丨Paul McAlister Architects

Construction, Contractor, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 08/02/2013

Construction, Contractor, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 08/02/2013

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.24 - The Team

Here is a list of the team involved in the design and construction of the Crawfordsburn passive house

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Certification, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 08/02/2013

Certification, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 08/02/2013

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.22 - Certification and Completion

Today the Crawfordsburn passive house certification became official as we received the documentation from MosArt! The dwelling is now a certified Passivhaus building

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

18/01/2013

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

18/01/2013

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.21 - Coming to an End

The Crawfordsburn passive house is in the final phase of works, the internal plastering and external rendering are now complete. The bathrooms and kitchen are being installed, as are internal doors and the glazed internal balcony.

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Construction, Contractor, DHW, PassivHaus, Project Information, Space Heating

admin 04/01/2013

Construction, Contractor, DHW, PassivHaus, Project Information, Space Heating

admin 04/01/2013

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.20 - Hot Water and Space Heating Installations

The applied Passivhaus approach dramatically reduces the demand for space heating which means the house does not require a conventional central heating system. The space heating demand will be 14kWh/(m2/a) for the entire house.

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Certification, Construction, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information, Ventilation

admin

14/12/2012

Certification, Construction, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information, Ventilation

admin

14/12/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.19 - Ventilation (MVHR)

The ventilation system, with heat recovery, is an integral component of the dwelling, essential for achieving the Passivhaus certification performance levels. A proven low-energy and highly efficient ventilation method, MVHR is fast becoming the most common method of whole home ventilation for new build properties

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Airtightness, Building Fabric, Certification, Construction, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

30/11/2012

Airtightness, Building Fabric, Certification, Construction, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

30/11/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.18 - Achieving Airtightness

The airtightness, as already mentioned in previous diary entries, is crucial for the overall success of the passive house. We have discussed the high risk air leakage components such as wall openings, floor-to-wall junctions and wall-to-roof junctions.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Roof structure

admin

16/11/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Roof structure

admin

16/11/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.17 - The Roof

The build has continued to proceed well; it is very exciting seeing each step of construction completed. The snow arrived on site recently making the working conditions rather cold for the construction team! Many sub-contractors are starting to appear on site to play their part in various installations

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin

26/10/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin

26/10/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.16 - Floor Junctions

Steady progress was made on site this week as we saw the internal membranes on the walls being fitted. The build is really coming together.

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Construction, Contractor, Doors, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information, Windows

admin 12/10/2012

Construction, Contractor, Doors, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information, Windows

admin 12/10/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.15 - Windows and Doors

All windows and doors utilised in Passivhaus certified buildings have to meet certain performance criteria. The wall openings have been discussed in the previous diary entry but here we will detail the exact capabilities of the window and doors units.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Windows

admin

28/09/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Windows

admin

28/09/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.14 - The Wall Openings

After a slight delay, this week saw the installation of the windows and doors in the Crawfordsburn passive house. We have decided to use this diary entry to address how we’ve dealt with the window and door openings. In the next entry we will discuss the specific window and door units.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin

13/09/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin

13/09/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.13 - The Timber Frame Construction

In the last diary entry we announced that the timber frame construction kit had arrived on site. In the past two weeks it has transformed from individuals panels into an actual dwelling. It has been fantastic to witness and we feel like the build is really starting to take shape now.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin 03/09/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin 03/09/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.12 - The Timber Frame

So the big day is here, the timber frame kit has finally arrived! We will have lots of photos documenting the frame as it is erected over the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled. For now the photograph below shows the frame unloaded on to the site ready for construction to commence tomorrow.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin 06/08/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Timber Frame

admin 06/08/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.11 - The Waiting Game

We spoke too soon when we boasted about everything running on time! This week marked the start of the waiting game ... SIPFIT our timber frame manufacturer is running slightly behind schedule so were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the SIP Panels which should be any day now, fingers crossed.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus

admin 03/08/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus

admin 03/08/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.10 - Ground Floor Construction

In order for the building to perform as efficiently as possible, material choice throughout has been extremely important. As we progress through the dwelling build we will discuss in depth each of the materials we are using and the reasons why.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

27/07/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

27/07/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.9 - Thermal Block Installation

The product utilised for this construction is Foamglas® Perinsul. Foamglas® Perinsul is a very high density speciality product used to eliminate structural thermal bridging. All sides are bitumen coated. The upper and the lower surface of the insulation are additionally coated with glass reinforced fleece.

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Building Fabric, Construction, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information, Thermal Bridge

admin

20/07/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information, Thermal Bridge

admin

20/07/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.8 - Thermal bridging

As previously discussed we had identified two independent timber companies that could supply the timber construction kit for the Crawfordsburn passive house. As the two systems have slight differences we have had to alter some of our drawings to suit the selected panels.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

13/07/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin

13/07/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.7 - Foundations

This week saw Baylands Construction Ltd place the footings and start work on the dwellings’ blockwork substructure. Kevin and the team have had relatively good weather to date which has eased the working process.

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Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 02/07/2012

Building Fabric, Construction, Contractor, On Site Information, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 02/07/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.6 - On Site Commences

After an intensive year of research, design and planning the Crawfordsburn passive house is now ready for construction to commence. The design process, extensive Passivhaus calculations, planning application, building control application and contract tender process are now all complete.

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Budget, Contractor, PassivHaus, Project Information, Tender admin 11/06/2012

Budget, Contractor, PassivHaus, Project Information, Tender admin 11/06/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.5 - Construction Tender Stage continued

Almost three weeks have passed since our last diary entry, during which time we have been very busy collecting construction tender returns and selecting the contractor for the Crawfordsburn passive house.

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Certification, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 04/06/2012

Certification, PassivHaus, Project Information

admin 04/06/2012

Crawfordsburn Diary Entry No.4 - Construction Tender Stage

Now that we have our tender package ready to go the challenge is not pricing the construction works but rather getting contractors who have the skill and knowledge to actually build it.

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