Passive House

A Passive House will have:

• Proper insulation
• No air leakages
• No thermal bridges
• Highly energy efficient windows
• Orientation and shading to take advantage of sun and shade in terms of heating and cooling
• Use of heat recovery ventilation to moderate heating and cooling
• Increased energy efficiency by up to 90 per cent compared to a conventional building, resulting in lower heating bills.

Cygnum employs two qualified and highly experienced Passive House designers – contact us now for more information.

Airtightness

Airtightness is the resistance to air unintentionally leaking in or out of a building through leakage points around its structure, between its internal and external surfaces.

An airtight building such as a timber frame home will result in lower heating bills, and have a well-performing ventilation system and fewer draughts.

Building Energy Rating

A Building Energy Rating (BER) is an indicator of the energy performance of a building.

BER is the calculated energy use for space and hot water heating, ventilation and lighting, based on standard occupancy.

The label has a scale from A to G, with A-rated homes being the most energy efficient, tending to have the lowest heating bills.

Building a Cygnum timber-frame home is the most financially and environmentally sound way of achieving the lowest possible BER for your dream home or next project.

Thermal Bridging

It is estimated that up to 30% of the heat loss in a well-insulated building occurs where materials that are poor thermal insulators come into contact, allowing heat to flow through them.

Example: a balcony that extends a steel reinforced concrete floor (which is also the highest part of the ceiling of the room below) allows heat to transfer from inside to outside.

A well-designed timber frame building minimises thermal bridges and may feature none at all.