Latest News Mon, Feb 6, 2017 3:04 PM
Saffron Acres is a social housing development in Leicester that is set to be the largest affordable Passive House scheme in the country. Playing an integral role in this Passive House attainment is the high performance range of MVHR units from Airflow Developments, which allow for maximum air tightness levels, whilst ensuring residents live in healthy and energy efficient homes.
Built on a former derelict allotment site belonging to Leicester City Council, Saffron Acres is a 13-acre affordable housing scheme situated off Whittier Road and Heathcott Road in Leicester. Sold for the nominal fee of £1 to emh homes with a view that the housebuilder and appointed property developer Westleigh provide affordable living to the area, the development will predominantly comprise of semi-detached houses, as well as four one-bedroom flats and two bungalows - with the total 68 dwellings attaining to Passive House standards.
Passive House buildings must provide a high level of occupant comfort while using minimum energy for heating and cooling. As such, the dwellings at Saffron Acres are being designed to optimum thermal efficiency and exceptional air tightness. This will ensure residents will not use excessive energy heating their homes - reducing fuel bills and mitigating the risk of fuel poverty.
Giovanni Corbo, Business Development Manager at Westleigh commented: “Leicester City Council challenged Westleigh and emh homes to provide an exemplar development, so it was logical to choose Passive House as the standard we wanted to achieve. Airflow and D.R. Ventilation have proved invaluable by helping us to select the appropriate Passive House approved MVHR system and design duct layouts that can easily be accommodated and installed within our dwellings.”
To achieve a Passive House build and meet airtightness criteria, each dwelling at Saffron Acres cannot exceed 0.6 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals pressure (ACH50). As a result, Passive House consultants Encraft were employed by Westleigh to help deliver the accreditation, and specified industry leaders Airflow Developments’ state-of-the-art DUPLEXVENT Professional Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) units.
“We need to use Passive House certified units because otherwise you receive a penalty when you undertake the energy modelling,” said Dr Sarah Price, Senior Consultant at Encraft. “Airflow’s DV96SE unit is ideal because it has a 100% effective summer bypass mode, which allows cool air in automatically in the summer; a post-heater that provides 50% of the space heating and frost protection integrated so the unit doesn’t freeze in the winter.”
Jason Bennett, Specifications Manager at Airflow continues: “An effective MVHR unit is capable of extracting harmful indoor air pollutants and providing fresh, healthy air whilst recovering valuable heat energy. When designing eco-friendly, affordable homes like the ones at Saffron Acres it is imperative that exemplary - preferably Passive House approved – MVHR units are specified to help achieve optimum build standards, maximise internal comfort levels and reduce energy wastage.”
When attaining to Passive House construction standards there are multiple challenges to overcome. Therefore it is critical that a company with the knowledge and experience of how to install MVHR units on a Passive House is appointed as a contractor early on in the conceptualisation stages. As Mark Phillips, National Sales Manager at D.R. Ventilation concludes: “an MVHR system is only as good as its install.”
To view the full video case study visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8fMprlKHos
For further information on Airflow’s MVHR systems and ventilation products visit: www.airflow.com
In association with Airflow Developments Ltd
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