Cre8 Barn, Stirley Farm EnerPHit

Multi award-winning Passivhaus retrofit of a derelict barn into an eco exemplar education centre for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

• WINNER – UK Passivhaus Awards 2015: ‘Retrofit Project’ category
• Certified to the exacting EnerPHit  (Passivhaus retrofit) standard
• Offers a template for historic and older buildings where it is important to conserve the outer appearance of the building.
• ‘Box within a box’ design: super-insulated  timber frame structure  built inside the existing stone barn building ensures good airtightness and continuity of insulation.
• Inner timber frame structure offers structural support to the original outer building through the use of specially adapted low thermal conductivity ‘wall connectors’.
• Refurbished by 21°s construction division Green Building Company

Background

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Cre8 Barn project at Stirley Community Farm near Huddersfield has involved the pioneering low energy retrofit of a derelict cow byre into an eco exemplar educational centre and space. The award-winning project has been certified as meeting the exacting EnerPHit standard (a variation of the low energy Passivhaus standard, specifically designed for retrofits).

A super-insulated  timber frame structure was built inside the existing stone barn building, preserving the outward appearance of the barn, whilst equipping it for 21st century levels of energy efficiency. The timber frame structure has the additional advantage of supporting and shoring up the original stone building.

The building work has been undertaken as a Design & Build project by 21°’s construction division  Green Building Company, builders of the award-winning Denby Dale Passivhaus.

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Stirley Farm EnerPHit

Cre8 Barn is certified by the Passivhaus Institut as meeting the EnerPHit standard for retrofits.

On site team

Green Building Company’s construction team included:

• Jude Wilson, Site Manager
• Steven Gruschka
• Danny Reid
• Andy Nuttall
• Lee Donnachy

Client team

Yorkshire Wildflife Trust, Clients

Veolia Environmental Trust, Funding Partners

Design & technical team

The Cre8 Barn was a Design & build project led by 21° working in partnership with a fantastic team:

• Bill Butcher, Project leader and Director, 21° & Green Building Company
• Chris Herring, Technical Advisor and Director, 21° & Green Building Company
• Paul Smith, Senior Construction technician, Green Building Store. PHPP modelling
• Andrew Farr, MVHR Technical Manager, 21. MVHR system installation and commissioning.
• Derrie O’Sullivan, Architect
• Sue Heywood, Architect
• Eco-Arc Architects: Pre-planning architectural drawings
• Pete Warm, WARM low energy practice. EnerPHit certification
• Stuart McCormick, Structural Engineer; SGM structural engineers

Technical Data

• The project was certified to the EnerPHit standard using the component methodology:

• Annual specific space heating demand: 33 kWh/m²/year
• Annual specific primary energy demand: 136 kWh/m²/year
• Airtightness of building envelope: 0.4 h^-1 @n₅₀

U values of individual building component thermal protection

• External wall: 0.132 W/m²KFloor slab: 0.108 W/m²KRoof: 0.100 W/m²KWindows: 0.78 W/m²KVentilation unit effective efficiency of heat recovery: 86.6%

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UK Passivhaus Awards 2015

Cre8 Barn is the winner in the Retrofit category of the UK Passivhaus Awards 2015.