PAUL MCNALLY (Director)

AECB Network member

Certified PassivHaus Designer

MRIAI

Why PassivHaus?

I have understood the imperative to address Climate Change since the turn of the millenium, when it was not yet a political and scientific consensus. A lot has changed since then, in many ways it is easier as I no longer have to convince people of the general issue.

Also costs have dropped as the market matured.

 

10 years ago I did a Masters in the UK on environmental science, and my research confirmed my instinct that the scale of the adjustment that every country needs to do, in order to avoid the extreme impact of climate chaos, means that half-measures are just not going to be enough.

We need radical de-carbonisation of every aspect of our lives.

 

Fortunately, building is probably the easiest sector to address technologically. We actually have the answer worked out 20 years ago, tried and tested.

Architects hate risk, and builders hate being called back to completed projects. PassivHaus is the answer, it works. It is robust.

 

Not only does it limit to the optimum level the emissions of your building, but in doing so, the building works better. I.e. it gets more comfortable, not less. There is no sacrifice. You are not living in a yurt in the cold in order to save the planet. It is the construction equivalent of driving a Tesla. And it doesn’t cost twice the price, it is the same cost or maybe 10% extra in the worst-case scenario. But the extra is covered in the reduced energy cost. In fact the return on investment is better than putting your money in a pension or bonds.

 

I love it, my clients love it, you will love it….