Passivhaus Project Documentation

Hob Moor Passivhaus, York, UK

Abstract

Single-family detached dwelling off Little Hob Moor, York, North Yorkshire
Building Data

Year of construction 2017

Space Heating 14kWh/m2a
U-Value external wall 0.106W/m2ok
U-Value floor 0.104W/m2ok Primary Energy Renewable 63kWh/m2a
U-Value roof 0.096W/m2ok Generation of renewable energy 54kWh/m2a
U-Value window 0.81W/m2ok Non-renewable primary energy 123kWh/m2a
Heat recovery 80% Pressure test n50 0.5/h
Special features Full south-facing roof solar PV installation.

Information on the web at www.constructiveindividuals.co.uk

Phil Bixby BA Dip Arch Architect
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Brief Description
The project was interesting in a number of ways.
Firstly, the clients weren’t living in the UK at the time the house was built. Tim Shepherd
was a teacher at an international school in Singapore, and he was building for his planned
retirement, moving back to the UK and bringing his Singapore-born wife JJ with him. He had
told JJ that the Yorkshire climate was pleasant (this is not entirely true) and so wanted a
home that would be comfortable in all weathers, along with a guarantee of quality and
performance. Briefing and contract management was done largely via email and WhatsApp,
with only occasional physical visits.
Secondly it was one of two Passivhaus projects built concurrently. The other was the
Derwent Road Passivhaus (Project ID 5432) – both built by the same contractor but with
different site management and using different forms of construction.
The clients were in many ways “model” clients. The most important element of the briefing
process was a “day in my future life” which Tim wrote. This set out in some detail how he
wanted to be able to live, what he wanted to be able to do and the way he wanted the house to
function in support of that, but said nothing about the actual design, leaving me as architect
with pretty much complete freedom to propose design solutions.
The site was identified after about nine months of searching. Vacant sites were impossible to
find in York, and so a plot with a poorly-constructed bungalow was found, and design
proceeded on the assumption this would be demolished. Planning application was submitted
and approval obtained with only minor local concerns – the fully-solar roof and the render
finish raised eyebrows among neighbours but they were quickly reassured. Consent was
obtained in June 2016.

Image from the planning application… …and paste-up view on site.

The house is a fairly straightforward rectangular footprint, on two storeys with the upper
floor utilising all available volume beneath the pitched roof. The house has a single-storey
lean-to addition on the north side accommodating a small “endless” swimming pool – this is
not part of the heated envelope. The house sits to the north boundary of the site allowing the
main rooms to face south across a pleasant, wildflower-planted garden.
Through a twist of fate, the architect / Passivhaus Designer now lives in the neighbouring
property – an existing Victorian end-terrace house that has been retrofitted and extended.
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Responsible project participants
Architecture and building physics: Phil Bixby of Constructive Individuals
Building services
MVHR design and supply: ADM Systems, 1st Floor East Suite, The Waterfront, Salts Mill
Road, Shipley, West Yorkshire, BD17 7TD
Renewables: Solar array, Immersion control unit and electrics: The Phoenixworks
Structural engineer: Robert Thew (substrucures). Timber frame design by supplier Buildakit
(UK) Ltd, Part Manor Mill, Hallam Road, Nelson, BB9 8DN
Craftsperson / parties involved:
Contractor: Kent Building Developments Ltd, Threshers Barn, Low Moorgate, Rillington,
Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 8JW.
Certifying body: Passivhaus Institut, Darmstadt via MEAD Energy & Architectural Design
Ltd
Certification ID: 5433 (Passive House Database)
Views of the building

Overhead drone photo from south side. Overhead drone photo showing west
elevation and pool room to rear.

Internal view prior to completion showing Internal view prior to completion showing
stair from living room. kitchen area.
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Sectional drawings

The building section is asymmetric, with the south face size and pitch optimised to PV
panels, and the north face brought down to reduce the ridge height and impact of the building
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mass. All rooflights are north-facing to avoid uncontrolled solar gains, and shading is
incorporated above south-facing windows, including a continuous press-aluminium
concealed gutter to the south-facing roof. External walls, roof and intermediate floor are all
constructed using timber I-joists. The superstructure sits on an insulated raft.
Floor plans

The ground floor plan is entered from the street at the eastern end, with a cloaks area and
shoe rack, and access to a shower/WC. The hallway wall splays so that the space opens up
as one moves into the combined living / dining / kitchen area, with a doorway off this
passage to a compact snug, and the stair leading off the main room. The living area has
extensive south-facing (shaded) glazing, and the dining area faces the evening sun, with
retractable shading and existing mature tree planting.
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The first floor layout arranges the rooms around a central landing space with a heigh
ceiling and overhead rooflight. The main bedroom suite with dressing and shower/WC has
windows looking over the garden and nearby woods, with the guest bedrooms, bathroom
and laundry to the north and east. The laundry has a chute which enables clothing to be
deposited into the laundry basket from the adjacent en-suite.
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Description of the construction
Ground floor

The ground floor is a fairly simple reinforced raft foundation, with cavity plinth walls
enclosing insulation and screed. A gas membrane is incorporated due to concerns over a
nearby former landfill site.

Build-up:- 75mm Gyvlon poured screed with fibre reinforcement

200mm Kingspan insulation (k=0.020W/mk)
Gas membrane as airtightness layer
200mm reinforced concrete raft
Hardcore and blinding
U-value = 0.097 W/(m2K)
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External walls

The walls are of timber frame panel construction, with the studs being timber I-joists giving a
300mm internal depth between internal and external sheathing. All junctions were modelled
using Psitherm software and the detailing was designed in liaison with the frame
manufacturer to enable the complex and accurate connections while minimising thermal
bridging.
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Build-up:- 12.5mm Plasterboard

38mm Service void with mineral wool insulation (k = 0.035W/mk)
Airtightness membrane
15mm OSB
300mm panel depth between I-joists, fully-filled with mineral wool
(k=0.035W/mk)
13mm Panelvent sheathing
Breather membrane
25mm ventilated airgap
Cladding of proprietary Parex render system on board or vertical larch
boarding, to layout as shown on elevations.
U-value = 0.106 W/(m2K)
Roof

The roof is constructed using cassettes which are broadly the same as the wall panels – using
300mm timber I-joists as rafters which span between a glulam ridge beam and the wallplate
at eaves level. Both the eaves and ridge join are custom made to ensure tight fitting between
panels (individual timbers are cut to tolerances of 1mm each end, giving panel connection
tolerances of around 4mm) and, as with the wall panel connections, timer in the junction is
minimised to reduce thermal bridging, and connections were modelled using Psitherm.

Build-up:- 12.5mm Plasterboard

38mm Service void with mineral wool insulation (k = 0.035W/mk)
Airtightness membrane
15mm OSB
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300mm panel depth between I-joists, fully-filled with mineral wool

(k=0.035W/mk)
13mm Panelvent sheathing
Breathable underlsating
Treated 25x38mm counterbattens
Treated 25x50mm tiling battens
Concrete interlocking tiles
(On south side tiles and battens omitted and PV panels fixed using
mounting trays/flashings).
U-value = 0.096W/(m2K)

Windows
Windows are Gaulhofer Fusionline 108 Pure units supplied by Ecowin. Generally:-
• Internal colour: Clear Laquer
• External colour: RAL 7016 (anthracite Grey) & 3000 (Fire Engine Red – front door)
• Ironmongery: Concealed Hinging, Standard Gaulhofer Handles
• Glass Ug: 0.5 W/m2K
• Frame Uf Laterally: 0.91 W/m2K
• Frame Uf Bottom: 1.01 W/m2K
• Psi Value: 0.028
• G Value: 0.52
• Average whole window U Value: 0.77W/m2K
Glazing units are generally:- 4mm toughened/coated-18mm-4mm toughened-18mm-4mm
toughened/coated. The window position within reveals was fine-tuned using Psitherm.
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Rooflights are Fakro FTT-U6 units with thermal flashing kit.
The airtight envelope
The airtightness strategy was to ensure a single layer of airtightness by the use of proprietary
airtightness membrane, and tapes / grommets / fittings etc from Proclima where required. In
general the two site managers of the two concurrent Passivhaus projects were both briefed on
general principles and key areas where extra care was required. In the case of Hob Moor
Passivhaus the timber frame from Buildakit came with internal airtightness membrane
already fitted and protected with internal battening / mineral wool insulation, held in place
using plastic straps.

Within the ground floor the gas membrane was used as

the airtightness layer. This was brought up and turned
beneath the timber frame sole plates, with a strip of gas
membrane taped to bridge across the junction
internally, taped to the gas membrane and internal
breather membrane on the timber frame above. All
penetrations through the gas membrane were taped or
sealed using proprietary fittings.
Within the walls, the Glidevale Protect BarriAir
proprietary airtightness membrane was pre-fixed
inboard of the internal sheathing and outboard of the
service void and battening. This was wrapped and fixed
to all joining faces and these were thoroughly mastic
sealed during the erection process. Additional taping
was carried out by site staff to ensure that absolutely all
junctions were taped, whether already mastic sealed or
not.
At first floor level the airtightness membrane was taken
outside of the floor cassettes and brought back in at
first floor level.

The arrangements at roof level are basically identical to

the wall panels, with an internal service void. Reveals
to all rooflights were sealed using membrane and tape
(rather than proprietary components). As can be seen at
right, the airtightness membrane was lapped into all
joints to allow mastic sealing.
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Airtightness testing
Testing was carried out by Northern Airtightness Testing Services.
Tests were conducted after first fix of all services (earlier testing was
not possible due to programming of works being less than optimal,
due to lead times on components – see photo at right taken in April
2017) and at completion.
The final test was carried out in June 2017, and pressurisation /
depressurisation results are shown below.
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Ventilation system
The MVHR system has been supplied and designed by ADM Systems who describe
themselves as “Independent Heat Recovery Ventilation Specialists”. ADM have supplied and
fitted MVHR in a number of the designer’s projects and have been helpful in offering
consultancy services on one or two problematic projects with historic buildings. They have
also been very helpful in revisiting jobs after a period of occupation to fine-tune flow rates to
suit actual occupancy – UK Building Regulations tend to lead to major over-ventilation as
they address condensation issues which don’t actually exist in Passivhaus projects.
The system here comprises a main Zehnder ComfoAir-Q unit accommodated at first floor
level in a dedicated plant cupboard. The unit feeds supply air through an electric post-heater,
and the system uses rigid spiral-wound galvanised steel ducting.

The system works well, maintaining good air quality. A minor but annoying error was
locating the remote control unit in the plant cupboard rather than somewhere more remote
from the unit – for example in the kitchen.
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Heat supply
The low heating requirement of the house and the substantial photovoltaic installation led to
an early decision that the house would be all-electric, and an existing gas supply to the site
was removed (still unusual in UK at the time of construction). The PV array is setup to put
spare output into the DHW cylinder via an Immersion control unit. Following this, output is
available for domestic use and for space heating.
Space heating comprises a 1kW post heater on the supply air, and three electrically-heated
towel rails in the three bathrooms/showers, each on thermostatic control. The house performs
as per predicted demand so this generally works well; on occasions where it has been unused
for a while due to travelling away, and temperatures have fallen, a simple plug-in electric fan
heater is deployed until temperatures are back to normal.
In practice there has been a learning curve in respect of settings for the immersions and
immersion control unit. The fact that there is no one single control unit for heating nor for hot
water, led to a need to bring together advice from a number of sources. An email thread was
set in motion by the designer, becoming known as The Reservoir Dogs Thread as each
participant (PV installer, plumber, electrician, MVHR company, client etc) colour-coded their
contributions. This was helpful (and was broadened to include the clients on the concurrent
Derwent Road Passivhaus as similar issues existed there).
PHPP
The project was designed from scratch with the intention of being certified Passivhaus. All
design work was carried out in 3D on Vectorworks, with Artlantis being used as a
visualisation tool and to model sun and shading accurately. Psitherm was used for thermal
bridging calculations and modelling of options.
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As noted above, although formal monitoring equipment hasn’t been fitted, checking of bills
suggests that performance is in line with PHPP predictions. Possibly the only time when we
have been taken by surprise was during an unusually warm spell early in the spring. External
temperatures were high and the combination of this and low sun angles led to internal
overheating. The client has, to some extent, also had to overcome the “don’t open the
windows” advice which seems to come from anyone and everyone who doesn’t understand
Passivhaus; during hot spells a regime of purge ventilation at each end of the day along with
keeping windows/doors closed during the peak temperatures has maintained comfort levels.
As the graph below shows, windows are the largest heat loss component but provide much-
loved views of the garden and adjacent woodland, and contribute to summer life split indoors
and outdoors. The clients would not wish things different.
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Costs
The final contract sum for the project was just over £445,000, which works out as £3,056/m2
of TFA. This, though, includes external landscaping (driveway and extensive decking, site
fencing etc and also the substantial costs of the endless pool and the room it occupies.
Although this is not part of the heated volume, it is built to similar standards of insulation,
and on the same reinforced/insulated raft). The house also incorporates complex control
wiring as the client wanted to be able to control everything from room lighting to hi-fi via
phone app. A more realistic view of costs would be in the region of £2500-2600/m2.
User satisfaction
The clients are very happy with the house – which is doubly good as (noted earlier) the
designer now lives next door. They have eregularly taken part in Passivhaus Open Days
(including recording a video for the Covid lockdown event) and the local Open Eco Homes
scheme, together with events organised as part of York Environment Week. The house was
featured in the local paper shortly after completion.