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We would love to hear from you about your intended project.

Use the form on the right to contact SPACIOUS about an initial consultation or email us at:  hello@spacious.ie

 

54 George's Street Lower
Dublin, County Dublin,
Ireland

01 5585205

Award Wining Architects based in Monkstown, Co.Dublin and working in all surrounding counties.

Specialising in sensitive contemporary design for domestic extensions, renovations, new-build houses and interior design.  We also design and build custom joinery.

RIAI registered architects, project managers & interior designers

Dublin Architecture Blog

Hofler Architects Dublin  - Our Blog of our news and views.

Filtering by Tag: Dublin City Council

Passive House Principles Simply Explained:

Paul Mulhern

With Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Dublin City Councils set to make Passive House standards mandatory for new buildings in their forthcoming Development Plans - 

“The time has come in Ireland for passive house standards to move from the margins to the mainstream, for building policy and its energy efficiency to become more active by becoming more passive... " - Pat Cox

Passive House or "Passivhaus" buildings provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling. They are built with meticulous attention to detail and rigorous design and construction according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany, and can be certified through an exacting quality assurance process.

The new-build Passivhaus Standard requires:

  • a maximum space heating and cooling demand of less than 15 kWh/m2.year or a maximum heating and cooling load of 10W/m2
  • a maximum total primary energy demand of 120 kWh/m2/year
  • an air change rate of no more than 0.6 air changes per hour @ 50 Pa

The Passivhaus refurbishment standard, EnerPHit, requires:

  • a maximum space heating and cooling demand of less than 25 kWh/m2.year or a maximum heating and cooling load of 10W/m2
  • a maximum total primary energy demand of 120 kWh/m2/year + heat load factor
  • an air change rate of no more than 1.0 air changes per hour @ 50 Pa

To achieve the Passivhaus Standard in the Ireland typically involves:

  • very high levels of insulation
  • extremely high performance windows with insulated frames
  • airtight building fabric
  • ‘thermal bridge free’ construction
  • a mechanical ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery

Just bear in mind though:

"It is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated; far more difficult to sacrifice skill and easy execution in the proper place, than to expand both indiscriminately".  John Ruskin.

Passive House Ireland - Facebook

Talk to Hofler Architects about your project:  Contact Us

Aggressive Passive House Strategies

Paul Mulhern

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is to make the Passive House energy efficiency standard compulsory for all new buildings – Dublin City Council to follow suit.

Passive House Diagram.

Passive House Diagram.

Dublin local authority Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has voted to make the passive house standard mandatory for all new buildings in the area as part of its 2016 Draft Development Plan. 

Council policy will be that all development in new buildings should be built to the Passive House standard. The motion also stated that Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) and other lower energy standards may be considered as appropriate alternatives.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has a record of requiring higher energy efficiency standards than the national Building Regulations demand.

It was one of the first local authorities, in 2007, to demand that buildings be constructed to higher energy efficiency standards than the national regulations, passing 40% energy and carbon reduction targets, along with mandatory renewable energy systems. 

Local authorities are permitted to set energy efficiency standards above levels in building regulations as a planning condition.

The current national Building Regulations require that anyone building a new home has to achieve a 60% energy reduction and install a renewable energy system to comply with building regulations anyway. Compliance with “Part L” of the regulations typically means an A2 or A3 BER [Building Energy Rating], bringing construction costs up to passive house levels, but with no guarantee that the building will actually work to Passive House certified standards – a standard that is firmly rooted in building science.

Assuming that the passive house clause makes it into the final version of the development plan, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council would become the first local authority in the world outside of continental Europe to make the passive house standard compulsory. 

Meanwhile, Dublin City Council seems set to follow Dún Laoghaire’s lead -

The Green Party group of councilors have proposed a motion, that states: "Unless exceptional circumstances apply, the council will require new buildings to reach the passive house standard or equivalent, with the exception of buildings that are exempted from BER ratings as defined by SEAI. By equivalent we mean approaches supported by robust evidence (such as monitoring studies) to demonstrate their efficacy, with particular regard to indoor air quality, energy performance, and the prevention of surface/interstitial condensation."

The new policy is to be included in a draft of the development plan due to be brought before the council in July, before a public consultation period begins in September.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Development Plan 2016

Hofler Architects

Conserving Your Dublin Period House

Paul Mulhern

There are still four lunchtime lectures left in May as well as the Architectural Walking Tour.

The Irish Georgian Society and Dublin City Council have assembled a team of conservation experts to present a series of talks on the history and significance of Dublin’s period houses and practical advice on their conservation.  Attendance at the talks will greatly benefit owners of all periods and types of houses, from the modest Edwardian artisan dwelling to the substantial red bricks of the Victorian suburbs and the fine townhouses of our Georgian city squares, providing an A to Z for their care and repair

Talks, which will commence on Tuesday 4th March 2013 (1pm to 2pm) and continue for 12 weeks, will take place in the Octagonal Room, CAH, 58 South William Street, Dublin 2. 

The talks and accompanying walking tour are individually priced at €10 (€5 students), however advanced booking for all is at a special discounted rate of €110 euro (€55 for fulltime students with cards). Full time students pay at the door, student card must be presented. To reserve your place call 01 679 8675.

Walking Tour, 11am Saturday 12th April (duration 1 ½ hrs): Dr Susan Galavan, MRIAI, will lead a walking tour examining the architectural form, style and detailing of Northumberland Road, D2.  Built over the course of six decades in the 19th century its buildings which vary from tall red-brick terraces to fine semi-detached houses provide an exemplar of the development of Dublin’s Victorian domestic architecture. 

For full details download the brochure

SPACIOUS - Registered architects and designers

T: 01-5585205 | M: 089-2447264

George's Street Studios, First Floor, 53/54 George's Street Lower, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

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