McGuigan Architects

Passive House: Ultra low energy buildings

Buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling.

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In order to address issues of carbon emissions in the building industry in Ireland and across Europe an Energy Performance in Buildings Directive (EPBD) has been put in place by the European Commission. The EPBD requires all new buildings to be ‘nearly zero energy’ by the end of 2020.

In Ireland the building regulations relating to energy efficiency already have strategies and targets in place to step towards the requirements of the EPBD and appear to be headed towards Passive Standards.

So what is Passive House?

Why future proof your build?

With the transition to nearly zero energy buildings gathering pace it makes sense to aim towards higher standards that won’t soon be outdated.

The Passive House Standard is a well established template for achieving a low energy building that is resource efficient and economical. A well considered design can increase the life quality of the end user in terms of comfort, health and financial well being.

How much would you like to heat your building for?

We simulate all our detailed design proposals on the specific site against accurate climate data so we can calculate an estimate for the yearly running costs of the building. By tweaking the glazing, ventilation, insulation and/or renewables strategy we can evaluate certain measures and the payback term on your initial investment as an independent and impartial consultant.

We can show you how to heat your building for less than one euro per day!!

To achieve such low running costs every little detail needs due consideration and attention at design and construction stage. As Certified Passive House Designers we are trained specialists in designing low energy and Passive buildings.