Chichester MP and climate campaigner visits Hampshire Passivhaus

Hampshire Passivhaus recently welcomed Gillian Keegan, Conservative MP for Chichester and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for UN Sustainable Goals.

Gillian is passionate about the environment and tackling climate change, so the visit to Hampshire Passivhaus, local to her constituency, was the perfect opportunity to learn more about this sustainable low carbon method of building.

As part of the visit Ruth ran through a short presentation about the Passivhaus approach and the benefits – you can view the presentation here. The tour around the Emsworth based Hampshire Passivhaus was well received and the house made a lasting impression on the guests:

I’m blown away by the design which is very beautiful. It’s also lovely and quiet inside, even with the wind raging outdoors. This is the future of housing, energy efficient homes that add to peoples lives.
Gillian Keegan MP

Passivhaus is the world’s most rigorous fabric first approach to low energy building.  The core focus of the Passivhaus standard is to dramatically reduce the requirement for space heating, whilst also creating excellent indoor air quality and comfort levels. Read more about it here.

The tour on 11th October 2019 was hosted by Hampshire Passivhaus home owner and designer, Ruth Butler of Ruth Butler Architects.  Also attending were Terry Richter, local environmental campaigner, and Richard Hitchcock (Chair of Westbourne Parish Council).

Ruth Butler Architects are Passivhaus experts, embracing low energy building design on all their projects, and embedding sustainability from the very earliest concepts.  They demonstrate in their every-day work how to deliver ultra-low energy efficient buildings – whether new build or retrofit:

• by getting the client’s brief right
• by reusing and retrofitting buildings
• by adopting a fabric-first approach
• by closing the performance gap (understanding how buildings actually perform in-use) and,
• by specifying low-carbon products

Ruth Butler Architects lobbies local authorities and governments to embed low-carbon design in policies and practice.   Buildings are responsible for around 25% of carbon emissions.  The award-winning practice demonstrates that environmentally responsible design makes great architecture, by creating beautiful contemporary buildings that effortlessly support more sustainable lifestyles for their clients.

Ruth Butler Architects are members of AECB (Association for Environment Conscious Building), International Passive House Association and signatories to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge.

Read more about the design and build of Hampshire Passivhaus here.