Passivhaus Certification for Rowan House!

Rowan House is now officially certified as a "quality approved Passivhaus".  Passivhaus (or Passive House) is the world's leading standard for energy-efficient construction.  To achieve Passivhaus certification, a project must undergo a stringent quality control process that ensures the building will perform as designed.

Completed and occupied since 2010, Rowan House is among the first multi-residential developments in the UK to achieve this standard.  The building is currently being monitored under the Technology Strategy Board's 'Performance Evaluation Programme'.



The plaque to be installed at Rowan House



PassivOffice Project: Thermal modelling update

Gale & Snowden's thermal modelling work carried out under the TSB's Design For Future Climate (D4FC) programme confirms that:  Highly insulated, very air tight buildings like passive houses are able to maintain comfortable summer conditions without active cooling.  Due to their increased thermal lag, they have the ability to keep warm or cool for a longer period of time.  Because of this, night cooling or subsoil heat exchangers appear especially successful in passive houses.

For more information, please see the full report below:

Open publication - Free publishing - More architects

Knights Place press article

Following on from its success at the Michelmore's Commercial Property Awards where it scooped the "Eco-building of the Year" award, Knights Place has been profiled in an article in the Express & Echo / Western Morning News today.

Read the full article including comments from Architect Tomas Gartner here.

Visit the Knights Place project on our website here.

Design for future weather and Passivhaus presentation to RICS conference in Exeter

At the RICS conference held in Exeter on July 04, David presented a range of Gale & Snowden projects including ongoing research for Devonshire Gate Passivoffice and Exeter City Council's Passivpool.  By adopting passive design principles, buildings can be designed to be both very energy efficient and thermally comfortable even into future weather scenarios.

David's RICS presentation can be viewed below.  Watch this blog for more information on our ongoing research work with the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).

Open publication - Free publishing - More architects