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Groundbreaking and Award winning PassivHaus Retrofit project incorporating WWHRS
Pre-1919 tenements make up around ¼ of Glasgow’s housing stock, with 77,000 tenement homes across the city. These high kerb appeal flats with large rooms, high ceilings and original features explain why they are so popular with owners; however, they have often been constructed with solid walls, have numerous drafts, are prone to dampness and are expensive to heat. This is especially important as by the end of 2023 all social landlords in Scotland are expected to meet Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band B.
107 Niddrie Road is one of these typical buildings, however, this one is a little different. This building has been regenerated to the #EnerPHit Standard, which is the retrofit version of the #PassivHaus standard applied to new buildings.
The £1 million funded project (through Glasgow Council, Southside & the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund) consisted of insulating roofs, floors, and walls as well as external insulation and replacement windows to the 8 No. flats. New gas boilers were replaced in half of the flats, with the remaining flats fitted with air-source heat pumps. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) was installed throughout and the #Recoup Easyfit+ Waste Water Heat Recovery for Showers (WWHRS) was installed in 6 of the flats to reduce DWH demand.
The installed Recoup Easyfit+ is a stand-alone horizontal #WWHRS system designed to slide directly under a standard bath or a walk-in shower tray. Easy to retrofit into an existing system or plan into any property design. This waste water heat recovery system can recover and reuse around 50% of the heat energy that would normally go down the drain and leave the build whilst showering.
“The rigorous approach of EnerPHit ensures that these 120-year-old flats will be more energy efficient than a new build equivalent. At this level, fuel poverty is essentially impossible,” says Mr McVey, Southside Housing Association Chief Executive, who notes that hot water costs should also be reduced by around 40% as a result of the waste water heat recovery system put in place.
The heating demand for this property has been reduced to 25.9kWh/m2/year through a fabric-first approach, which is approximately 90% lower than that of a similar sandstone tenement. The project will be continually monitored by researchers to determine the improved efficiency and carbon emission reduction, with the aim of reporting findings back to the wider sector and enabling all to get on the road towards net zero.
John Gilbert Architects have since received the Glasgow Institute of Architects Sustainability Award 2022 on behalf of the project and has also been nominated for an Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) project award.
Recoup was incredibly proud to have supported John Gilbert Architects with the early-stage designs of our WWHRS on this project and Passivhaus Associates with bespoke data for the PHPP calculations.
Further information on the project can be found on the John Gilbert Architects’ website or by clicking on one of the following links:
http://www.johngilbert.co.uk/?portfolio_page=niddrie-road-retrofit