Passivhaus design and consultancy for an elderly peoples residence located in Barcelona capital, designed by the Genars architecture studio and developed by FIATC Seguros
Passivhaus and nZEB
Mirador de Gràcia Nursing Home
Description
Passivhaus consultancy for an elderly people residence located in Barcelona capital, designed by Genars architecture studio and developed by FIATC Seguros through FIATC Residencias (Inverfiatc). This 6575 m2 building is in the process of Passivhaus Classic certification.
Praxis has delivered the PHPP modelling, design of the thermal envelope and airtight layer, advice on low-impact materials, and analysis and optimisation of thermal bridges and construction details.
We’ve also undertaken a thermodynamic and daylighting study of the building, using DesignBuilder (EnergyPlus & Radiance), to assess natural light levels and analyse the risk of summer overheating.
Our work has also included an audit of the mechanical and electrical systems, with proposals for improvements and compliance with the Passivhaus standard, to ensure efficient operation and low maintenance costs. Praxis has also undertaken the Blower Door testing and on-site Passivhaus supervision and quality control.
Year: 2021
Location: Barcelona
Services: Passivhaus consultancy, thermodynamic simulation, daylighting analysis, M & E consultancy, Blower Door testing
Passivhaus design & consultancy for a pop-up learning hub in Castelldefels, Barcelona, designed by the Learnlife team.
Learnlife Eco Hub: pop-up learning space
Passivhaus, M & E engineering, Blower Door
Descripción
Passivhaus consultancy for the Eco Hub, a pop-up learning hub in Castelldefels, Barcelona, designed by the Learnlife team, whose philosophy is to provide spaces that offer “a better way of learning, backed by science and research, that is learner-centred and focuses on self-determined, purpose-inspired and personal learning”.
Winner of the Green Solutions Awards 2022-2023 of Construction 21 Spain in the Low-tech Category, the Eco Hub consists of two prefabricated timber modules built by Tall Fusta and made from healthy and low environmental impact materials. Windows are made by Elke Wood Windows, with meranti frames and low-e argon filled double glazing. Each module is equipped with a Passivhaus certified Zehnder mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, for optimum air quality.
Praxis has delivered the PHPP modelling, design of the thermal envelope and airtight layer, advice on low-impact materials, and analysis and optimisation of thermal bridges and construction detail, together with the design of the M & E systems: mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, space heating and cooling, hot water production, and solar PV. Praxis has also undertaken the Blower Door testing and on-site Passivhaus supervision and quality control.
Services: Passivhaus Consultancy, Blower Door Tests, Site supervision, MVHR design and specification, heating and cooling system design and specification
Ca Na Lola is a single-family home located in Campos, Mallorca, which has achieved Passivhaus Plus certification. The home has a very low level of air infiltration, with a Blower Door test result of 0.38 ach at 50 Pa.
Ca Na Lola: Mediterranean Passive House
Passivhaus
Description
Ca Na Lola is a single-family home located in Campos, Mallorca, which has achieved Passivhaus Plus certification. The home has a very low level of air infiltration, with a Blower Door test result of 0.38 ach at 50 Pa. A solar photovoltaic generator installed in the garden generates approximately twice as much energy as the house consumes in an average year.
Ca Na Lola has a timber structure with wood fibre insulation and a mineral mortar render as an exterior finish. The windows are shaded with external blinds and a pergola adds further shading on the south façade.
Mechanical ventilation with heat and moisture recovery is taken care of by a Zehnder Comfoair Q350 ERV unit with Passivhaus component certification for hot climates, recovering both heat and moisture.
A Mitsubishi air-to-water heat pump produces domestic hot water. A second Mitsubishi VRV heat pump delivers underfloor heating and cooling through ducted split units.
PHI Low Energy Building certification for single family house with a treated floor area of 125.4 m², located in Castellcir, Barcelona.
Cabana GR4 Passivhaus
Passivhaus
Description
PHI Low Energy Building certification for single family house with a treated floor area of 125.4 m², located in Castellcir, Barcelona. Designed by Lluís Jubert of Taller d´Arquitectura, promoted by Núria Grau and Jaume Ribas and built by Albert Fargas of Farhaus.
The construction system is lightweight timber frame, using low-emission, bio-based materials with low environmental impact to reduce the building’s carbon footprint and provide a healthy indoor environment. The high level of insulation, minimised thermal bridges and triple low-e glazing with Farhaus timber frames, reduce heating energy demand in the winter. In the summer, external blinds reduce solar gains and overheating. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is provided by a Zehnder ComfoAir 180 HRV.
As part of the Passivhaus audit, Praxis revised the calculations and design documentation presented by the Passivhaus Consultant, which include architectural and M&E drawings and reports, the PHPP calculation, the Blower Door test report, ventilation commissioning documentation and photographs of the construction process and the completed building.
Single-family home in Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona, certified Passivhaus Plus by Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings and designed by the architect Víctor Blanco of the VBTArquitecte office, with Alfred Núñez Aparicio as Passivhaus Designer.
Passivhaus Plus home in Cabrera de Mar
Passivhaus Certification
Description
Single-family home in Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona, certified Passivhaus Plus by Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings and designed by the architect Víctor Blanco of the VBTArquitecte office, with Alfred Núñez Aparicio as Passivhaus Designer.
The house has a ground floor, first floor and basement with a floor area of 249 m2. The Izodom construction system, with Passivhaus component certification, has 50mm BASF Neopor insulation on the inside and 150mm on the outside, which surrounds the reinforced concrete structure and eliminates thermal bridges. The roof is insulated with 160mm of XPS insulation, with 150mm on the floors. Passivhaus certified WERU Afino One PVC frames, together with low emissivity triple glazing with argon gas and external blinds, make up the high-performance windows.
The Blower Door test, carried out by Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings, gave an excellent result of n50 = 0.4 ach, even with a cooker hood extracting to outside with a Naber Thermobox non-return valve.
A Passivhaus certified Zehnder Comfoair Q450 sensible heat recovery unit takes care of the controlled mechanical ventilation.
Heating and cooling are with Daikin RXM + FDX/FBA air-to-air heat pumps and ducted indoor units.
A separate Daikin ERWQ02AV3 heat pump provides domestic hot water. A 6.8 kWp photovoltaic generator will generate approximately 131% of the home’s annual energy consumption, making it a final energy net zero energy building.
Links:
Pep – iPHA
Photos: Alfred Núñez Aparicio
Year: 2023
Location: Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona
Architecture: Olga Garcia Gomez, Alfred Núñez Aparicio
Services provided by Praxis: Passivhaus certification, thermal bridge calculations, Blower Door airtightness tests
Passivhaus Certification Class: Passivhaus Plus
Floor area: 249 m2
Thermal envelope area: 744 m2
Blower Door result: 0,4 n50
Heating Demand: 2 kWh/m2·a
Cooling Demand: 15 kWh/m2·a
Primary Energy Renewable consumption (EPR): 35 kWh/m2·a
Praxis has carried out the Passivhaus Premium certification of this single-family home in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, designed by the architect and Passivhaus Designer Sergi Gargallo of SgARQ Passivhaus Architecture.
Casa #SgPi
Passivhaus
Description
Praxis has carried out the Passivhaus Premium certification of this single-family home in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, designed by the architect and Passivhaus Designer Sergi Gargallo of SgARQ Passivhaus Architecture.
The house has a useful floor area of 254 m2 over a ground floor and three upper floors. The project was developed by reusing an existing structure that remained unfinished, built more than 10 years ago on the same plot, thus reducing the environmental impact of the house.
Outer walls consist of a honeycomb brick with 10cm of high-performance EPS external thermal insulation. The roofs have between 10cm and 20cm of XPS insulation, and the window frames are Passivhaus certified WERU Afino One PVC with triple glazing and exterior shading devices.
An excellent result was achieved in the “Blower Door” air tightness test of n50 = 0.22 ach.
A solar photovoltaic array supplied by Prot Energia was installed on the roof, which generates 11,313 kWh/a of renewable energy. The owner also has an off-site solar photovoltaic installation that generates 10,609 kWh/a, totalling 21,922 kWh/a. The house is expected to consume a total of 6,864 kWh/a.
Through the Passivhaus certification process, Praxis audited all the calculation and design documents presented by the Passivhaus Designer, including the PHPP calculation, thermal bridge calculations, architectural and service drawings and reports, the Blower Door test report, the ventilation commissioning report, and photographic documentation of the entire construction process, to ensure that the building was built as designed and as calculated in the PHPP energy model.
Premium Passive House in Sant Pere de Ribes. A building that achieves Passivhaus Premium certification generates, 3 to 4 more energy than it consumes, offering optimal thermal comfort, impeccable air quality and absurdly low energy bills.
Casa #SgPi: Premium Passive House in Sant Pere de Ribes, Catalonia
What do you do when you come across the existing structure of a house, a remnant of the Spanish real estate bubble of 2007, which left skeletons of building structures scattered throughout the Iberian Peninsula?
Easy: You re-use it, reducing the project’s embodied carbon and turn it into a Passivhaus Premium! A building that achieves Passivhaus Premium certification generates (through on-site or off-site renewable energy installations), 3 to 4 more energy than it consumes, offering optimal thermal comfort, impeccable air quality and absurdly low energy bills. Sounds impossible? Well, here it’s become a reality…
The completed Casa #SgPi
The existing structure before the intervention
Casa #SgPi is designed by architect and Passivhaus Designer Sergi Gargallo of SgARQ Passivhaus Architecture, and certified by Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings. The house has WERU Afino One PVC windows, equipped with argon filled low-emissivity triple glazing and insulating spacers, offering excellent thermal and acoustic insulation. “When we close all the windows, the silence inside the house is incredible!”, says Edu Altés, co-developer of the house and CEO of Prot Energía, who did the photovoltaic installation on the roof of the house that generates 11,313 kWh/a of renewable energy. Off-site, Prot Energia has installed another PV generator, owned by them (a requirement for it to be included in the Premium certification) – which generates 10,609 kWh/a, totalling 21,922 kWh/a. The house is expected to consume a total of 6,864 kWh/a. What does this all mean? It means that, in an average year, 3.2 times more energy will be generated from on-site and off-site renewable sources, than the house itself consumes. Way to go!
The on-site photovoltaic generator
Inverter & batteries
The fantastic indoor air quality is another thing that the owners of this house comment on
This is thanks to a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, which ensures a constant renewal of fresh air and optimal indoor air quality, recovering heat from the exhaust air to preheat the incoming air, thus reducing the heating energy demand in winter. In summer, the process is reversed, and the heat recovery unit cools the incoming air (when the air conditioning is on). Also, when the outdoor temperature is below the indoor temperature, the bypass opens automatically, providing “free cooling”. This also helps to reduce air conditioning consumption.
Image of the measuring equipment for the “Blower Door” test
Infiltration air flow at -50Pa of pressure
An excellent result was achieved in the “Blower Door” air tightness test, of n50 = 0.2 air changes per hour, 3 times below the Passivhaus certification limit of n50 ≤ 0.6 ach. Typically, a newly built home in Spain with an “A” energy certification will have an air permeability of between 3 ach and 6 ach at 50 Pa. This means that- on the one hand- there are no cold draughts in winter that generate discomfort and send energy bills rocketing, and- on the other hand- hot and humid air doesn’t come leaking in through the envelope in summer.
From Praxis Resilient Buildings we’re really proud to have been able to certify this home with the highest certification class of the Passivhaus standard: Premium! Huge congratulations to all the people and companies that participated in the design and on-site: reaching Passivhaus certification isn’t easy, but it’s the result of a lot of hard work and attention to detail…and above all, team work!
Casa AYA is the first straw bale home built to Passivhaus standard in Latin America. Designed by Martin Comas of Arquitectura Regenerativa – aRRe, with Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Building providing Passivhaus audits, the home is located in Carrasco, Uruguay.
Casa AYA
Passivhaus
Description
Casa AYA is the first straw bale home built to Passivhaus standard in Latin America. Designed by Martin Comas of Arquitectura Regenerativa – aRRe, with Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Building providing Passivhaus audits, the home is located in Carrasco, Uruguay.
During the Passivhaus certification process, Praxis audited the calculation and design documents presented by the Passivhaus Designer, including the PHPP energy model, thermal bridge calculations, architectural and service drawings and reports, the Blower Door test report, the ventilation commissioning report, and photographic documentation of the construction process, to ensure that the building was built as designed and as calculated in the PHPP model.
Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. The building was designed to meet PHI Low Energy Building standard, with Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings as Passivhaus consultants.
Casa Este, Rupia: Low energy home
Passivhaus Consultancy
Description
Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. The building was designed to meet PHI Low Energy Building standard, with Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings as Passivhaus consultants.
The home is built with the Evowall steel-frame prefabricated construction system, consisting of a proprietary low-conductivity mortar, EPS and PIR insulation, with the outer walls rendered or finished with rammed earth blocks.
Timber window frames and low-e argon filled solar control glazing make up the openings.
Ventilation is with a Zehnder balanced mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.
Heating and cooling are with an air-to-air mini VRF Panasonic heat pump with five ducted indoor split units. Domestic Hot Water is supplied by a Panasonic air-to-water heat pump.
A roof-mounted 8,1 kWp solar PV generator generates a projected 92% of the home’s total energy consumption.
Services provided by Praxis: Passivhaus Consultancy, thermal bridge calculations, building physics, heating-cooling-DHW-ventilation system design, Blower Door airtightness tests
Passivhaus Certification Class
Floor area: 179 m2
Thermal envelope area: 769 m2
Blower Door result: 2,4 n50
Heating Demand: 30 kWh/m2·a
Cooling Demand: 8 kWh/m2·a
Primary Energy Renewable consumption (EPR): 46 kWh/m2·a
Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings were Passivhaus consultants for the project. The building has been certified as a PHI Low Energy Building.
Casa Oeste, Rupia
Passivhaus Consultancy
Description
Single family home in Rupia, Girona, Catalonia, designed by the Nordest Arquitectura and built by Evowall. Oliver Style and Bega Clavero of Praxis Resilient Buildings were Passivhaus consultants for the project. The building has been certified as a PHI Low Energy Building.
The home is built with the Evowall steel-frame prefabricated construction system, consisting of a proprietary low-conductivity mortar, EPS and PIR insulation, with the outer walls either rendered or finished with rammed earth blocks.
Timber window frames and low-e argon filled solar control glazing make up the openings.
Ventilation is provided with a Zehnder balanced mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.
Heating and cooling are with an air-to-air mini VRF Panasonic heat pump with five ducted indoor split units. Domestic Hot Water is supplied by a Panasonic air-to-water heat pump. A roof-mounted 8,1 kWp solar PV generator generates a projected 124% of the home’s total energy consumption.
Services provided by Praxis: Passivhaus Consultancy, thermal bridge calculations, building physics, heating-cooling-DHW-ventilation system design, Blower Door airtightness tests
Passivhaus Certification Class: PHI Low Energy Building
Floor area: 173 m2
Thermal envelope area: 778 m2
Blower Door result: 1 n50
Heating Demand: 30 kWh/m2·a
Cooling Demand: 10 kWh/m2·a
Primary Energy Renewable consumption (EPR): 41 kWh/m2·a
Final Energy consumption: 45 kWh/m2·a
Renewable energy generation: 48 kWh/m2·a
CO2eq emissions: 18 kg/m2·a
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