Week 2 Principles of Passive House

Week 2 dealt with an introduction to the principles of Passive House and its design and energy requirements. This was done in parallel with a critical analysis of the recently revised Technical Guidance Document Part L 2011. The lecture below outlines the approach we took, where the students had to prepare a 'cheat sheet' for Part L, which will act as a summary sheet throughout the module.



We also decided to bring the 'inner architect' out of the students by starting the design process in sketching a ground floor and first floor plan for a two-storey house. The design and specification is totally up the student and this will act as a learning platform where we can critically analyse different options available in designing and constructing a passive house. Here are some examples of the initial sketches.

Week 2 Setting up a Blog

For those of you who did not get your blog set up in class, have a look at this short video.

Try to have the blog set up for next week and also your Twitter account and send me a tweet @SitePass when you have done so. Next week, we will look at some sample blog posts that were submitted last year as part of their assessment.

M.Sc. class setting up module blogs and Twitter accounts

In week 2, the class are settung up their own individual blogs and Twitter accounts for future asssessments i.e. blog submissions, and as a learning resource. We are using 'Blogger' to set up the blogs and they will be all linked to the module blog 'SitePass'. The aim of the Twitter accounts (@SitePass) is to set up a community of practice outside the classroom. The 'Plain English' series provides a good starting point when trying to understand the use of blogs and Twitter.

The Rise and Rise of Natural Gas

Following our discussion in class last week about energy trends over the past few decades, here is a trailer for a  recent documentary on the rise of natural gas entitled 'Gasland' and it doesn't make for easy viewing. The documentary was shown on Current TV last night and may be repeated over the coming weeks.

The Gaurdian newspaper has also got invovled in the debate and provides a 'Facts and Figures' approach to shale gas fracking. Make your own mind up??

Passive House Design and Construction Module at GMIT

Some useful videos used in class were the BASF video on energy efficiency and the excellent '300 years of fossil fuels in 300 seconds' by the Post Carbon Institute.

Students were also asked to imagine what the built environment would be like in a world without fossil fuels. The aim of this was to identify the tacit knowledge in the class and to encourage the students to think in future scenarios without limitations or restrictions. 

The last photograph provides an overview of the responses, which provides a good starting point for the module and the course as a whole. In fact, each of the points raised will be covered across the range of modules.

Passive House Design and Construction Module at GMIT

Week 1 aims to set the context for the next 10 weeks by focusing on energy and built environment while also giving an introduction to the Passive House concept. We explored the different units of energy, the importance of energy efficiency and international, European and Irish energy use trends.