The mechanical and electrical consultancy was growing significantly so the time came to build a head office in a style that would reflect its core beliefs and values.

Passivhaus standard provides a high level of efficiency, with the aim of minimising ‘ongoing’ running costs, whilst also providing optimum thermal comfort to the occupants. Certification, for this standard, requires optimisation at every stage of the design and construction process.

The challenge was to meet the key principals of Passivhaus:
Be lean: increase the base energy performance of the building, by improving the fabric U-values – reducing base energy demands.
Be clean: use the most efficient plant and equipment, such as LED lighting and controls, high efficiency heating, cooling and ventilation plant – reducing energy usage.
Be green: consider the use of renewable energy technologies, such as PV panels – mitigating base energy demands.

Solution
The design follows a hierarchical triple approach design strategy, to comply with planning guidance, Part L of the Building Regulations, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, from a building’s heating, cooling and lighting energy usage.

The building has a timber frame with extremely high performing wall insulation, cavity and brick with rendered blockwork, and cedar cladding for external treatment.

Openable triple glazed windows provide high thermal and solar properties, in addition to cross flow natural ventilation, with the potential to capture cool air at night for passive office cooling.

Background ventilation is provided with the highest efficiency MVHR.

The walls, windows, floors, thermal insulation and Passivhaus ‘construction details’ together act as a system, to create an airtight building which requires virtually no heating at all. On top of this, the building has an EPC of A+, Carbon Neutral.

The Outcome
As the developer of its own headquarters in Kettering, SVM BSD made the decision to build an exemplar commercial office building, which could utilise leading edge design technologies and showcase its expertise as low carbon consultants.