NOVEMBER - £11.50 -US$23:€17 English Edition DETAIL Sustainability in the desert The window of the future Air-conditioning systems: a comparison 02/11DETAILGreen 02/11 DETAIL Special Edition 66266 ISSN 1868-3843 4 Magazine Passiuhaus takes hold in Bitain L 2 Lite cycle analysis ot buildings Jakob Schoof Projects, Publications events 2 Background Suslainabilty in the desext Karim Elgendy Sustainable architecture Towards.the sun Residential building in Pressbaum. Hein=Troy Architekten, Bregenz/Vienna. Jac iden Office building in Badautl arghitestuWERKSTATT Bruno Moser. Breitenbach. Living in a laboratory 4) Research and practice Air-conditioning systems: a. comparison. BernhadLenz he window of the futur Interview with Manual Deel, Nor Patti 5 Producis.and matariale 6 Specialist information The ctive forlaw energy refurbishment ‘Andrew Peel, Editorial and oublishing data/photo credits www.detail.de/english Publishes aid cara! deparurert: ns ators Seearmen Grian Sehien(ecrar incre) waka Scrao! Erall castorate tohane: +49 8938 1820 Adverising e-mal qfaegenglsialce telephone: +48 89%8 1820-8 Desrbuton & suosctptns: ral Uk corspendon: ker Lowen Translators. sine lodau-Konck,Feargal Dole, Gean McLaughin, Ingrid Tyr Engst pronteadng: Anna Roos labogvervisbsunion de; ieleprone +498) 230298-211 10 16 22 44 70 74 6 2 fr ematorale Nehitekour-Cokumeration GmbH & Co.KG, Hackertrccke 6, 8C035 Munich, Germany, DETANG:e 201102 The entire world seens to be wrangling over money at the monent. This is hardly surprising given that Europe’s state coffers will tend to have Jess and less in then in the future. It would be illusory to believe that the pressure to impose cuts in public budgets will have no effect on climate-change policy; too many technologies and projects continue to depend on public funding, in spite of their long-term necessity. Up until now, even those with otherwise complete ly opposing interests have been united in their call for state funds. In future, this call is Tikely to fall on deaf ears with increasing fre- quency. Does this mean that aspects relating to design are being completely ignored? And how will our acceptance of the need to protect the climate be affected if such protection becomes more ex- pensive for us? Even now, sociologists are pre- Gicting that the willingness to contribute to- wards incisive measures is more liable to de- crease than increase. At the same time, the suspicion that we have not even started to make substantial savings cannot. be denied. Anong politicians, heads of industry and the public, the development of renewable forms of energy - not to mention their own set of claims - is considerably more popular than an in- crease in energy efficiency. “Anything but having to cut back!” is the unanimous cry of the leading thinkers in the sustainability debate.In the long term, however, it is possible that we will be un- able’ to avoid’ the question “How much is enough?”. Otherwise, the increasing amount of living space per inhabitant and the ongoing consumption of land by our housing estates will make all efforts to achieve greater efficiency appear absurd. Lifestyles that are sufficient to needs must arise from the conviction of the individual ~ and are already doing so: more and more employees are doing without higher salaries in favour of nore free time or are giving preference to a balanced family life over mobility in their profession. Time, education and social intercourse belong to those resources, whose utilisation does not bring about any negative effects on the environment. What's more, they are more sought after than ever before today. Architecture could help to support these 1ife- styles, especially in times of economic crisis. Where are the residential buildings that equally enable withdrawal and social interaction in a small area; where are the city districts that al- ow mixed uses and thus, from the onset, avert the issue of mobility; and where are the rooms that remain comfortable even at an indoor temper- ature of 19 degrees? Doing without the superflu- ous has nothing to do with self-denial but can very well accompany a rise in the quality of Vife. At the moment, this insight may be unpopu- Jar but the situation could change faster than we might think possible today. Jakob Schoo2/102 DETAMGiecn Passivhaus takes hold in Britain ol Lowenstein (On a warm October day last year. Chris Huhne, the new coalition govamment’s Energy and Environment Minister, strode ppurposelully towards the lactern to glve a keynote speech in North Landon’s Ising: ‘on town hall, The hall was packed, and ‘those attending the evert, the frst Pas: sivhaus conference in Eitain, waited 10 hear what the minister had to say. Later bis words were analysed and deciphered {or clues to ‘the greenest Government ‘ever’ commitment to decarbonising the county's building stock. A key line 18- {erred to the event as “a watershed mo: ‘ment, in which he would “Ike to see ‘every new home" reach the Passivhaus standard. Ithad been quite a joumey for the continental Passivhaus apprcach to building, which just three and a halt years before hardly anyone in Britain had heard of, (One year after the Passivnaus conference last year, what high hopes were held for the Government's commitment to decar bonis Britain's entire residential building stock have been fading by the month. Yet alongside this, with regard to strategies {or realising zero energy bulldings, the momentum ot intarast and practical take: up, whether in irining or actual live- projects, in the Passivhaus approach in the UK has been burgeoning. As with the Us take-up of massive cross laminated timber | wrote about inthe last Issue of Detall Green, this is once again a story of research, techniques, tachnologies and building expartse that have been devel oped abroad and, after 2 considerable time-lag, have begun to migrate to Britain, Different professionals have been in- volved, though also a very similar cultural dynamic, involving small networks of ‘commited sustainable builders and ar cohitects, breaichrough moments and in- creasing acceptance, This was followed by curiosity, interest and take-up by the mainstream. What is markedly diferent is how recent the take-off has been, and in terms of certified Passivhaus buildings how ~ stil comparatively few there are. Germany has passed its 10,000th Pas- sivhaus building, even ifno-one seems to know how many are certified. Here, in Britain they can be countad in a few handfuls and even with the current wave, of excitement, tis dificult to really ervi sien the numbers catching up with the levels of central mainland Europe. A Passivhaus pretistory ‘At the heart of those campaigning for ‘the Passivhaus standard in England has been a sustainable building network, the relatively small Association cf Environ mentally Gonscious Builders (ECE), ‘ounded in 1989. Though often described aa ‘grassroots’ organisation, the AEE, includes members with a high level ot specialist knowledge, skills and exper ence, albeit at odes with the prevailing UK architectural orthodoxy of the time, vwihere sustainability wasn't an issue worth thining about. One of these forerunners is David Olivier, who, through the eighties and nineties, acted as an independent consulta, conducting research which, although immensely detailed, did not re- ceive the attention it merited from the mainstream, including Government re- search centres such as the Building Re- search Establishment (BRE). Through the rineties, Olivia's work found an audience among the 1500 or so mambers of AECE, a substantial part of whorn were archi tects and others working olosely with ar chitects. This said, BRE started up a Pas- sivhaus Unit in 2004, lad by Gareth Hodg- son, with the explicit intent of bringing its principles to the wider building sector. ‘The unit has grown into the influential Passivhaus UK body, disseminating infor- mation and running certification courses to tho mainsveam. It was only, however, in the around 2005 that Passivhaus really began to gain vider attention. Andy Simmonds, partner cf the arcnitectural practice Simmonds Mills, (and also AECE's current part time CEO), recalls that through 2008, this had coalesced into “three identtiable group- ings: the AECB, BRE's Passivnaus Unit, and a small number of pioneer architects, including John Williamson, a west Wales architact, and the Londonbased, Justin Bare.” Within two years, after following differen, iat times intertwined, Passiv haus paths, together these groups would effectively Springboard the launch ot Passivhaus in England, DETANG:e 201102 Already, in around 2008/4, the AECB be- gan receiving requests from its members for guidance concerring low eneray building design and construction. The re ‘sult was a set of energy standards, Sub. ‘sequent ciscussions with BRE and the Energy Saving Trust (EST) to look at har menising energy standards through 2008 ‘and 2007, the AECB launched Caren Lite, a majer earbon literacy programme based around the AECB standards, led by Simmonds and Liz Reason, an eneray markeling specialist working with AECE, ‘Simmonds, converted to the Passivhaus approach, in his architectural capacity began to look at how he could apply what he was leaming to firs, rafurbishing his ‘own home, and then, Disability Essex ‘a Centre tor Disability Studies through 2008/9. The later building passed Pas- sive certification last year. Simmonds and Olivier, together with 2 growing number of close AECB colleagues, used what they were learning from their avn projects to provide technical and design understand ing for those new to very low energy de- ‘sign. All this weuld fiter through into the AECB community and beyond in different ways. During this came period, architects John \Willamson and Justin Bere devolved their first Passivhaus designs ~ both sup. ported by BRE an Hodgson — with Wi llameon completing a residential dwelling and an Adult Community cantre tor Powys ‘County Council in Walas. These became the first UK Passivnaus Buildings to gain certification in 2009, Bere, who has had @ lte-long passion for low energy building, was only alerted to the existence of Pas: sivhaus when a German assistant, Tobias Schaffrin, pointed out how similar the detailing on Bere's 2005 Focus House project was to Passivhaus. Bare was ‘amazed to find literally huncreds of arch tects across Europe developing similar, though mere advanced, ainight buildings. he'd spent years aspiring to, He began integrating Passiv principles into his de- sign, and, in spring 2007, attended the European Passivhiaus conference held that year in one the epicentres of Pas sivhaus activism, Bregenz in Vorarlberg Tho visit for Bare was nothing short of an architectural revelation, discovering there ‘beautifully designed low energy bull Ings cl the sort that appealed to a design- led architect. Oliver Lowenstein runs the UK Green Cultural Review, Fourth Door Review (wis. foucthdoor.co.uk), and is a UK correspondent of Detail Green. Tamaces houses tor the 2010 Satan Housing spo, vernens Ga arches 2. Unda ue, The Cetsuoiss, Gloucester Seyoursinih achic's 9 TighNaCadach Duron Gokay Devoe! Another UK altendae, Nick Grant, who is closely connecied to sustainability pio- neers, Architype, had been unconvinced about Passivhaus prior to Bregenz but retumed with @ changed pecspective, “travelled to Bregenz with haifa mind at debunking 1, but came away pretty con vvinced. Part of it was seeing actual buil- ings, and the rationality of the process. | was impressed by how it was conceplu- ally sophisticated, though also very sim- ple and realised that actually there's ‘something in this.” Grant returned to Brit ain enthused, learning the Passivhaus In stitute's PHP computer modeling som vyare, and began showing others within Architype's west atfice, near Heretord, both how the programme worked and Underining the potential benefits. After 2 number offalse starts, the practice used this knowedae on two primary schools in Wolverhampton, Bushbury and Oak Meadow. Opened in October this year, they are Architype's frst built passive projects. Meanwtile in Scotland, xnovdedge about Passivhaus concept also began to circu- late, albeit through an entiely dierent route, Research visits to Norway and Sweden by Scottish architects in the early 2000's, including Gokay Daviei and Edin- burgh's Gaia Architects, nttcduced the Scots to the Nordic Passivhaus communi- ty, including one of its founders, Hans Eek. As the climate and geography of Scotland Is closer to Scandinavia than to southarn England, its hardly surprising ‘that a separate Scottish Passivhaus path has emerged, witn Devio's Tigh Na Cla- ach affordable housing in Dunoon on Scotlands east coast being the most sig- hificant project to have been realised so ‘ar. interestingly, Devici states that his in- tent was research focused. Frustrated in previous projects dus to the difference between the claims of different energy approaches and thelr actual results, he ‘wanted to see if Passiviniaus would work in practice. So far post-occupancy testing is showing very good results.