Who What When Why

Low Carbon Construction is attempting to build a pair of semi-detached houses for the social / affordable housing sector constructed from solid wall masonry and will be certified as a Passive House.

The site owner is Blythe House Lettings Ltd and this project is part of an overall scheme of 8 units which are all being built by the main contractor - Low Carbon Construction Ltd. Clan Products NW will supply the the materials to enable Low Carbon Construction the build a Passive House shell through their company Thin Joint Technology. Toby Rollason from Lune Architects have adapted a previously consented planning permission for the pair of semi's to ensure they meet PassivHaus standard and are working with the Scottish Passive House Centre (SPHC), who will monitor the project and ultimately provide accreditation.

A Passive House must achieve a number of defined targets, 

1) the heating demand must be less than 15 KWH/M2 per year and that the total energy demand for heating, hot water and domestic appliances should be no more than 42 KWH/M2.

2) The air changes must b less than 1m3/(h.m2)@50Pa

3) The windows (frame and glazing) should be less than 0.8W/m2K - triple glazed

The owners and workforce of Low Carbon Construction Ltd have many years experience using modern methods of construction and producing very high quality builds to exacting standards. This will be their first certified PassivHaus build and with a tight budget based on standard build costs, the objective is to prove that PassivHaus can be a cost effective solution to provide low cost and affordable housing. In this difficult economic climate Low Carbon Construction Ltd believe they can replicate the quality assurance of certified PassivHaus units across the social housing sector at a cost comparable to traditional build. With energy costs set to rise astronomically over the coming years Low Carbon Construction Ltd believe they can be instrumental in addressing fuel poverty.