In the second part of his article on the efficiency of design, Ruairi Kay focuses in on the gold standard for low energy building, Passivhaus. Passivhaus, or Passive House in English is a standard for low energy building that originated in Germany but is now recognised worldwide. The standard rewards […]

Following on from the last two instalments on insulation, this month I’m going to talk about ventilation. Ventilation is an important part of any retrofit but I find it is often overlooked and misunderstood. Hopefully, I can help dispel it here! A key part of any retrofit is reducing drafts, […]

Last month we covered the basics of insulating your home and the low hanging fruit that can be tackled relatively easily; insulating your attic, pumping cavity walls and draught-proofing.  However, we are not all fortunate enough to live in homes that are that easy to upgrade. On my trips around […]