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JULY 09 - PASSIVE SUSTAINABILTY

A passive approach to sustainability is helping regenerate part of Edinburgh to provide current and future housing needs.

Ventilation systems from Passivent are providing the solution for Dunedin Canmore Housing Association’s redevelopment of the Oxgangs estate for City of Edinburgh District Council. Phase II of the three-phase project is nearing completion, with each of the 27 houses featuring Passivent ‘whole house’ intelligent Passive Stack Ventilation (iPSV) and 54 flats including Passivent Assisted Ventilation (A/V) to help achieve compliance with current Building Regulation Document L and at least Level 3 in the Code for Sustainable Homes.

BBA certified, Passivent iPSV uses NO energy to operate but harnesses natural air movement principles to function and ensure all rooms within are properly ventilated. Air moving across the roof is at a higher pressure than that within the building, creating a ‘chimney’ effect to draw the warm, moisture- laden ‘used’ internal air out. Planned air paths through the home with air inlets in the ‘dry’ living rooms and extracts in the ‘wet’ bathrooms and kitchens linked via ducting to a roof extract terminal use the natural air movement principles to cycle the air within, ensuring a continuous but draught-free exchange of fresh air.

Because natural air movement happens continuously, the Passivent system works 24/7, without any occupier input, and avoids the incidence of damp and condensation. As the system has no moving parts or fans, it is silent and will operate maintenance-free for the life of the building.

The Passivent Assisted Ventilation (also BBA certified) incorporated in the eight low-rise (three-storey) blocks of flats at Oxgangs uses similar principles, but includes in the ducting run a continuously running, low-energy fan in the loft space of each block to ensure extraction is optimised. In this way, all the flats in the block can be ventilated using only one fan, minimising energy consumption and maintenance. Again, the system eliminates occupier input and thus potential incidence of damp and condensation. Because the fan is located remotely, the system within each home functions silently.

Explains Helen Howitt, development officer at Dunedin Canmore Housing Association, “We are keen to incorporate ‘green’ features in all our developments, and include other ‘invisible’ sustainable features such as high levels of insulation, passive solar gain as well as passive ventilation. Passivent ventilation it is now considered a standard within of our environmentally conscious approach.”

Passivent’s range for both domestic and commercial buildings includes intelligent Passive Stack Ventilation (iPSV), Positive Input Ventilation (PIV), Mechanical Extract Ventilation, plus a spectrum of background window and through-wall ventilation solutions. Passivent is part of the Building Product Design Group which incorporates Glidevale (roofing and ventilation), Z-Led (damp-proofing solutions), and Kingfisher Louvre Systems (ventilation and solar shading louvre systems) all of which aim to bring to market innovative yet practical products in line with changing requirements.

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