We may think that new build houses are energy efficient and this is certainly the case when compared to the Victorian era homes that many of us live and work in throughout North Wales. The reality is that most new homes have a relatively poor level of energy efficiency when compared to homes in other parts of Europe especially Germany and even Ireland where all new homes must be built to higher energy and build standards.
There is a standard in Germany called Passiv Haus that is a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, which reduces the building’s ecological footprint] It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling. A similar standard, MINERGIE-P, is used in Switzerland. The standard is not confined to residential properties; several office buildings, schools, kindergartens and a supermarket have also been constructed to the standard. Passive design is not an attachment or supplement to architectural design, but a design process that integrates with architectural design. Although it is principally applied to new buildings, it has also been used for refurbishments. Jon Day is a north Wales builder who has a wealth of experience in the passive area, havig been introduced to the building philosophies whilst working on big projects in Germany. You can read about his company Hooga Low Energy and also catch up on developments in this arena at Passive House News. Jon is available to consult on projects throughout the UK , North West and North Wales.
If you are looking at buying a new new home, ask the builder or developer about energy saving standards and encourage them to add in as much insulation and energy saving features. Passive House standards are not far off being adopted in the UK, although the big name developers are resisting these developments. There may be several reasons for this, increased build cost resulting in lower profit margins for builders. Every ‘Passive House’ has a test where air is blown into the building the measure the degree of building air tightness.
Despite all of the above there are lots of these projects getting built and obtaining publicity and it is likely that social housing and other Government funded developments will be at the vanguard of developments as many UK local authorities are adopting these standards.
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