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An Energy Passive Home
As stated on previous pages and herein, the key to energy efficiency is simply extremely good insulation and air-tightness, combined with an energy efficient heat-exchange ventilation system. The reason this is new is that cost of materials in the past stopped the usage of highly insulative and air-tight products from being purchased for the majority of new-builds. Obviously developers have to consider what their clientelle is willing to purchase, at what price, and what margins exist in it for them versus the risk of being able to sell at a profit.
The concept of an energy passive home is certainly not new, and dates back to the 1950's and '60's when air-conditioning was introduced to homes only to find that the cooling escaped through the building envelope making this option very costly in the long run. Obviously heating escaped as well, but as cooling was looked upon as the penultimate luxury it was expected that a home that was artificially cooled would cost considerably more. (This is no longer the case.)
People that lived in cold regions started looking at these types of insulation levels and obviously realised that if it could keep the cold in, it certainly could keep the heat in, so a market was created for keeping both the cold and the heat in, as required. As the construction industry understood conventional construction very well, the simplest solution was to add fibrous insulation during construction with controlled air-exchange bricks, which was the first step and people were pretty happy with this as it was better than what it used to be.
During the 1970's, the world experienced an energy crisis, and energy bills shot through the roof, literally. It was then noted on a regulatory level that draughts through walls, heat escaping through the roofs, shoddy workmanship around window frames and doorways, all were causing excess energy costs and while people were pinching their pennies, the construction industry began to engineer out these problems, and succeeded quite well.
This was the beginning of the introduction of the Structural Insulated Panels (SIP's) Industry that would revolutionise the American building industry, now accounting for about 10% of all new house construction in the States and the performance of which other systems have to match. SIP construction now goes on all over the world, but it has always been looked at as the luxury solution within the construction industry, as costs have tended to be about 120% to 150% versus conventional construction.
Until now. 
The Mantle® Building System© was engineered particularly to be cost effective in comparison with conventional construction, while engendering high insulation and air-tightness as part of its solution. Other benefits can be found further up or on other pages of this website.
To make the most of the solution we provide as a thermal shell, we recommend using energy efficient air-to-air energy recovery ventilations systems. Dependent upon the application, this does not need to be expensive, as many times it can be cheaper than a normal conventional central heating system, with added benefits such as costing much less to run.
Air-to-air energy recovery devices recover thermal energy from warm or cool exhaust air and transfer it to the incoming fresh air supply. Enthalpy heat exchange, air plate heat exchange, and coil heat exchange technology has moved far ahead in its field, as Climate Change has driven that particular industry in creating cost effective solutions to be used within a home quite successfully. New technology has allowed NASA-derived plastic membranes to be used as an air plate in heat exchangers, with efficiencies from 70% to 95% depending upon the system requirements.
For business usage, heat exchangers purchased from the Energy Technology List (ETL) which is a register of products that may be eligible for 100% tax relief under the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme for energy saving technologies, ensures receipt of the most highly effective units available on the market.
Many advisors in the industry create huge expenditure solutions to what is now regarded as an Energy Passive Home, simply because the knowledge in this field is specialised. This may be an unnecessary expense, these days, as has been proven by many energy efficient building systems including our own.
When the thermal insulation is extreme, appliances, lighting, pets and people add to the inherent heat of the building to a much greater extent than one realises. With an appropriately insulated foundation, the internal shell of the structure takes on the ambient heat as desired (as it has nowhere to go), and when this heat (along with moisture) is released mechanically into the atmosphere with at least a minimum of 70% heat exchange to the fresh air coming in and in normal housing design with up to 90%+ efficiencies, energy efficiencies are achieved by not having to heat up so many changes of air.
Solar gain may actually prove to be a problem on certain sites and various locations, so alternative technologies are considered to cope with that; some as simple as designing in louvres, shutters or external shades or recessing windows into the interior of the external wall. Window frame and glass unit technologies have also come a long way; it is worth surfing the 'net and speaking to the experts in that regard.
Energy Passive Homes may be either Low Carbon Houses or Zero Carbon Houses, dependent upon the material used in its construction and whether micro-generation of electricity is adopted for the home. Either way, the ventilation systems are now quite cost effective as well, and we advise using one with a humidity control, hypoallergenic filtration ability (where you can choose to use it, or not) and a cooling unit for those particular times of the year when it is required. (For example: We now live in the Twenty-First Century; there is no reason why we should have to open windows during a weather storm just because we have lots of visitors that may increase the ambient temperature and humidity within the home.)
For any Mantle structure, we advise our recommended solutions relating to specific designs, as with the advent of technology comes greater understanding into the various aspects of Designs For LifeTM. | 