A Passive house is a very energy efficient building with an extremely high level of thermal comfort and an all year round whole house even temperature.
The theory behind the Passive House concept is based on minimizing heat loss and maximizing Solar Heat Gain.

Orientation
During the planning and design stage it is imperative that both the client and architect discuss all passive aspects of the build with the appropriate planning authority. One of these very important issues is the orientation of the house onsite, taking into consideration that the large glazed area should face in a southerly direction to maximize Solar Gain. These glazing areas are the radiators of the house.

Thermal Efficiency

Insulation Quality and Performance
Typical types of insulation that can be used are mineral wool, polystyrene, extruded polystyrene and the more ecological types such as sheep wool, hemp, Wood fiber and cellouse. All these insulations have various different advantages in relation to the location which they are used in the house. The performance of the insulation is determined by the Thermal Conductivity of the product itself. The lower the conductivity the higher the performance.
Thermal Transmittance ( U-Values) relate to a building component or structure, and is a measure of the rate at which heat passes through that component or structure when unit temperature difference is maintained  between the ambient air temperatures on each side. It is expressed in units of Watts per square meter per degree of air temperature difference.
Recommended U-Value in Building components.

Floor U-Value     Irish Standard 0.010W (M2K) to 0.15W (M2K)
Wall U-Values    Shoalwater certified values  0.09W (M2K) to o.12W (M2K)
External Windows and Doors ( Passive Certified Optiwin)
No Higher Than 0.80W (M2K)

Building Envelope
The building envelope consists of all elements of the construction which separates the indoor climate from the outdoor climate. The aim of our Passive House (passiv-haus) is to design manufactures a Timber Frame Thermal Envelope that will significally minimize heat loss and optimize solar and internal heat gains to reduce the space heating requirements to 15KWh – (M2Year)   aspects which we have taken into consideration and that influence our closed panel design.

• Well insulated external wall panel
• High Energy Performance Windows and Doors
• Supply of internal workable service cavity for electrical and plumbing trades
• Minimize heat loss through thermal bridging
• Almost complete Airtightness