Rookies diving into the passive house deep end

[Jake Smith]

On 20/05/2022 at 14:31, mike2016 said:

See if you can sign up for an PHPP Designer course - online or in person. Good foundation.

Visit a Passive House if any open days still exist? 

Housebuilders Bible 14th edition or greater (book)

This Forum

1/2 day or 1 day airtightness course, taping and sealing hands on should be part of that

Visit NSBRC - Swindon & any of the big housebuilding / home exhibitions to talk to exhibitors about MVHR/ASHP etc

Don't leave chocolate on top of your laptop lid - it melts....! 

Best of luck! 

 

Haha thanks Mike, I have definitely done the chocolate laptop trick before.

We have just booked the NSBCR in Swindon I think - will have to check with my wife who is sensibly asleep.

The airtightness course is a great idea and not something I had considered, thanks for the advise!

[Jake Smith]

On 21/05/2022 at 11:48, Adrian Walker said:

If would suggest that you find an architect or architectural technician that has some experience and knowledge of PH design. Most don’t and if they don’t understand the 5 Pillars of PH design then you will spent a lot of time and money educating them. 

Hi Adrian,

I thinks we have been lucky on that front, I have been pulling in favours left, right and centre from colleagues and friends in the industry with passive house expertise. Our passive house designer seems top notch too. 

I was told today by somebody at the green building store that it is now possible to self certify your passive house! That will be tomorrow's internet rabbit hole. 

[Adrian Walker]

6 hours ago, Jake Smith said:

Hi Adrian,

I thinks we have been lucky on that front, I have been pulling in favours left, right and centre from colleagues and friends in the industry with passive house expertise. Our passive house designer seems top notch too. 

I was told today by somebody at the green building store that it is now possible to self certify your passive house! That will be tomorrow's internet rabbit hole. 

 

 

I think you will find that the "self certify your passive house" is actually referring the the AECB Standard (https://aecb.net/aecb-building-certification/)which can self certified.  If you need a mortgage then if you meet either standards (PH or AECB) Ecology will give you a discount once completed.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Adrian Walker

[Jake Smith]

3 hours ago, Adrian Walker said:

 

 

I think you will find that the "self certify your passive house" is actually referring the the AECB Standard (https://aecb.net/aecb-building-certification/)which can self certified.  If you need a mortgage then if you meet either standards (PH or AECB) Ecology will give you a discount once completed.

I agree - it does seem unlikely that the PassivHaus institute would relinquish the power of certification.. If I find out any more then I will post on here. 

[Adrian Walker]

The Passivhaus Handbook: A Practical Guide to Constructing and Retrofitting Buildings for Ultra-Low Energy Performance

By Janet Cotterell and Adam Dadeby is a really good book. 

[Iceverge]

Good luck on your journey. 

 

We built a passive House in 2019/20/21 with a 250mm cavity and strip foundation's. 

 

Most of the detailing was based on Denby Dale. These videos are definitely worth a watch.  There was still plenty of reinventing the wheel as we went along. 

 

Interestingly the trades we dealt with directly were much easier to align out thoughts with rather than those subbed through the builder.  

 

For heating we use a plug in rad. It works fine but if I was DIYing I'd put in a very simple UFH loop on a timer to shift all the heating to cheaper night rate  electricity by using a thick concrete slab as a heat battery. 

 

Immersion only UVC here works well. 300l for 2 adults+ kids can be heated all on cheap night electricity. Solar PV is in the pipeline somewhere in the future. 

 

 

 

 

[Jake Smith]

On 17/06/2022 at 20:07, Adrian Walker said:

The Passivhaus Handbook: A Practical Guide to Constructing and Retrofitting Buildings for Ultra-Low Energy Performance

By Janet Cotterell and Adam Dadeby is a really good book. 

Thanks Adrian, I don't think I have this one. I will order it now.

[Jake Smith]

On 17/06/2022 at 22:19, Iceverge said:

Good luck on your journey. 

 

We built a passive House in 2019/20/21 with a 250mm cavity and strip foundation's. 

 

Most of the detailing was based on Denby Dale. These videos are definitely worth a watch.  There was still plenty of reinventing the wheel as we went along. 

 

Interestingly the trades we dealt with directly were much easier to align out thoughts with rather than those subbed through the builder.  

 

For heating we use a plug in rad. It works fine but if I was DIYing I'd put in a very simple UFH loop on a timer to shift all the heating to cheaper night rate  electricity by using a thick concrete slab as a heat battery. 

 

Immersion only UVC here works well. 300l for 2 adults+ kids can be heated all on cheap night electricity. Solar PV is in the pipeline somewhere in the future. 

 

 

 

 

Hi Iceverge,

 

Your build methodology sounds pretty much identical to ours. Thanks for the advice regarding the underfloor heating loop. I might well do that as I understand UFH loops are not particularly expensive to install yourself during the build. I can always plumb it in later if needed and the slab heat battery makes a lot of sense! I want a system that we can easily plug renewables in at a later date too. The dream would be a Britwind turbine, some PV and decent battery storage.. I am a way of that being a reality though!

 

I am glad to hear that you had a good experience with working with the trades directly. None of the chaps I am using have PH experience but they are good and seem willing(ish) to give it a go. I am hopping to avoid issues by ensuring I am fully across all the detailing. Luckily we live & work on site so I can be quite present too. Whether I manage to effectively manage to juggle work, young kids and the build is yet to be seen 😅  

 

 

 

 

[MikeSharp01]

On 17/06/2022 at 20:07, Adrian Walker said:

The Passivhaus Handbook: A Practical Guide to Constructing and Retrofitting Buildings for Ultra-Low Energy Performance

+1 it takes you through everything - very gently albeit at a relatively high level, you will need other resources for the detail.

[Iceverge]

UFH pipe costs about £3/m2 plus clips ( you'll need long ones for EPS)  install and manifolds. £10/m2  won't be wildly out.

 

Roughly a 100mm concrete slab ( which is installed anyway) heated uniformly by 5 deg is 0.3 kWh of storage. That equates to £33/kWh of storage, 

 

A tesla powerwall 2 at about £10000/13.5kWh is £740/kWh.

 

Similarly our UVC is about £40/kWh of storage.  I'm unconvinced of the benefits of battery storage for domestic installations. Indeed PV much beyond 3-4kWp doesn't appear to have any reasonable payback from my calcs ( we have none yet).

 

Wind turbine domestically are generally seen as gadgets (nothing wrong with that) rather than economic shrewdness.

 

I was mistakenly under the impression that a passive house might need no heating. We tried, but at 17-18deg it wasn't comfortable. It won't need much however and a full blown central heating system will be a waste. I made a thread somewhere of you want to search.

 

8 hours ago, Jake Smith said:

None of the chaps I am using have PH experience but they are good and seem willing(ish) to give it a go. I am hopping to avoid issues by ensuring I am fully across all the detailing. Luckily we live & work on site so I can be quite present too. Whether I manage to effectively manage to juggle work, young kids and the build is yet to be seen 😅  

 

 

Generally 90% of the tradespeople are really good. Don't be afraid to part company with the rest as they'll cause more hassle than they're worth. It helps to be on site daily before they begin work to make sure everyone is on the same page, all the drawings and instructions in the world can't replace 5 mins face to face.

 

Try not to make the classic self builders mistake, especially with family, of trying to physically do too much work yourself. I did and found myself burnt out towards the end, unable to put enough effort into the management and oversight. Also don't ne shy to share ideas on here. I wish i'd done more asking during our build, lots if helpful folk. 

 

Enjoy the process however. You'll have a great house when you're done. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SteamyTea]

13 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

UFH pipe costs about £3/m2 plus clips ( you'll need long ones for EPS)  install and manifolds. £10/m2  won't be wildly out.

 

Roughly a 100mm concrete slab ( which is installed anyway) heated uniformly by 5 deg is 0.3 kWh of storage. That equates to £33/kWh of storage, 

 

A tesla powerwall 2 at about £10000/13.5kWh is £740/kWh.

 

Similarly our UVC is about £40/kWh of storage.  I'm unconvinced of the benefits of battery storage for domestic installations. Indeed PV much beyond 3-4kWp doesn't appear to have any reasonable payback from my calcs

While I agree with all that, especially when you take the difference in the number of charge/discharge cycles into account, battery storage is useful when it comes to lighting and cooking.

There is also the overriding issue of CO_2e emissions , of the grid demand is smoothed out, then more efficient generation happens.

Nationally the demand peak is at 'tea time', so batteries have had all day to be recharged from excess PV generation.