By
Patrick Osborne
ECE attends 2024 UK Passivhaus Conference
In September, ECE’s three Passivhaus Designers attended the 2024 UK Passivhaus Conference in Oxford. Within the theme “The role of Passivhaus in net zero neighbourhoods”, Richard Knaggs, Toine Hodgkiss and Patrick Osborne learned about progressive techniques and projects that is applicable to their own work.
Patrick Osborne – Certified Passivhaus Designer & Head of Sustainability
“Of particular note was the number of Local Authorities pursuing the standard through their local plans – we see this as the beginning of a wider movement for adopting higher than nationally prescribed standards. The release of the science-based UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard will also set the bar highe r, allowing clients to be assured that the targets themselves are backed on evidence and are deliverable.”
Richard Knaggs – Certified Passivhaus Designer & Senior Architectural Technologist
“It was fascinating attending this year’s UK Passivhaus Conference. We were struck by the positivity and presence of so many people trying to make the construction industry a greener and more sustainable place. We enjoyed hearing of the work of some of the smaller retrofit projects. Retrofitting one-off houses and small office spaces will be key to the future of the built environment and our push to a net zero carbon future. We heard from one of the top experts on airtightness as well as from M&E consultants working on a particularly tricky retrofit. They spoke on lessons learnt during construction; this will be helpful in informing our work at ECE.”
Toine Hodgkiss – Certified Passivhaus Designer & Associate
“The construction sector is responsible for 17% of the UK’s carbon emissions. To meet our climate commitments, buildings require a 30% reduction (compared to 2021) in total energy demand by 2035 – so the next 10 years are vital.
While grid decarbonisation at a national policy level is crucial in meeting our targets, it was encouraging to hear the strides being made in widening the use of the Passivhaus standard. By improving airtightness and thermal performance the performance gap is closed, therefore we should be utilising the Passivhaus standard for both new and retrofit projects as this provides an accurate metric in reducing our energy demand.”
Attending the conference has given cause for inspiration and expanded Richard, Toine and Patrick’s knowledge, which they are passing on to the wider team through our internal ‘Passivhaus Bitesize Sessions‘.
If you would like to know more about our Passivhaus designers and their current projects, read our newly published ‘Annual Sustainability Report 2024’.
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