Casa IDONIA: Passivhaus Plus timber home in Catalonia.
Casa Idonia is a detached single-family home that has achieved Passivhaus Plus certification: the first timber home in Catalonia to achieve this certification.
Casa IDONIA: Passivhaus Plus timber home in Catalonia.
Casa Idonia is a detached single-family home that has achieved Passivhaus Plus certification. A Passivhaus Plus building has a very high level of energy efficiency and generates more energy than it consumes in a typical year. The predicted total energy consumption for the house using the PHPP modelling tool is 7179 kWh/year, with a solar photovoltaic generation of 7815 kWh/year: approximately 8% more.
The house has a treated floor area of 201m² and has been built with CLT (cross laminated timber) boards, made by Egoin, using radiata pine from the Basque Country. Construction with CLT allows for fast assembly times, dry construction methods and less on-site waste, and a lower environmental impact compared to traditional reinforced concrete or metal structures.
Architect Emili Carrero Ramon oversaw the design, with construction carried out by Idonia Group. Oliver Style and Bega Clavero delivered the Passivhaus design, with Progetic installing the mechanical and electrical systems. The house has a compact shape and a good form factor (Aenvelope/ATFA = 2.8), with 8 cm of exterior insulation using Pavatex wood fibre boards on external walls, and an interior services cavity with 5 cm of Knauf Ultracoustic R mineral wool insulation, resulting in a U-value of 0.32 W/m²·K. The roof 18 cm of insulation (U-value = 0.20 W/m²·K) with the main objective of reducing transmission heat gains in the summer.
A dynamic vapour membrane, together with WERU Afino One PVC windows and top-notch airtightness detailing, provide the necessary airtightness to meet the strict requirements of the Passivhaus certification. In this case, a result of n50 = 0.45 air changes per hour was achieved in the Blower Door test. The airtightness was executed by Ecospai. The windows feature triple low-emissivity glazing and argon gas-filled cavities.
A Zehnder ComfoAir Q 450 HRV unit provides the home’s ventilation system, with high-efficiency heat recovery. The building has a Loxone home automation system. Heating and cooling is provided by an 8 kW Daikin air-to-water heat pump and fan coils for both heating and cooling. The same heat pump produces domestic hot water. A total of sisxtenn 440 Wp photovoltaic panels form a 7 kWp generator, generating the calculated 7,815 kWh/year according to the PHPP calculations.
At Praxis Resilient Buildings, we have extensive experience in Certification, Consulting, and Blower Door tests for all types of Passivhaus buildings. If you have a project you want to discuss, don’t hesitate to contact us.
https://passivehouse-database.org/index.php#d_6832
