PROJECT REPORT: EDUCATION & RESEARCH FACILITIES 41
elsewhere. They did however encounter some hurdles at this stage where they found that many Passivhaus-certified components were more targeted at the domestic market. For example, the architects struggled to obtain the fire rated window and door components they needed such as panic hardware and push pads, and automatic openings for smoke ventilation. The decision to aim for Passivhaus came about during 2020, so they also had the added obstacle of trying to source and specify these components and make the design tweaks during the Covid pandemic, meaning face-to-face meetings were impossible.
The windows are all triple glazed and are a combination of timber windows clad externally with aluminium, which are Passivhaus certified, and fire rated windows which aren’t Passivhaus certified. “There was some difficulty getting the backup data for those for the certification process,” admits Garriga. There are also quadruple glazed rooflights, which “bring a lot of light to the first floor.”
Despite certain design elements requiring ADF JANUARY 2024
altering and redesigning, the layout itself remained unchanged after the decision to get Passivhaus certification. “We got the educational building that we set ourselves from the beginning to have,” says Garriga. “Passivhaus is a benefit in terms of the energy usage, but the main driver was building a good educational facility.”
CLT’s primary Passivhaus benefits One thing Garriga and the team knew they would use from early on was cross- laminated timber. “We chose it primarily because of the natural finish, internally it would give us the warmth and the space we were really looking for, for Primary 1 education,” she explains. The speed and ease of construction was also a big selling point for the team – and particularly important here due to the constrained site. “That brought the least disruption to the neighbours and the school.” When it came to considering the Passivhaus certification, CLT’s qualities made it particularly suited for the higher airtightness required. “It’s very easy to seal, so the airtightness was largely made
PASSIVHAUS PERFORMANCE
Form Factor: 2.86 Airtightness: <0.6-0.3 ACH Annual heat demand: 15.5 kWh/m²a Peak heat load: 9.0 W/m² Average building fabric U-value: 0.85 W/m²K
Thermal bridging heat loss allowance: 5% MVHR efficiency: 84%
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