Passive House
Passive House | Passivhaus
MBC Timber Frame | Passive House
Passive House | Passivhaus Build
A Passive House is a precisely engineered and detailed structure that is highly insulated, cold bridge free and requires less energy for space heating or cooling.
Building a Passive House does not cost extra in the long term as there is no need to install a complex heating system. Finances saved are invested into essential Passive House Elements, the cost of which is quickly recouped within a few years of building completion.
Passive House Non Structural Essential Elements
All opaque building components of the exterior envelope of the house must be very well-insulated. This means a heat transfer coefficient (U-value) of 0.15 W/(m²K) at the most, i.e. a maximum of 0.15 watts per degree of temperature difference and per square metre of exterior surface are lost.
Passive House Windows
The window frames must be well insulated and fitted with low-e glazings filled with argon or krypton to prevent heat transfer. This is achieved by a U-value of 0.80 W/(m²K) or less, with g-values around (g-value= total solar transmittance, proportion of the solar energy available for the room).
Efficient heat recovery ventilation is key, allowing for a good indoor air quality and saving energy. In a Passive House, at least of the heat from the exhaust air is transferred to the fresh air again by means of a heat exchanger.
Airtightness of the Building
Uncontrolled leakage through gaps must be smaller than 0.6 of the total house volume per hour during a pressure test at 50 Pascal (both pressurised and depressurised).
Absence of Thermal Bridges
All edges, corners, connections and penetrations must be planned and executed with great care, so that thermal bridges can be avoided. Thermal bridges which cannot be avoided must be minimised as far as possible.
MBC Passive Foundation & Slab System
Our passive foundation and slab is a PassivHaus certified system, designed to thermally encase the foundation in high performance expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation, which delivers the lowest U-Vaule currently available at 0.105W/m2K.
The MBC Passive Wall system delivers a U-Value of 0.12W/m2K and is designed to perform to its optimum level when used in tandem with our Passive Foundation & Slab system.
The MBC Passive Roof system delivers a U-Value of 0.10W/m2K and is suitable for all roof designs (flat, pitch, barrel vault, etc), ensuring your desired building design remains unchanged.
A Passive House is fitted with a variety of non structural high performance essential elements, which include:
- Triple Glazed Windows
- Thermal Insulation Barrier
- Airtight Membrane & Tapes
- Mechanical Ventilation & Heat Recovery (MVHR)
Passive House Components
Passive Foundation
MBC’s passive foundation is a PassiveHaus certified system, designed to thermally encase the foundation in high performance expanded polystyrene (EPS)…
Passive Wall
Delivering a U-Value of 0.12W/m2K and designed to perform to its optimum level when used in tandem with our Passive Foundation system…
Passive Roof
400mm thickness of Cellulose Roof Insulation is precision fitted to overlap with the 300mm Cellulose Insulation of the Passive Twin Wall System…
Airtight System
Air tightness is achieved with the careful application of an internal airtight membrane sheeting, which overlaps at joints and junctions, and is sealed with airtight tape…
Passive House Technical Details
View a detailed cross section diagram of our Passive House Twin Wall system…
Thermal Envelope Insulation
Information about the “thermal envelope” and “thermal bridging”…
Passive House Blower Door Test
Airtight Home Standards
Information about the Passive House Blower Door Test…
Passive Ventilation
Understanding “MVHR” – Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery…
Discuss your project with us
MBC specialise in the production of Timber Frame Passive Houses and High Thermal Efficiency Timber Frame Houses throughout the UK, for people looking to benefit from huge energy savings and reduce their heating demands by up to 90%.
What you Get
Passive House Essential Elements
Non Structural Elements of our Passive Homes
Thermal insulation
All opaque building components of the exterior envelope of the house must be very well-insulated. This means a heat transfer coefficient (U-value) of 0.15 W/(m²K) at the most, i.e. a maximum of 0.15 watts per degree of temperature difference and per square metre of exterior surface are lost.
Passive House Windows
The window frames must be well insulated and fitted with low-e glazings filled with argon or krypton to prevent heat transfer. This is achieved by a U-value of 0.80 W/(m²K) or less, with g-values around 50% (g-value= total solar transmittance, proportion of the solar energy available for the room).
Ventilation Heat Recovery
Efficient Heat Recovery Ventilation is key, allowing for a good indoor air quality and saving energy. In Passive House, at least 75% of the heat from the exhaust air is transferred to the fresh air again by means of a heat exchanger.
Airtightness of the building
Uncontrolled leakage through gaps must be smaller than 0.6 of the total house volume per hour during a pressure test at 50 Pascal (both pressurised and depressurised).
Structural Elements of our Passive Homes
Absence of Thermal Bridges
All edges, corners, connections and penetrations must be planned and executed with great care, so that thermal bridges can be avoided. Thermal bridges which cannot be avoided must be minimised as far as possible.
Passive Foundations
Our Passive Foundation and slab is a PassiveHaus certified system, designed to thermally encase the foundation in high performance expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation, which delivers the lowest U-Vaule currently available at 0.105W/m2K.
Passive Wall System
The MBC Passive Wall system delivers a U-Value of 0.12W/m2K and is designed to perform to its optimum level when used in tandem with our Passive Foundation & Slab system.
