Camden and Islington passivhaus conference 2010
The Passivhaus standard has been used for the last twenty years in Europe, particularly in Germany, to create buildings so energy efficient they don’t need central heating or air conditioning. The Passivhaus standard provides 85% of the energy requirement of a building in terms of energy efficiency. We simply cannot reach zero carbon homes by 2016 as the government has mandated without building on the work that has been done by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany and the architects around Europe who have created the Passivhaus buildings that exist today.
Passivhaus is not just about new build – it can be used to scope retrofit work as well. That’s lucky because as we all know more than 80% of our buildings will still be standing in 2050. Passivhaus is now an aspiration in Camden Council’s draft Local Development Framework. Camden is asking developers and architects who plan to work on sites in Camden to think about using the Passivhaus standard from mid-2010 when its LDF becomes policy.
To help to raise awareness about Passivhaus among London's planners, building regulations officers, architects and housing associations, cuttingthecarbon organised a Passivhaus conference on Wednesday 3rd February 2010 at Camden Town Hall which included visits to Passivhaus sites in Camden and Islington. see the agenda.
We were able to make this conference free thanks to generous backing by Camden and Islington Councils. It was such a success that we are hoping to organise a follow-up conference in the autumn. If you would like to be kept informed about future Passivhaus events organised by cuttingthecarbon, then please contact Sara Fakhro at sara [at] cuttingthecarbon.com .
