Aggressive Passive House Strategies

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.

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

Positive Feedback

Its always great to get valuable feedback from a satisfied client and to know that they would happily recommend their architect to others. Author Deirdre Purcell comments below:

Claremont Court, Glasnevin, Dublin 11.
“As an architect, Paul Mulhern took on a very tricky project for me at the above address, a Seventies terraced house on a long narrow site in a housing estate. This was a house that had been lived in wisely for a while but latterly not too well. My brief to him was to illuminate what had become a murky, dark, cramped and very dilapidated property by creating a space filled with light and air. I also wanted him to bring it up to modern standards of insulation, wiring and plumbing, and thereby making snug what had been damp and cold. On such a site, the brief seemed impossible and when I led him into the property in its original condition, I expected him to be daunted, even to refuse to have anything to do with it, but his reaction was immediately to see it as a challenge. And how brilliantly he overcame that challenge! While remaining aware of my relatively limited budget, the design he produced involved gutting the entire house and opening it up to light from the roof, via three voids. The result is the fulfilment of my own dream, the testament to which is the steady stream of neighbours arriving on various pretexts but with the obvious aim of being invited in. Throughout the construction vicissitudes (and there were many, none of his making) he remained steadily supportive to me in what was a very difficult and long process. I cannot praise him highly enough for his tenacity, his concentration on what was best for the house and for me as a client - and not least for his calm tact when things fell apart, as they frequently did. His professionalism and collaborative spirit are outstanding but overarching all of the above, his creativity and vision were and are superb”.
DEIRDRE PURCELL.

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Changes to the Better Energy Homes Scheme 2015

The Better Energy Homes scheme was re-launched on 10th March 2015. 

There are three key changes:

• The minimum grant requirement of €400 has been removed.
• A new bonus of €300 is payable on the third and €100 on fourth Energy Efficiency Measures – see table below.
• Revised grant amounts for Energy Efficiency Measures – see table below.

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Some of the qualifying criteria for grant:

• Your Home must be Built before 2006
• Contractor must be SEAI approved
• Manufacturers/products must be SEAI approved
• You must have a BER

Below is a list of guides explaining the measures covered under the Better Energy Homes scheme. These documents are available to download in PDF format by clicking on each title.

• Ceiling Level Roof Insulation Information.pdf (size 265.7 KB)
• Rafter Level Roof Insulation Information.pdf (size 176.6 KB)
• Wall Insulation Information.pdf (size 193.3 KB)
• Heating Controls Information.pdf (size 141 KB)
• High Efficiency Boiler Information.pdf (size 75.1 KB)
• Solar Hot Water Heating Information.pdf (size 89.4 KB)

Each of the above documents contains information on the benefits of installing these measure as well as questions to help you choose the right product/installer for you.

Contact Hofler Architects for more info and guidance.