Exeter showcased as a leading city for pioneering Passivhaus construction

Published: 26 October 2022

Exeter’s record for developing ultra-low energy Passivhaus buildings has been highlighted during a national conference in the city.

The city’s state-of-the-art new leisure centre St Sidwell’s Point has been a major focus of the two-day Passivhaus Conference held at the Corn Exchange.

The conference has attracted delegates from around the country to discuss the benefits of energy efficient buildings, which reduce carbon emissions and cut fuel costs.

Exeter has been a leading city in the development of Passivhaus buildings for well over a decade.

The City Council has built St Sidwell’s Point and Edwards Court Extra Care and has delivered more than 200 new Council homes to Passivhaus standard.

Passivhaus is a quality assured standard and methodology for low energy building, which can help create buildings which use around 75% less energy than standard practice for new buildings in the UK.

Key Passivhaus features include:

• Super insulation
• Stringent levels of airtightness
• Minimal thermal bridging
• Optimisation of passive solar gain
• Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery

The conference in Exeter featured tours and workshops at St Sidwell’s Point.

At the Corn Exchange there was a keynote speech by Karime Hassan, Chief Executive and Growth Director at Exeter City Council, who highlighted Exeter’s Net Zero plans.

Ian Collinson, Director of City Development at Exeter City Council, also spoke about the Exeter Plan and the current consultation on the city’s future growth to 2040.

Emma Osmundsen, Managing Director of the City Council-owned development company Exeter City Living, highlighting the Council’s Passivhaus journey since 2008, when she headed the development of the UK’s first multi-residential certified Passivhaus scheme.

City Council Leader Phil Bialyk said: “Exeter has a very proud record of creating Passivhaus buildings – and everything that has happened since we started on this journey has proved that the decision was the right one.

“We now have a leisure centre, extra care facility and scores of new Council houses built to Passivhaus standard, which means we are lowering our carbon emissions and saving energy at a time of rapidly rising fuel costs.

“We are delighted to showcase the city’s achievements during this national conference, and I know others are keen to learn from our achievements.”