Camden Passivhaus
Download
as PDF Camden Passivhaus in Ranulf Road, designed by bere:architects and completed in April 2010, is Londons first Passivhaus. The project is a 118m2 single family house split over two floors. The primary objective of this project is to achieve a comfortable home for a young family, whilst minimising energy consumption. It contains two wild flower meadow roofs and a south facing garden enclosed by an ivy fence to increase local biodiversity. Healthy air and water quality is prioritised by using non-toxic materials; heat recovery ventilation and water filtration for drinking and bathing. Mains water use is supplemented by an underground water harvesting tank providing water for irrigation.
Camden Passivhaus : Project images
Click on image to preview full size
Fuel use
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Electricity use | - | 2323 kWh/yr | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas use | - | 2862 kWh/yr | - |
| Oil use | - | - | - |
| LPG use | - | - | - |
| Wood use | - | - | - |
| Other Fuel | - | - | - |
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Primary energy requirement | - | 91 kWh/m².yr | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual CO₂ emissions | - | 20 kg CO₂/m².yr | - |
| Annual space heat demand | - | 13.3 kWh/m².yr | - |
Renewable energy
| Electricity generation | Forecast | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Renewables Technology | - | - |
| Other Renewables Tech | - | - |
| Electricity consumed by generation | - | - |
| Primary energy requirement offset by renewable generation | 91 kWh/m².yr | - |
| Annual CO₂ emissions offset by renewable generation | 20 kg CO₂/m².yr | - |
Calculation and targets
| Whole house energy calculation method | PHPP |
|---|---|
| Other whole house calculation method | - |
| Energy target | |
| Other energy targets | - |
| Forecast heating load | 9 W/m² demand |
Airtightness
| Date | Result | |
| Pre-development air permeability test | - | - |
|---|---|---|
| Final air permeability test | 24 April 2010 | 0.4m³/m².hr @ 50 Pascals |
Project description
| Stage | Occupied |
|---|---|
| Start date | 20 September 2009 |
| Occupation date | 31 January 2011 |
| Location | London London England |
| Build type | New build |
| Building sector | Private Residential |
| Property type | Detached |
| Construction type | Softwood frame |
| Other construction type | |
| Party wall construction | |
| Floor area | 100 m² |
| Floor area calculation method | Treated Floor Area (PHPP) |
| Building certification |  Passivhaus certified building |
Project Team
| Organisation | bere:architects |
|---|---|
| Project lead person | bere:architects |
| Landlord or Client | Ms Terry |
| Architect | bere:architects |
| Mechanical & electrical consultant | bere:architects with Alan Clarke / The Green Buiding Store |
| Energy consultant | bere:architects with Alan Clarke |
| Structural engineer | Rodrigues Associates |
| Quantity surveyor | |
| Consultant | |
| Contractor | Visco |
Design strategies
| Planned occupancy | 2-3 people |
|---|---|
| Space heating strategy | All heating is supplied through the ventilation system (with towel radiators in the bathrooms for additional comfort). The heat for the air is supplied by the solar water tank/ a small gas condensing boiler. |
| Water heating strategy | Solar hot water, (with gas condensing boiler top up). |
| Fuel strategy | Mains Gas |
| Renewable energy strategy | 3sqm of solar thermal collectors |
| Passive Solar strategy | The window proportions and the use of passive solar gains have been optimised using PHPP. |
| Space cooling strategy | Natural cross and stack ventilation for summer cooling. External louvres with solar conotrol for summer shading. |
| Daylighting strategy | The living, kitchen and dining areas are located on the first floor to minimise the need for artifical lighting. |
| Ventilation strategy | Mechanical heat recovery ventilation (winter) Natural ventilation with extract only ventilation in the bathroom and WC (summer) |
| Airtightness strategy | OSB with taped joints and an intello membrane |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | Thermal bridge-free construction throughout and all junctions have been modelled in Heat2 and the results fed into the PHPP. |
| Modelling strategy | Every junction of the building was optimised using a thermal modelling programme Heat2 and then fed back into the Passivhaus Planning Package. |
| Insulation strategy | Despite being located in one of the milder areas of the UK, the house on Ranulf Road required high levels of insulation due to overshadowing from neighbouring buildings. The levels of insulation:400mm wood fibre insulation above the concrete slab, 280mm mineral wool +100mmwood fibre insulation in the external walls, 280mm PUR + 120mm mineral wool insulation in the flat roof and 380mm mineral wool insulation in the sloping roof. |
| Other relevant retrofit strategies | |
| Contextual information |
Building services
| Occupancy | 2 people |
|---|---|
| Space heating | All heating is supplied through the ventilation system (with towel radiators in the bathrooms for additional comfort). The heat for the air is supplied by the solar water tank/ a small gas condensing boiler. |
| Hot water | 3 square meters of solar thermal provide up to 50% of the domestic hot water, the rest is topped up with a gas condensing boiler. |
| Ventilation | The Paul thermos 200 DC has been installed in Ranulf Road. The ventilation unit achieves a heat recovery efficiency of 90.1% whilst the electric efficiency is of 0.36 Wh/m3. |
| Controls | Room thermostat in the living room, if the room temperature drops below 20 degrees, the 2 towel radiators will automatically switch on. The master bedroom has a boost switch for increased user comfort. |
| Cooking | Electric induction hob and oven. |
| Lighting | Low energy LED and fluorescent lighting through-out the building. |
| Appliances | Every appliance was rigorously chosen and had to comply with the high levels of efficiency set in PHPP. Where possible the appliances are A++ rated. |
| Renewable energy generation system | A 3sqm solar thermal panel is installed on the main flat green roof. |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | All junction details are designed to prevent thermal bridges and the results form part of the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) energy calculations. |
Building construction
| Storeys | 2 |
|---|---|
| Volume | 256m³ |
| Thermal fabric area | 388 m² |
| Roof description | Ranulf Road has a flat roof with massive wood panels, 280mm PUR and 120mm mineral wool insulation and a wild flower meadow roof. The building has another wild flower meadow on the sloping roof at the rear of the property, with 380mm mineral wool insulation in a timber frame construction. |
| Roof U-value | 0.11 W/m² K |
| Walls description | The lower retaining external wall build-up (from the outside) is 200mm thick Caltite concrete, 240mm timber studs with mineral wool between the studs, a 15mm OSB board and the air tightness membrane and finally a 100mm service zone filled wood fibre insulation. The upper external wall build-up (from the outside) is Austrian larch cladding on battens, building paper and 15mm thick fermacell panels fixed to 280mm timber studs with mineral wool between the studs, a 15mm OSB board and air tightness membrane and again an insulated 100mm service zone. |
| Walls U-value | 0.11 W/m² K |
| Party walls description | |
| Party walls U-value | - |
| Floor description | Before the timber frame was installed the insitu concrete floor slab and retaining walls were cast. The timber frame ground floor build-up includes 2 x 140mm timber beams with wood fibre insulation between. The air tightness membrane is laid over these beams and a final 100mm deep service void is created with 100mm timber beams with wood fibre insulation between. The floor finish is 16mm engineered oak floor boards. |
| Floor U-value | 0.10 W/m² K |
| Glazed doors description | The entrance door is a triple glazed Passivhaus door. |
| Glazed doors U-value | 0.81 W/m² K installed |
| Opaque doors description | |
| Opaque doors U-value | - - |
| Windows description | The windows are high performing triple glazed windows from Germany with a warm edge spacer (psi 0.039W/mK). |
| Windows U-value | 0.76 W/m² K - |
| Windows energy transmittance (G-value) | 50 % |
| Windows light transmittance | 71% |
| Rooflights description | |
| Rooflights light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights U-value | - |