THE UK Passivhaus Trust has welcomed the progress to move towards a Scottish Passivhaus Equivalent policy, but has outlined a number of ways in which it thinks the proposals could be improved.
The organisation has issued its initial response after the Scottish Government launched the Stage 2 consultation on its proposed policy.
The Trust said it is particularly impressed with the ‘extensive and collaborative’ process undertaken with the wider construction industry across Scotland as part of the working group, set up and managed by the Scottish Building Standards team, that reached a consensus position from which the proposals have been developed.
The Trust added that it is very encouraged by several of the proposals, including: Passivhaus to be ‘deemed to satisfy’ Scottish building standards; a stronger focus on actual building performance, with use of absolute energy targets, including space heating demand targets and delivered energy targets; recognition of PHPP as a compliance methodology; and improved compliance and assurance mechanisms.
However, organisation notes a number of ways that the proposals could be improved, such as: including ventilation losses within the space heating metric; the setting of more ambitious airtightness targets; amending solar PV requirements; making use of a single space heating metric; and the use of peak heat load Passivhaus metric.
The decision to allow Passivhaus to be ‘deemed to satisfy’ Scottish building standards was described as a ‘massive step forward, of global significance’. The Trust said it hopes the Scottish Government can implement the policy with immediate effect and that other parts of the UK might quickly follow.
The Trust is preparing a detailed response and will share details of that ahead of the consultation deadline of Friday 16 October.
Jon Bootland, chief executive, Passivhaus Trust, said, “The Passivhaus Trust wholeheartedly welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to accept buildings certified to the Passivhaus standard as ‘deemed to satisfy’ building standards. It also welcomes moves towards the use of absolute energy targets and accurate tools such as PHPP.
“The Trust is pleased that the Scottish Government’s proposals for upgrading building standards are informed by the Passivhaus standard. The proposals represent a very good move in the right direction towards a Scottish Passivhaus Equivalent, with scope to be improved in the future, and we applaud the Scottish Building Standards team for delivering a significant step change for Scottish building performance.”
