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Construction has begun on 34 new Passivhaus homes at the Duncombe Barracks site in York. The sustainable and low-carbon homes are being built as part of the council’s Housing Delivery Programme, the City of York Council website explains.
The multi-award-winning scheme will make a minimum of 40% of the homes available at affordable prices. The surrounding environment will be carefully landscaped, with green open spaces, and a variety of native tree species will be planted. Car-free routes will be created to creates low-traffic communities.
Passivhaus houses (or passive houses in English) originate from Germany, and are designed with optimised insulation and ventilation systems, so that they are energy efficient and require the minimum of heating in winter, or cooling in summer.
The system was developed in Germany following extensive research into residential energy efficiency. Standards for insulation are much more rigorous than for most UK homes, with triple glazing, a very high degree of airtightness, and inbuilt ventilation and heat recovery systems.
Passivhaus homes typically only need additional heating when the outside air temperature drops below freezing, potentially saving thousands of pounds on energy bills. This makes them ideal for council and rented homes, because tenants are much less likely to fall into rent arrears.
The largest Passivhaus development in the UK is currently at Primrose Park in Plymouth, where 72 affordable homes have been built. There are various other developments around the country, particularly in Scotland.
Cllr Denise Craghill, Executive Member for Housing and Safer Communities at City of York Council, said: “This first Passivhaus site of our Housing Delivery Programme comes with big ambitions. These, our first zero carbon in use homes, aim to help inspire more climate sensitive homes to be designed and built.”
She added: “Importantly, by allocating at least 40% of this site for shared ownership and social housing, we’re delivering twice the planning requirements for affordable homes. Being set in a landscape which encourages communities to develop and thrive, these new homes build on the city’s rich history as a housing pioneer.”
Passivhaus homes typically cost more to construct, but this is offset by the huge saving on energy bills made by the occupants. The zero carbon homes also carry huge environmental benefits.
Richard Greenwood, Caddick Construction’s Director of Housing, said: “We are delighted to be on site for this project which is already award-winning following its success in the Housing Design Awards earlier this year.”
He added: “It’s also exciting to be working on something that not only delivers high quality Passivhaus standard homes for York, but will hopefully inspire and encourage future developments to follow suit and take up green technology alongside other net carbon building methods.”
In York, the carbon zero construction is enhanced further by the use of recycled materials from nearby demolition sites. The development is expected to be complete by 2024, with show homes available to view from autumn next year.
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