Just saw this snippet!!!

Scotland mandates Passivhaus equivalent legislation
A seismic change in building standards is underway in Scotland.

All new build homes in Scotland will soon have to meet greater levels of energy efficiency after the Scottish Government agreed to progress legislation proposed by Scottish Labour MSP Alex Rowley.

In December 2022 Scottish government ministers announced plans to make all new build housing meet a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard within the next two years. Work to develop the standard will commence early in 2023, seeking the laying of amending regulations in mid-December 2024.

This is HUGE and a potentially game-changing move for building performance, comfort, energy bills, and climate action in Scotland! Its ripples will extend far beyond Scotland and is already attracting global attention.

It's slightly political - an opposition MSP had pushed through a private member's bill to mandate PH standards immediately. The only way the Scottish government could head him off, was to adopt it as an official government policy, so allowing them to delay the bill by two years. But good news nonetheless!

Meanwhile, the previous 2022 update to Scottish Building Standards energy efficiency is delayed until 2023, but will already introduce "nearly zero energy buildings" - IE heating energy to be balanced by onsite renewables. The new U values are 0.15/0.12/0.09 for walls/floors/roofs which is already not far off PH. Is also on track to ban gas/oil boilers in new houses from 2024.

Ironically, electricity in Scotland is coming closer to zero carbon with all the new windfarms, so the need to save energy is disappearing during the lifetime of the new buildings. It would be better for the new standards to focus on embodied carbon (eg restrict usage of cement steel and glass, and force reuse of existing buildings instead of replacement). Unfortunately the PH standards do not address embodied carbon yet but who knows maybe that will change.

Put bluntly, this won't work in the real world.

Firstly, the Scottish Government is incapable of enforcing their present building standards so why do they think they will be able to enforce stricter ones?

Secondly, where are the people who are going to build these standards going to appear from? The vast majority, and I mean the vast majority of trades people have no idea what PH is and by that I mean even the basics.

I have been involved with quite a few builds of PH standard. They have all been individual clients/self builders and all worked only due to the client keeping a very close and regular eye on the build.

This is simply going to fail which is a shame as it is what we should be aiming for.

Posted By: bot de pailleDid Scotland become a land of millionaires recently?

Not that I know about
However
It is cheaper to install and run a wind farm than a gas fired power station so what is needed is more wind farms and to de-couple the price of energy from gas and to allow each form of energy production stand on its own.

With older houses already EWI doesn't give a ROI that makes sense for the typical owner occupier, if the cost of electricity falls in line with the cost of wind energy production (and the advances in heat pump tech.) retro fitting insulation will make less sense. For new build when, I ask, does it no longer make sense to spend lots making a house very energy efficient when the cost of green energy won't ever justify the additional expense and extra embodied carbon?

I can see the time when PH standard houses no longer make sense in either running costs or environmental costs, but until we get there something close to PH standard that is enforced makes sense. And it is enforcement that is key.

Don't forget, Passivhaus is as much about healthy internal environment, and comfort and convenience, as energy use.
Also, lately, about generating as much or more than it uses.
Then, agreed, there's embodied carbon - but that's set to fall everywhere regardless, as all products are manufactured using renewable rather than carbon-burning energy.
And Circular Economy - re-using previously used products/materials/building shells, with major reduction in virgin-resource extraction - but again that would result from society-wide changes i.e. a total-capture/upcycling/redistributing industry.
And finally on the to-do list, attention to all the other toxic/pollutants in the biosphere, in addition to just one of them (GHGs).
Actually, one more - cleaning all plastic fragments out of the biosphere.

Every Passivhaus, or future-standard building, call it what you will, could be designed as a nett-beneficial machine to tackle all of these, as well as a 'machine for living in'.

Fuel poverty is very much a thing for many people, especially vulnerable older ppl, many who die every ywar from hyperthermia. Tbey are so scared of a horrific fuel bill they wont turn on the heating. The notion that low CO2 means ppl dont bave to worry about energy use any more is strange.

<blockquote><cite>Posted By: revor</cite><blockquote><cite>Posted By: fostertom</cite>Also, lately, about generating as much or more than it uses.</blockquote>
You do not need to be a passive house. Our self build conversion of 18th C farmhouse produces more than it uses. And that is paying for LPG in bottles.</blockquote>
Thats great! How are you achieving net positive and can you give an idea of production over consumption. What steps did you take if not PH levels? Thanks

borpin,

a big reason for still using bricks and blocks is it is difficult to get a mortgage on many other methods. As for meeting building regs with the exception of the house that is built for the purpose of testing NONE of the houses built by any of the big companies meet current regs. The standard/quality of new build in the UK is consideravly worse than it was 30 years ago.

bot de paille

PH won't help those in fuel poverty as if you can't pay for energy at the moment then you sure cannot afford to own or rent a PH standards house.

If we were building to the current standards we would be using considerably less energy than we do.

Posted By: JontiI have been involved with quite a few builds of PH standard. They have all been individual clients/self builders and all worked only due to the client keeping a very close and regular eye on the build.

...

PH won't help those in fuel poverty as if you can't pay for energy at the moment then you sure cannot afford to own or rent a PH standards house.

Hmm, I agree that close supervision is necessary as well as a detailed design and good enforcement. But I believe the majority of PH projects in England (or maybe UK?) are built and owned by social housing organizations rather than individuals. Which kind of contradicts both of the points.

I believe the social housing has been built successfully by providing training on-site to all trades as well as staffing with some knowledgeable leaders who have previously undertaken more extensive training. And obviously building several houses on a site gives time for some of the training to sink in.

It will be good if this initiative works, but coming up with a separate Scottish standard sounds like a fudge, and unless they come up with a new enforcement method equivalent to PH certification that's unlikely to work either.

Posted By: bot de pailleFunny how they find the money for what they want when they want...

Quite. Because they don't have to 'find' the money, or even borrow it by selling repayable 'gilts' bonds - countries with sovereign currencies (e.g. EU but not individual member states) can just write it into existence.

The only problem is devising timing, targeting and regs to prevent that new money, yes, causing inflation - or being syphoned off by corporations and 'finance' to bid-up stock markets, paper 'wealth', never re-cashable. Forever the belief has been that 'printing' money self-evidently creates inflation, so it's been a prime no-no (though regularly broken). But that's not the case - like any of the other fiscal measures available, may or may not cause inflation, deflation or what else - all depends with what ideology-free wisdom they're targeted and regulated.

It's still political suicide for any politician of whatever colour to mention the above - but it's a reality-dam that's straining to break.

Posted By: bot de pailleThats great! How are you achieving net positive and can you give an idea of production over consumption. What steps did you take if not PH levels? Thanks

Last year was 1st full year of solar pv. Overall efficiency was 65% i.e 65% usage came from solar 35% from grid. we Spent £433 on grid electricity and £804 worth used was from solar. In addition we were credited with £705 that we exported to the grid. We spent £250 on gas (4x46Kg bottles)for heating only. Up to Mid May we were only getting 5.5p for export but from then on we switched to variable tariff that follows wholesale prices. Hopefully this year we will gain more from export but who knows. The gas this year has gone up 40% so that will make a dent in the sums. Must add there are only 2 of us so a family would probably use a lot more than us.

I aimed for high level of insulation Walls 150mm cavity 100mm ins 0.17U roof 0.11 combination of 170 mm rockwool between trusses overlaid with 100m pur, floor 150 mm pur 0.13 U,
Built around the old building with block extension so the only the front was exposed. This wall was externally insulated 100m battened out air gap and cedar clad. Back and side of house highly glazed S and W elevation to gain solar gain. One wall is behind a conservatory entrance way so gets heated up and act as thermal mass for the building. These areas are then isolated from the rest of house with DG sliding and bifold doors in evening to trap the warm air in the building. Have solar thermal, solar PV 6kw plus 10 kw battery MVHR Gledhill thermal store UFH LED lights and low energy appliances. I did most of the work apart from the blockwork slating and plastering. Thus I was able to ensure the insulation went in with no gaps no holes in walls (all services under ground into a plant room, only holes gas pipe flue and MVHR grills) no thermal bridging and attention to sealing for leakage using tapes and sealant.
The solar gain has impressed us it does keep the energy usage down our only downfall was we chose upvc windows whilst the side hung opening ones have been fine the top hung ones leak in strong wind. Think they have distorted in the heat of the sun. (In winter I tape these up with white pvc electrician's tape). Bottom line is attention to detail throughout but I did slip up on the windows. Had we been allowed to knock down the old house we would have built smaller than the 320 sqM we ended up with, been a better job and more efficient a building. Whilst the Scottish imitative is applauded I do not think that the building industry in general can deliver.

Posted By: JontiI didn't say individuals but individual clients which social housing organisations are.

Ah sorry. I was misled by your "/self builders", which rather changes the emphasis. But people on low incomes still rent the PH social buildings.

For immediate Social Housing needs, I'd like to see factory built 'cabin' accommodation.

If well designed and built to high standards of insulation & airtightness, there is no reason why they would not be almost zero cost to heat when occupied. At a minimum they would be very low cost. Flat sedum roofs with PV, triple glazed windows, MVHR etc. Build on screwpiles and the longest job (other than planning and NIMBYs) will be getting the infrastructure (Drains & Utilities) in.

Not perfect, but better than B&B (or nowhere) and some folk might even prefer them to larger houses.

This is emphasising the power-with-ignorance of the heavy hand of the mortgage industry. Presently, insisting on 'brick construction even tho it's just a wallpaper skin around a structural cardboard box; in the past for instance insisting routinely on toxic woodwork treatment and fabric-disastrous injection-plus-strong-render rising damp treatment, even when unnecessary.

There’s next to no chance of there being a return to the use of modern basic prefabs for social housing, it’d be presented as stigmatising those that have access to social housing, ( going against the drive to make developers have affordable provision within new developments innthe name of social inclusion) then you’ll have the backlash from owner occupiers who will feel that their taxes are being used to make the cost of living artificially low for low income households and so create a moral hazard where some decide it makes no sense trying to provide for yourself and family.
The numbers trotted out by councils in respect of those registered on the “social housing lists” are misleading as they represent the numbers on a list not those actually homeless ( many are those wanting to get out of the private sector and into the social) then there are those especially problematic tenants that no one really wants unless paid comsiderable amounts to manage them.
It would be far better to look solely at the numbers placed in emergency accomodation (and within that break it down to give reasons as to why they were made homeless) and seek to satisfy that demand as a matter of urgency rather than the wider list numbers. After that you have the problem of those who are offered housing outside the area they have lived in , london boroughs being the prime examples of those buying up housing in cheaper areas or doing deals with private landlords further afield to reduce their housing lists.