Passivhaus Certification: Shanganagh Castle Estate

Shanganagh Castle Estate is a new-build residential community in Dublin for which ECD Architects are appointed as Passivhaus Certifiers. We are working alongside the Passivhaus Designer, MosArt and the Contractor’s Architect, O’Mahoney Pike. The site is being developed for the Land Development Agency in partnership with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council by Walls Construction, at a construction cost of around €200M and will be one of the largest Passivhaus development in Europe.

There are 8 blocks across the site, which will provide 597 new homes. These sit alongside 51 new houses, but these will not be Passivhaus certified. The apartments will each have their own MVHR system, and will be connected to a district heating network. As certifiers we have liaised with the Passivhaus Institute (PHI) to ensure that they agree to the way in which this centralised system has been modelled in the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP).

ECD’s workflow for certification starts with producing our own DesignPH model and PHPP models from the drawing packages and auxiliary calculations provided by the Passivhaus Designers. This is then subject to a calculated comparison review against the Passivhaus Designers’ information to identify discrepancies in methodology. Throughout this process, the Passivhaus Certifier team will review the provided evidence and documentation via the Passivhaus Certification Platform.

This review process verifies the strategies and standards used by the Passivhaus Designers in obtaining the values for input into PHPP and is cross-checked against the drawings providing further evidence which supports the final input into the PHPP models. The Passivhaus Certifier team works with the Passivhaus Designers to improve the model and ensure that all evidence and documentation is collated from manufacturer specification, Passivhaus certificates, relevant drawings and spreadsheets documenting calculations.

Team: 

Land Development Agency in partnership with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council – Client
ABK Architects – Design Architects
O’Mahoney Pike – Contractor’s Architect
MosArt – Passivhaus Designers
ECD Architects – Passivhaus Certifiers
Walls Construction – Main Contractor