The site is located in County Donegal, on the beautiful wild Atlantic way coastline, on the north-west coast of Ireland. A contemporary and modern approach to the dwelling’s design reflects the local architectural vernacular and responds to the local landscape in which it will sit.

The GIA is 150m2 / 1,600 ft2 and TFA (treated floor area) is 137m2 / 1,475 ft2. Form factor is 3.30 and the building mets the Passive House Classic criteria with a Space Heating Demand of 14.0 kWh/(m2a). The renewable technologies included for building regulations compliance is a heat pump for the domestic hot water tank. This home meets the Passive House Classic criteria, due to the high performing building envelope, triple glazed windows, MVHR (mechanical ventilation heat recovery), thermal bridge-free construction and an airtight detailing strategy.

This Passive House case study dwelling also exceeds the Republic of Ireland’s building regulations by Part L of the Building Regulations, which mandates strict energy efficiency standards to achieve Nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) performance. This building achieves a 68% reduction in CO2 emissions.

By designing to the Passive House standards, this new dwelling complies with the Republic of Ireland’s building regulations, including the nZEB requirements.