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Energy efficient properties less likely to default, research finds

VRM Tech, the developer of innovative mobile software apps for the construction industry, has launched Virtual Construction Management Platform (VCMP), a cloud-based app that aims to radically streamline the management of construction projects.

Woodfibre insulation specialist, NBT, is on target for a 50 per cent growth in sales volumes for 2018, indicating that specifiers are increasingly selecting woodfibre for its thermal performance, year-round comfort and moisture dispersion properties.

It is being suggested that the creation of a Joint Competent Authority – as called for by Dame Judith Hackitt in her review of the building regulatory system, after the Grenfell tragedy – is due to be announced by the UK Ministry of Housing very soon. And a new industry initiative is calling for Dame Judith’s recommendations to be implemented in full.

Old Holloway Cottage, the 100 square metre timber-and-straw cottage in rural Herefordshire that was designed by its homeowner, architect Juraj Micurcik, picked up the small project award at this year’s UK Passivhaus Awards, which were presented at the end of October.

Review to look at Part L & Part F, which deal with energy efficiency & ventilation

London has joined 18 other cities around the world, including Paris, New York and Tokyo, in a landmark commitment to make all new buildings “zero carbon” by 2030. Regulations and planning policy will also target existing buildings to make them net-zero carbon by 2050.

A £2m passive house residential scheme has now been handed over to residents in Shropshire. The mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes in Callaughtons Ash, Much Wenlock, comprises ten homes for social rental and two in shared ownership.

PAS 2035 follows high profile retrofit failures under government schemes

The annual UK Passivhaus Awards take place this year on 24 October at the London Build trade fair.

Charlie Luxton will speak at the first event in Ecological’s Perfect Airtight Seal on 16 October at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre, Swindon, while the London event on 18 October will take place in the Building Centre.

The imperative to engage in evidence-based deep retrofit grows by the day. With the UK government dragging its heels, Peter Rickaby finds signs of hope in local initiatives, and in burgeoning Irish efforts.

This skilfully designed new passive house in Blackrock manages to be lightfilled and strikingly contemporary while taking its design inspiration from the very ordinary Dublin street on which it sits.

Leading low energy timber frame manufacturer MBC Timber Frame Ltd has completed work on another project aiming for the passive house standard.

Keystone Lintels has won the ‘best building fabric product’ award at the 2018 Housebuilder Product Awards for the company’s Hi-therm+ lintel.

Industry-leading mechanical ventilation company Beam Vacuum & Ventilation has announced their Axco HERU 100T mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) unit is now a certified passive house component.

One of the key elements that influences choice of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) units is specific fan power (SFP), says leading MVHR supplier CVC Direct. The basic principle of the passive house standard is to reduce energy demand, and SFP is a key indicator for measuring the energy efficiency of the MVHR unit. The lower the SFP, the more efficient the system.

Ancon was honoured at a royal reception on 28 June to celebrate its success in the 2018 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, the company’s third such award.

Old buildings are tricky to upgrade – especially if external insulation’s not allowed. Utilising a combination of cutting edge building physics and a carefully selected palette of insulation materials, one Victorian stone building has been upgraded to the Passive House Institute’s Enerphit standard, slashing heating demand by 90%

Built in 1850, this home in Dartmoor national park would have relied on local timber supplies for heating until the advent of widely-available central heating. One passive house-flavoured retrofit later, it’s back to its wood-burning roots – only this time with much less wood use, and much higher comfort.

Hastoe Housing, a trailblazer in the development of affordable passive housing, have completed their second scheme in the Essex village of Wimbish — 11 houses whose simple and traditional building methods and materials mask cutting-edge energy efficiency.

This unique sports and drama hall, inspired by the architecture of local buildings, was built to a new standard that aims to ensure buildings deliver all round health and comfort to their users.

Two spectacular low energy social housing units looking out over Ulva Ferry’s breath-taking surroundings prove to be a superb response to local problems of fuel poverty and lack of affordable family housing.

An innovative scheme to develop the site of the former Caerphilly Magistrates Court in South Wales into 38 new social homes built to passive house standard has been granted planning permission by Caerphilly Council.

Leading green lender Ecology Building Society has welcomed the publication of the Green Finance Taskforce’s report to the UK government on boosting green finance, but warned that any measures to stimulate green lending must be long-term and sustainable.

A disastrous failed external insulation contract run under a government energy saving scheme has affected up to 390 homes in Preston with water penetration, mould and damp.

This ambitious experimental retrofit of a Victorian barn high in the hills of West Yorkshire has turned a cavernous, draughty space into a comfortable low energy period home — and cut its heating bills by over 80%.

A new development of passive housing on the outskirts of Norwich shows how to combine energy efficiency, ecology and affordability on one exemplary site — and why the city continues to be an unlikely leader in pushing passive house construction in the UK.

The engineer tasked by the UK Government with examining building fire safety regulation in England following the Grenfell fire has said she is shocked by construction practices. The industry urgently needs to change its culture, and “clearly identifiable” individuals must take responsibility for what is built, she concludes.

A Victorian terraced home in Portsmouth is the latest retrofit project to feature VictorianSASH triple glazed timber windows from Eksalta, which resemble traditional sash windows while delivering modern high-performance standards of insulation and airtightness.