Kind & Co Passivhaus Leaflet

OUR LOW CARBON JOURNEY

Paving the way in how we deliver for our clients

FEW YEARS LATER AND WITH EVEN MORE EXPERIENCE UNDER OUR BELT… OUR LOW CARBON JOURNEY

With the built environment contributing towards approximately 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint (with over 20% of this figure generated from the operational emissions of a building), we are, as an industry, looking for greener ways to build and review our existing structures to reduce the negative impact the construction sector has on the environment.

At Kind, our longstanding experience delivering modern and innovative methods of construction, coupled with our passion to apply a fabric first approach towards delivery, puts us in the perfect position to help our clients build sustainable structures for the future.

With over 77 years’ experience delivering projects across our five core sectors, we can effectively draw on the knowledge and skills we have built and apply this in practice to consistently achieve a quality solution, addressing contemporary issues such as the climate emergency and fuel poverty.

One of the most valuable experiences we have had building with thermal efficiency at the heart of the design traces back to 2007. Working with the (now) Director for Sustainability and lead Passivhaus designer Peter Ranken at Tooley and Foster Architects, we delivered Vincent House – Nags Head Road for our client Christian Action Housing.

This three-storey block, with 20 flats and ground floor offices, was designed to a highly efficient standard for a future with fossil fuel shortages in mind. The building is heated predominantly by electricity, with the commercial space heated via a below-ground floor heat pump. Along with this, the building has high levels of insulation and a ventilation heat recovery system. The incorporation of these key features meant we delivered a high energy performing building with much lower running costs for our client and the occupants of Vincent House.

In 2016, we decided we wanted to broaden our skill set further, by exploring how important a role MMC (modern methods of construction) could play in optimising the energy performance of a building with the Passivhaus principles in mind.

What is Passivhaus?

Passivhaus buildings are designed with high-energy efficiency in mind, aiming to develop a building that maintains a comfortable temperature, minimising the need for additional heating or cooling within the property.

So, we decided to put our money where our mouth was and commissioned a project of our own. We designed and built a ‘one-off’ quality residential scheme to explore innovative ways to develop the homes for our project.

To achieve the low carbon, lower energy performing homes we were looking for, we opted for a close panel timber frame system, which we felt was the most appropriate and effective way to build the homes located in Ardale, Essex.

By maximising the benefits of offsite production, we accelerated the speed of delivery whilst increasing the u-value, resulting in excellent, thermally efficient homes.

To ensure our newly built homes served us well as a ‘benchmark for best practice’, we engaged with the residents of two of the larger properties once they had moved in.

The two larger homes consisted of five bedrooms with 2,100 2 ft of space throughout.

It was important for us to gauge their day-to-day energy usage, to fully appreciate how the homes were performing once occupied. Providing this data would be the best way to demonstrate if the construction method we had selected was the right choice for the homes.

Nags Head Road received a BREEAM Eco-homes excellent rating. The project gave us our first insight into how to build to a Passivhaus standard.

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The Meadows

DID OUR CONCEPT VISION FOR THESE HOMES LIVE UP TO OUR EXPECTATIONS?

For a whole year after the families moved in, we accumulated the energy data provided by the residents. The results not only reaffirmed our approach to delivering these homes; they also genuinely impressed the post project management team, tasked with collating the energy data received from our participating homeowners.

Upon review of the energy data supplied, we established the cost of both the gas and electricity of each participant was considerably lower than that of a similar sized traditionally built home. The total energy bill for the families (per household) came in at less than £750.00 for the entire 12-month period. (Data taken from 2017 energy market costs).

It had worked and worked well. By incorporating this modern delivery method, we delivered high energy performing homes with much lower running costs. Significantly reducing the impact, the homes have on the environment.

Our air test results are in at our first official Passivhaus project at Leather Gardens:

In January 2023, as the first fix mechanical and electrical installation commences on our project Leather Gardens located in Newham, we have received reports from our Passivhaus Champion that all 21 of the flats we are currently building, are achieving air tightness results well above the minimum figures required to achieve Passivhaus accreditation.

To achieve accreditation a minimum air change rate of 0.6 aph (air changes per hour) is required.

Why is air testing so important?

To achieve Passivhaus accreditation it is necessary to conduct air-leakage tests at multiple points during construction. Airtightness is one of the key components required to reach the Passivhaus standard and without it certification could not be achieved.

FAST FORWARD TO 2023

With the popularity of Passivhaus design continuing to grow in the UK…our past experiences have most definitely influenced our future delivering to this design standard for our clients.

Today, we fully embrace the principles of delivering Passivhaus projects for our clients and understand how to build low carbon, cost effective homes. To add value to our already wide-ranging experience, we made a commitment to upskill and train our construction teams to be fully conversant in Passivhaus delivery.

In addition, with quality control at the absolute heart of succeeding in Passivhaus accreditation, we also took the strategic decision to invest in our own air testing equipment, enabling us to continuously monitor our performance whilst a project is under construction. Considered the gold standard approach for any contractor delivering Passivhaus schemes, our decision to invest internally is well observed by our industry peers.

‘’We like Kind’s approach towards internally training their delivery teams to conduct air leakage tests early on in a project. This is considered the gold standard and will result in much better performance and quality control. The key is that you will also be carrying out independent testing alongside this –which shows integrity.’’

How we can help you on your decarbonisation journey:

For several decades our experience delivering low energy performing homes for our clients has grown from strength to strength and the quality, attention to detail and appetite to explore modern ways to deliver efficiently for our clients continues to successfully expand.

Our Joint MD Tony Battle said:

“If we were to apply the experience gained with our Passivhaus projects now, to the scheme we piloted in 2016 at the Meadows in Essex, we are more than confident that we would be collecting annual data of electric and gas bills in the low hundreds of pounds –based on energy costs as they stand today.

By working in a collaborative and innovative environment with our clients, all the experience we have gained over the years really does put our clients in a ‘fast track’position to delivering their own Passivhaus homes”.

If you are looking to decarbonise on your delivery and would like to find out more about how we can help you, then c lick here to contact us today.

Barry Cope – Group MD of the Building Compliance Testers association

A RESULT OF 0.39 aph WAS TAKEN FROM ONE OF THE LARGER DUPLEX APARTMENTS ON SITE