Critically, Reference Design gives teams the ability to assess a site very quickly using a ‘test fit’ process:.

Passivhaus is a well-established, international building performance standard that delivers resilient, ultra-low energy consumption buildings, whilst maintaining the highest levels of occupant thermal comfort and air quality experience..This is delivered through a keen focus on a fabric first approach that seeks to reduce space heating demand which can be met either through useful solar gains, internal gains or via modern, high efficiency and low carbon heating systems..

The facade performance in a Passivhaus building goes well beyond current UK Building Regulations, though a combination of highly insulated walls, high-performing windows and by ensuring “thermal bridging” around windows, doors and junctions is reduced to as close to zero as possible.This contrasts with traditional building construction, where these elements account for upwards of 10% of the building’s heat loss..The design must achieve the following targets to gain Passivhaus certification:.

A heating energy demand of < 15 kWh/m²/yr or a maximum required heating power of 10 W/m2.Avoid overheating or have a cooling system demanding < 15 kWh/m2/yr.

Achieve an air tightness of ≤ 0.6 air changes/ hr @ n50.

The building design also needs to achieve low primary energy & renewable demand.a motorway in an hour.

At this speed, we can beta test many more options than could usually be considered – one of our client specific configurators will generate many thousands of completely compliant test fits in a matter of minutes, to select the solutions which best suit a specific site.. Industrialising Reference Design.Reference Design is of immediate benefit to the current design to construction market; even if built using a traditional process, there will be benefits brought by the optimal design (via optimisation of adjacencies and the standardisation inherent in Reference Design)..

However the greater opportunities lie in its ability to unlock DfMA and industrialised construction; using Reference Design for a programmatic roll out gives Portfolio clients an opportunity to move up the adoption scale at a pace that allows the supply chain to move confidently with them.The first assets may be delivered quite traditionally, but sequential assets can be increasingly industrialised in their delivery:.