Wimbish Passivhaus, a housing development managed by Hastoe Housing Association, was recognised in the residential category of the first UK Passivhaus Awards at a ceremony at Senate House in London. Passivhaus buildings provide high levels of air tightness, therefore using very little energy for heating and cooling. They are built with meticulous attention to detail and rigorous design and construction according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany, and can be certified through an exacting quality assurance process.

Working with architects Parsons + Whittley, RES Inbuilt, the consultancy division of the RES group, was instrumental in achieving Passivhaus certification on the innovative social housing project, providing key consultancy at the early stages, approving the heating and ventilation strategy, performing thermal modelling on key junctions, collating evidence and certifying the project.

One tenant of the housing project said after three months occupation: “The low gas bill means that my children will get Christmas presents this year, and if it carries on like this, we might be able to have a family holiday next year.”

The project will be monitored into the future to provide feedback on how the Passivhaus standard translates to comfort and energy efficiency in practice.

Last Autumn, as residents moved in to the completed Wimbish Passivhaus project, Hastoe said "We feel very proud to have worked with Wimbish Parish Council and the community to show that affordable homes in rural villages can make positive changes to the way we approach design and build; to protect the climate and tackle rural fuel poverty.
Investing in this exemplar scheme, at an additional cost of 10%*, has taught us a great deal about what we can achieve in our future programme. The lessons learnt are already being replicated on site at our second Passivhaus development in Ditchingham, Norfolk and the uplift costs have been limited to 6%*. We will be developing more Passivhaus schemes after that."

This experience has proved that overcoming the challenges associated with developing homes for local people, in sensitive rural areas, can go hand in hand with cutting edge techniques. There is also a monthly visiting opportunity.

David Coyne, Managing Director of RES Inbuilt, commenting on the award, said, “This award showcases our expertise and pursuit of excellence for our clients. Working with Parsons + Whittley, we were able to deliver properties that are comfortable for tenants and incur fewer energy costs .”

The awards shortlist was drawn up by a panel including Wolfgang Feist, the founder of the Passivhaus standard. They were voted on by the Passivhaus Trust membership.