Larch Corner
New build
Residential
Summary
Larch Corner Passivhaus is an individual new build in Warwickshire, striving for net-zero performance. It won the Small Projects Award at the 2021 annual Passivhaus Trust Awards, described as a ‘timber triumph’.
Alongside Passivhaus levels of performance for energy efficiency, the house has an all-timber construction to reduce upfront carbon emissions. Together with an air source heat pump and solar PV array, the house aims to achieve whole-life net-zero.
The ground-breaking construction is notable for a number of reasons: it makes use of wood fibre insulation in the building fabric which adds a large amount of thermal mass to the timber-frame construction – this creates thermal lag, tempering diurnal temperature swings and creating a comfortable space at all times of day throughout the year. The house is also the most air-tight Passivhaus to have been built in the UK, exceeding the (already stringent) Passivhaus standard by more than 10 times.
Energy is generated on-site by solar PV’s, and an air source heat pump supplies heating (when required) and hot water.
The homeowner describes the resulting space as being quite, calm and comfortable, and extremely economical to run.
Key Features
- High performance / energy efficiency in-use
- Low embodied carbon
- Natural, healthy materials
- Summer comfort designed-in
- Renewable energy production on-site
- Targets net-zero through low operational energy use and low embodied carbon
Sustainability Indicators
- Embodied carbon, Healthy indoor environments, Natural materials, Operational energy, Performance monitoring, Summer & winter comfort
