An independent magazine on low-energy building and passive climatisation
Building low-energy, climatising passively
An independent magazine on low-energy building and passive climatisation with solar and ground energy: systems, retrofit and standards.
Start with the sections
Three sections, from technology to planning
Each section opens with an index of its guides. Choose the passive systems, the retrofit of an existing building, or the planning groundwork.
01Passive Systems
How solar heat and ground energy heat, cool and ventilate a building: the thermal barrier, ground storage and earth-tube ventilation.
02Retrofit and Insulation
The order of a retrofit: fabric, airtightness, ventilation, heating, plus insulation materials and funding.
03Building Physics and Standards
Heat load, energy standards and the history of passive technology, from sketch to proof.
Section 1 of 3
Passive Systems
How solar heat and ground energy heat, cool and ventilate a building: the thermal barrier, ground storage and earth-tube ventilation.
Passive Systems
The Thermal Barrier in an Exterior Wall
What a thermal barrier does inside an exterior wall, how it cuts heat loss and why it can work without a heat pump.
A large, slow surface.
Passive Systems
Earth Tubes and Ground Heat Storage
How earth tubes temper incoming air and how a ground store holds summer heat for winter, with the design rules that keep both working.
Summer heat for the winter.
Passive Systems
Solar Roofs as Collectors
How a roof can act as a large solar collector, how the heat is carried to a ground store and how that differs from solar panels for power.
A roof that gathers heat.
Section 2 of 3
Retrofit and Insulation
The order of a retrofit: fabric, airtightness, ventilation, heating, plus insulation materials and funding.
Retrofit and Insulation
Deep Retrofit, Step by Step
The order of a deep retrofit: survey, fabric first, airtightness, ventilation and heating, plus the mistakes that waste the budget.
From survey to handover.
Retrofit and Insulation
Insulation Materials Compared
Mineral wool, wood fibre, cellulose and rigid foams compared on conductivity, moisture, fire and where each one belongs in a retrofit.
Figures and best uses.
Retrofit and Insulation
Airtightness and Ventilation
Why a low-energy house is airtight, how an air test measures it and how controlled ventilation keeps the air healthy without draughts.
Fresh air, tempered by the ground.
From the archive
Guides that keep their historical addresses
This domain is the English twin of a technical site that covered passive climatisation for many years. These guides answer the questions those pages answered.
Restored guide
The Thermal Barrier in an Exterior Wall
A large, slow surface.
Restored guide
Earth Tubes and Ground Heat Storage
Summer heat for the winter.
Restored guide
Insulation Materials Compared
Figures and best uses.
Restored guide
Heat Load Calculation Basics
The figure that sets everything.
Restored guide
What the ISOMAX-TERRASOL System Was
A retrospective on a side path.
Section 3 of 3
Building Physics and Standards
Heat load, energy standards and the history of passive technology, from sketch to proof.
Building Physics and Standards
Heat Load Calculation Basics
Transmission and ventilation losses, U-values and design temperatures explained, with the sizing mistakes that leave a house cold.
The figure that sets everything.
Building Physics and Standards
Energy Standards Compared
What Passivhaus, nearly zero-energy buildings and LEED each require, how they differ and what the choice means for a real project.
Passivhaus, NZEB, LEED.
Building Physics and Standards
What the ISOMAX-TERRASOL System Was
A factual, dated account of the historical ISOMAX-TERRASOL system: its patent, its parts, the buildings it was used in and its limits.
A retrospective on a side path.
The reading room
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