Passivhaus New Build Lancashire

Passivhaus Windows, Doors and Sliding Doors Lancashire

On this Passivhaus new build project, we worked with the client, architect, builder and Passivhaus Engineer from the initial design phase, pre-construction through to the final clean and touch-up at the end to deliver what we feel is one of the most innovative Passivhaus ever attempted in the North West.

The reason why this eco-home is so unique is because of the high ratio of glass to solid walls. The ratio of glass to wall is always a balancing act on a Passivhaus with the need to absorb heat on the south elevation while reducing heat loss on the more northerly angles to create a perfect thermal balance achieved through the inbuilt heat exchange systems designed into the property. The problem with lots of glass in a Passivhaus is that the incredibly efficient walls and roof allow little to no heat loss so overheating from solar gain through the glass can be a real problem.

This is where our design team stepped in with our incredible Internorm windows, doors and sliding doors that boast a U-value of 0.73 along with an almost infinite amount of solar-controlled glass options. By working with Michael Foat from Mantis Energy (the Passivhaus engineer) and the architect at ArchiPonic we managed to create a home that hit the client's brief of 'light and homely' while hitting all of the thermal requirements of a certified Passivhaus.

Months of thermal modelling and section design work were carried out between the architects, our designers and our procurement team to create the perfect installation method to minimise thermal bridging and harness the incredibly efficient Internorm windows. We learnt a lot on this project about the most thermally efficient way of installing windows and doors within the cavity of a structure without compromising on stability and water egress. On this journey, we fell upon the incredible new product ‘hard compact foam’. This versatile product allowed us to achieve minimal thermal bridging while also creating a robust solid platform to sit on and has become a peg stay of our installation techniques moving forward.

The key element in achieving the requirements both thermally and aesthetically on this project however was Internorm and their incredible range of windows and doors that are all designed with ecoliving and Passivhaus design in mind. Their full suite of windows, doors and sliding doors in a wide range of aluminium-clad timber products allow complete flexibility of design and thermal properties. All of their products can be painted to any RAL colour externally; internally you can choose from both painted timbers (again in any RAL) or a wide range of spruce, oak, walnut, and larch timbers. We also used our own Knight Collection flat roof system to create a multi-sectional Passivhaus standard flat roof light jointed with glass fins. We then worked with Mike Foat who modelled our profile and confirmed it hit Passive standards.