A1 Rated, Energy Plus Passive House Renovation

This Wicklow house (renovated in 2009) became Irelands first A1 rated, energy plus (soon to be certified) Passive House renovation. The internal walls were removed to allow the floor to be insulated with a Passive House certified Passive Slab, the roof was removed, raised by 300mm and replaced by a new roof with 80mm of wood fibre board and 300mm of cellulose insulation.

The external walls were insulated with 200mm of external insulation and 100mm of blown bead in the cavity. On the mechanical side ducted HRV was fitted with an air source heat pump as back up heating. Both PV and Solar Thermal solar panels were fitted along with a windmill to make this Irelands first energy plus Passive House renovation.

Getting the air-tightness level below 1ac/hr@50kPa was difficult and getting the heating requirement down below 18kwh/m2/annum was tricky due to the shape of the house but through perseverance especially by the client the result has been zero energy bills with excellent comfort levels.