Retrofit solid brick mid terrace near south coast

[low_and_there]

Hi all, new to the forum. 
 

We’ve just completed on our new home which needs a complete renovation. Keen to try to incorporate Passive House principles, but also thinking about the total embodied carbon in the materials used. I’ve had a look at the EnerPHit standard and would like to aim for that, over the coming decade. 
 

Initial wish list of things is:

 

Chimney breast removal, to make air tightness more achievable 

 

Insulation (natural materials, as it’s a solid brick building) - inside on the front and EWI on the back (if possible)

 

Heat Pump, with UFH throughout 

 

MVHR

 

I’ve done the odd bit of small scale diy and redecoration in the past, and managed a few kitchen renovations and wall knockouts but nothing on this scale before. Our budget necessitates diy for some of it but I also know my limitations! I’ve been a project manager for 15 years tho, so I know how to plan and managed work packages, which will hopefully help me here.

 

As this is going to be a gradual retrofit, one of the things I’ve already been thinking about is the challenges of planning for things in the future, without knowing exactly what that will look like. We want to do a loft extension in a few years (if we can afford it!) so I want to make sure that the airtightness layer we put in can be joined up to that later without too much rework. More importantly we need space for all the Heat Pump and MVHR plant equipment, and I’d like to think we could do solar and get a battery when we do the loft too, so we need to have space for that but not loose too much of the loft to compromise the future extension…

 

ok, thats probably more than enough for a first post from me. 
 

Cheers

[DaveAndAnnaUK]

 

Hi, You are beginning the same journey we have done. Unfortunately the world has gone crazy and especially in the building trade, nothing is guaranteed. Before doing anything on the house, contact all the suppliers you expect to use and ask how sure they are they will be able to supply and how stable prices are likely to be.

We fitted MHRV and our post is "Death of an MHRV unit", you might like to take everything we have experienced before starting that project. If you are thinking of doing it to save money on heating bills, forget it!

All the walls and ceilings in our house are fermacell and I dread to think how much it costs and the supply issues  I would encounter now.

As I said at the beginning, the world has gone nuts! Neil McCoy Ward (Can be found on Odysee and YT) owns a few letting agencies and gives good advice, you might want to check him out.

We lived in a touring caravan while doing up the house. Good thing about that is, should the worse come to the worst, you can hook up and leave at short notice. Also it gives you somewhere clean to relax at the end of the day. Just get one that is made for year round use.

and welcome to the South!

 

Cheers

 

Dave