An award winning architect's practice has launched a trading division, Accredited Passivhaus Design (APD) to provide passivhaus design and energy calculation services. Their goal is to provide clients with stylish buildings that are both comfortable to be in and cost very little to run. Architect and Certified Passivhaus Designer Peter Ranken, of The Tooley & Foster Partnership says that the Passivhaus design and construction approach delivers real energy savings that closely match the design stage energy calculations. ‘Our past experience of ‘bolt-on’ eco technologies shows that some can be unreliable and do not deliver the energy and fuel savings promised. By concentrating on well designed and well-constructed building fabric and insulation, energy saving and comfort are embedded for the lifetime of the building and will not require replacement or upgrading.’

An essential part of Passivhaus design is mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and this delivers real air quality with continuous fresh air and rapid removal of excess moisture and odours.

Accredited Passivhaus Design can provide a full range of design services including the following:

* Architectural design from inception to completion

* Passivhaus designs and calculations using PHPP (Passivhaus Planning Package software). This can be included with architectural design, or as a separate service for designs by others.

For example, the company provided Certified Passivhaus Designer services to Tectonics for one of the first Passivhaus dwellings in London and recently received Certifier Confirmation that it will be Passivhaus. The 3 bedroom house is sited between Victorian villas near London Fields in Hackney. Peter Ranken said ‘ It was a challenge reaching the Passivhaus energy targets because at midday the house sits in the shadows of the 4 storey houses to the South, and it has only 2 storeys with a half-basement ground floor’. Nonetheless the house meets the very low energy needs of a Passivhaus through thermal bridge free construction, using externally insulated insitu concrete and CLT timber walls. Warmth is provided through the west facing triple glazed windows and by three electric towel rails.

* Thermal Bridging calculations and diagrams using Therm software

* Planning Applications, including pre-application negotiations, Design and Access statements.

* Building Regulations information, including construction drawings, and energy calculations.

* Sustainability assessments, including BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes. With our in-house Passivhaus expertise we can help projects achieve maximum energy credits, reducing the need for additional measures to achieve high sustainability ratings.

* Project Management from inception to completion.

* Post Occupancy Evaluation, including energy and comfort monitoring, occupant surveys and thermal imaging.

Ranken added "Our association with the Tooley & Foster Partnership allows us to work on a full range of projects from domestic Passivhaus or EnerPHit retrofit schemes to larger non-housing Passivhaus projects including schools, academic buildings, care homes and health premises".

For further information or to discuss a project, please email – info@accreditedpassivhausdesign.com