PASSIVE HOUSE
Setanta Construction Directors, Mark and Niall Gribbins with the Gallagher family, who won the opportunity to live rent-free in one of the firm’s SoLow Passive Houses for a year, as part of a joint Ulster University live research monitoring study.
PASSIVE HOUSE SPECIALISTS, MARK AND NIALL GRIBBEN DISCUSS BENEFITS OF PASSIVE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING…
Unlocking sustainability
M id Ulster-based Setanta Construction is aiming to transform the social housing sector here by building high quality, cost- effective, Passive designed houses. Directors Mark and Niall Gribbin, certified
Passive house designer and specialist timber-frame builders have ambitious plans to bring Passive house to the mainstream by applying the ultra-energy efficient standard to affordable housing. “With no permanent solution to the
energy fuel and ongoing cost of living crisis, affordable housing needs to be better,” said Mark. “We’ve taken the initiative by designing and manufacturing a low-carbon, social housing prototype that can be quickly replicated and transformed into a long-term housing solution to help meet the needs of the sector.” He continued, “There’s a preconception that building to energy-efficient standards significantly increases the construction cost of housing. Yes, there are obvious sources of expenditure that you need to account for when building to Passive House standards including heat recovery ventilation systems, added insulation and improved window and doors, but those component costs become economically attractive once the passive house is outperforming and far exceeding that of a conventional build. “Based on the evidence of the houses that we have built, construction costs calculated between passive house projects and non-passive house vary less than 5%.
SoLow houses can be built in approximately two weeks in the Setanta factory and assembled onsite in a few hours.
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