Rishard

Do you know if there are any instructions for filling this out and interpreting them? cheers

@Gus Potter- my gut feeling is to try have it modelled. The main reason being this is my first low energy build. Although I’m confident with the detailing and build-ability of the project I have little understanding what this may look like in terms of its efficiency. Knowing some of the figures would help inform how best is can heat the building. Likewise, I’m not trying to scrimp on having a sensible heating system that can deliver heat when it’s needed. I have small children who will one day be those teenagers you talk of! I have a readily available supply of wood offcuts from my work so did think of a small log burner. I know this may be seen counterintuitive but just a thought. I’ll await other peoples views on this…. We have no west facing glazing due to neighbouring boundaries to west and east. Glazing to both north(garden) and south.

I’ve not heard of these programmes. I had hoped to outsource this part of the work to someone more capable than myself to avoid error. It was very much my plan, only slightly scuppered by their availability which made me look into alternatives. I’ll look in to TAS.

Great, I’ve read about people using this spreadsheet. Is it fairly manageable for a builder? Construction will be. Block, full full cavity, block. There will be a brick plinth detail and a combination of render and cladding. On plan we have 300mm dritherm cavities following the Denny dale approach. Metal web joists, glue lam ridge beams with potentially warm roof vaulted ceilings. Plywood window reveal boxes and triple glazed windows. Dense block for walls with a course of thermal block work at concrete slab and above a steel to carry part of the 1st floor.

Having built several extensions and barn conversions, it’s time for my own self build! I’ve been using this site for the last year getting upto speed with similar approaches and practices. I’m through planning and lining up our next few moves. I opted for an ‘almost passive house’ style build with plenty of insulation and reduced thermal bridging details having consulted the green building store during our design process. Having worked and built several projects I’ve seen the varying scale of acceptable build quality in real site practice. Being my own project I’m hoping to achieve near passive standards without the certification process. Our site has a few limitations due to neighbouring houses shading and the classic north facing garden. We are also in a conservation area. All this being said, we have planning. My first question to the forum would be on PHPP. We did plan to model the house but can’t get this done till summer with GBS. I have other architects who could help but at a large cost. I know some people have been happy to progress based on tried and tested detailing ect. Is it worth the spend for piece of mind? Is it too late in the game to make vast changes to our approved planning anyway? Would love to hear peoples views on this phase. One issue I have would be to accurately size our space heating needs without understanding the predicted building performance. Slap me if I’m over thinking so I don’t overspend! Cheers