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Topic: Passivhaus

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[Episode #217] – Passivhaus in Scotland

Feb 7 2024

Discussions about energy transition often overlook the crucial role of reducing the energy consumed to maintain comfortable temperatures in the spaces where we live and work. Remarkably, generating heat, the largest end-use of energy, accounts for 40% of global fossil CO2 emissions, with the majority of this heat used in buildings. About half of the energy used in buildings is for their heating and cooling, and because fossil fuels still meet the bulk of heating energy demand, this contributes to about one-fourth of global energy-related carbon emissions annually.

Addressing this challenge by improving building efficiency and reducing thermal losses is arguably the most critical step we can take to facilitate the energy transition. However, strong policies or targeted programs to this end are largely absent worldwide.

A transformative solution is the adoption of the Passivhaus standard for new and existing buildings. Retrofits to meet this standard could drastically reduce energy requirements for buildings, accelerating our progress toward the energy transition.

In this episode, we are joined by Es Tresidder, a Passivhaus consultant who works with an architecture firm to advance the use of the Passivhaus standard and techniques. He walks us through the Passivhaus standard and how to meet it. He also shares the story of the ‘deep retrofit’ performed on his own house in the rainiest and coldest part of Scotland, transforming it into a home that is far healthier and more comfortable, all while significantly reducing its energy consumption.

Guest:

Dr. Es Tresidder is a Passivhaus designer based in Fort William. He works as a Passivhaus and energy specialist for John Gilbert Architects, one of the leading environmental architecture practices in the UK. His work at John Gilbert Architects currently focusses on their larger and more complex projects – Passivhaus schools, leisure centres and retrofits. Es has a PhD in low energy building design optimization, using genetic algorithms to optimize building designs for efficiency and cost. In 2023 he finished a retrofit, to Passivhaus EnerPHit standard, of his own home in Fort William, Scotland. Once certified he believes this will be the first EnerPHit of a modern timber-frame house in the UK, and potentially the world.

On Mastodon: @EsTresidder

On Twitter: @EsTresidder

On the Web: Highland Passive

Geek rating: 2

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[Episode #34] – Transition in the North Sea and Netherlands

Jan 11 2017

Mini Episode

The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative would knit together the power grids of the countries adjacent to the North Sea, and enable a far greater share of renewables—especially offshore wind—on the northern European grid than would be possible otherwise. It would also make it possible to use Norway’s substantial hydro capacity as a giant battery to balance out the variability of wind and solar on the grid. And in the longer term, it could be a key part of a European “supergrid” that would connect the transmission grids of all of Europe, and potentially even tap the massive solar capacity of the Middle East and northern Africa. These are big, bold ideas, and implementing them won’t be easy or cheap, but the benefits would be enormous… so much so that building these transmission links might be inevitable. But the planning alone has already gone on for at least seven years, and while some of the countries that would connect to the North Seas Offshore Grid are already building parts of their contribution to it, there is still much work to be done…and building the physical infrastructure might be the easy part! In this episode we talk with a Dutch expert who has been directly involved in evaluating and planning for these supergrids to see where they now stand, what their potential costs and benefits are, and what we might expect in the future.

Geek rating: 4

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