens to the homes in the Council’s ownership. The land is a recognised housing site in the Council’s Local Plan, and planning was granted in July 2014. Each of the six Passivhaus homes will benefit from a private back garden, external storage and drying facilities.

The homes will be built using traditional ‘brick and block’ methods so that the approach most typically used by house builders in the area are emulated as closely as possible. It is envisaged that a traditional method of construction will entice local house builders and local residents.

Predicted U Values

Roof - 0.10W/m²K
Wall - 0.12W/m²K
Floor - 0.11W/m²K to end terraces & 0.10W/m²K to mid terraces

Once completed, homes will be rented to people on the Council’s Housing List. The energy performance of the homes will be monitored for 12 months to gain a deeper understanding of the benefits of Passivhaus to end users.

Artist impression of Cold East Close Passivhaus development. Credit: Kenn Scaddan Associates

Fareham Borough Council are set to enter into contract with Interserve Construction Limited to complete the proposed development.

The project is to be built and funded by Fareham Borough Council. The budget is £1,000,000, of which £120,000 of grant funding has been secured via the Homes and Communities Agency 2015-2018 Affordable Homes Programme.

Construction is due to start April 2015; completion expected the Spring 2016.