When we consider examples of good hygiene in our home, we may think of easy-to-clean materials, strong disinfectants and mops and buckets. But as Covid-19 is proving, hygiene in the home also relates significantly to the air we breathe indoors,… Continue Reading
Good indoor air quality – and by that I mean proper indoor ventilation that exhausts stale air from a building and replaces it with fresh air from outside – is one of the best ways to prevent the transmission of… Continue Reading
I pointed out last week how it seems really likely that Elon Musk’s family home has an MVHR system. This makes sense, given how interested he is in technology, energy efficiency and health. MVHR systems are the only intelligent way to maintain… Continue Reading
Are eco-friendly passive houses for rich people? Eco warriors? Self-builders? Housing associations? Or are they only the preserve of our more logical, engineering-minded continental cousins in Germany? Passive Houses are for everyone. To build a Passive House, ie, one that runs at… Continue Reading
One of my friends remarked today that their colleague was asking about that “German eco home, the one where you can’t open the windows…” The idea that you can’t open the windows in a Passive House comes from a misconception… Continue Reading
The number assigned to a building fabric that represents its thermal resistance is called its U-value. A U-value tells us how quickly or slowly it takes for heat to pass through it. Fabrics with lower U-values are better insulators than those with… Continue Reading
Modern homes are shifting towards increasing levels of airtightness in order to secure heat-saving benefits. With increasing levels of airtightness comes a need for a ventilation strategy. For PassivHaus, this means an MVHR system. Heat from the home is lost… Continue Reading
We spend a huge part of our lives indoors – I’ve spent 96 per cent of my last 24 hours indoors, and it’s not an unusual day for me in winter. Consider your day. How long were you actually outside in the… Continue Reading