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Exporting Solar PV

April is the month when solar production begins to outstrip what we use at home, meaning we start to get paid for the energy we export back to the grid.

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Alex Bell Alex Bell

Pulse Testing

Pulse Tests are carried out by specialist air testing companies as a quicker alternative to Blower Door testing, particularly for existing buildings undergoing retrofit or older buildings.

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Alex Bell Alex Bell

EnerPHit explainer

EnerPHit is where Retrofit meets Passivhaus. This blog explains some of the key differences and routes to certification for those who do not want to move to achieve their dream energy efficient home.

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New service

New service - Thermographic Imaging Report for diagnosis of heat loss and air leakage, plus solutions!

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Plug in: Energy Use

What is a Watt? What is kWh? It depends on who you ask. Try comparing one building to another and you could quickly become unstuck. Let’s take a myth-busting dive into the standard metric for building energy use.

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Alex Bell Alex Bell

Net Zero Carbon Planning Policy

Bath & NE Somerset’s pioneering net zero carbon planning policy has been studied by a group at University of Bath with external partners Chapter 2 Architects and the South West Net Zero Hub.

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Diminishing returns

Energy efficiency comes from optimising your design. Adding insulation increases performance but past a certain point it only adds more cost with little additional benefit. This is the law of diminishing returns.

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Form Factor

Form Factor and orientation play a huge role in the eventual heat loss characteristics of your building. Simplifying the form and using design tools can help you optimise your form, and reduce your heat loss.

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Retrofit Explainer

A brief explainer on the role of Retrofit in addressing the UK’s 2050 climate commitments, covering the role of designers, PAS2035 and recognised methodologies from LETI, RIBA, Passivhaus and AECB.

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Internal Air Quality

Using an inexpensive indoor air quality meter to asses the health of our home, looking at carbon dioxide, relative humidity and temperature as we work from home, or rest.

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What is PHPP?

PHPP is the tool developed by the Passive House Institute to achieve compliance with their standard. It is used by Passive House Designers and Certifiers to evaluate designs through the project life, but can have wider applications.

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Alex Bell Alex Bell

Is solar gain good or bad?

One of the key inputs into the energy balance of a Passive House project is solar gain, but is it helpful to the designers or a hindrance?The Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) helps designers optimise climate data and shading to prevent overheating.

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Alex Bell Alex Bell

MVHR Primer

MVHR sounds like a seriously complex piece of mechanical kit. But in reality, it’s a rather clever, largely empty box. Here’s a quick primer to explain how it works.

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Comfort or Low Energy Standard?

Passive House is a low energy standard, right? Not necessarily. The reason for achieving low energy starts with the building users.

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PHPP for BANES

We have produced a flow chart to show the routes to compliance and the outputs that will be mandatory for registering each new application in BANES.

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Chapter 2 begins

Today marks the official launch of my new venture into the world of architectural & environmental design consultancy. If you’re reading this - thanks for stopping by.

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