28/03/13 - Passivhaus Primary School wins awards

We talk a lot about our self builders and their interesting and energy efficient homes, but heat recovery ventilation can also play a big part in large, public buildings. We were delighted to read that the first primary school to achieve Passivhaus standards, has recently won awards for its sustainability, design and outstanding energy efficiency.

Bushbury Hill Primary School, in Wolverhampton, was designed by local architects, Architype, and has won both a RIBA Architecture and a Sustainbility Award and 'New Build Project of the Year (Value up to £5 million)' at the CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) Awards this month.

In addition to superb energy efficiency, and the associated environmental benefits, an added bonus is that schoolchildren’s concentration levels will be better as a result of the design. Overheated and stuffy classrooms are often cited as key contributors to children’s drowsiness and lack of focus. But in Bushbury Hill Primary School, the provision of a heat-recovery ventilation system will hopefully lead to happier and more alert children.

Mark Lumley, director at Architype, explains, "The brief was to provide a one and a half form entry primary school that would reflect the schools ethos; providing a high quality educational standard to children from one of the tough estates near the school.

“The technical demands of Passivhaus were integrated from first principles. Design steps focused on maximising natural daylight, increasing solar gain, achieving rigorous Passivhaus airtightness and a thermal bridge free timber load bearing structure.

“Passivhaus offers credible and genuine benefit to users and the environment, including: minimised energy consumption; avoidance of building defects that can lead to mould growth; excellent standards of thermal comfort (satisfying ASHRAE55 and according with EN7730); minimised energy bills; high standards of indoor air quality; and optimised lifecycle costs.”

We applaud the commitment and design talents that have gone into making this school such a success, and delighted to demonstrate that by rationalising building form and simplifying detailing and systems, even including energy saving technologies, such as heat recovery ventilation,  Passivhaus is achieved within the standard available budget.

If you are interested in how heat recovery ventilation can help you achieve Passivhaus standards, please contact our team.

22/03/2013 - Ahoy from Birmingham!

Greetings from the National Homebuilding and Renovating Show, held at Birmingham's NEC. We're having a busy time, and even with snow and wintery weather, everyone has received a warm welcome here at stand K145. Yesterday we proudly supported our Matt Jones in his excellent presentation on Heat Recovery Ventilation Systems, and enjoyed all the interesting questions and anecdotes from the audience.

We've been enjoying meeting our self builders and developers here at the Show, and have a big pile of interested potential customers to prepare quotes for when we get back to the office next week. It's always a big pleasure getting out and about and meeting people, and this is no exception.

If you haven't been able to make it to Birmingham this weekend, we'll be on the road again next month for the National Selfbuilding Show at Swindon, and in May, we're off to Bonny Scotland for the Glasgow Homebuilding and Renovating Show. Watch this space for free tickets.

Don't forget, you can always submit your plans to us online - just go to our contact page. We'd love to help...

14/03/2013 - Don't miss our Masterclass at next week's Show!

March sees the annual return of the UK's biggest self build and renovation show at the NEC in Birmingham. This four day event should be an essential one in all self builders and renovators' calendars, with the range of what's on offer this year hugely impressive: hundreds of exhibitors, expert seminars, hands-on masterclasses, free expert one-to-ones and more.

Our own ADM Systems technical engineer, Matt  Jones, will be there to present his Masterclass presentation on Thursday 21st March from 10.50-11.10 entitled A guide to ventilation for self-builders and renovators. Come along and hear how MVHR and energy saving ventilation products could benefit your self build or renovation project.

The other Masterclasses, spread over the duration of the show, will provide help and support on a range of subjects. There’ll be a quick introduction to self build, with great ideas to help with plot finding, costs, planning permission and more. Ideas for renovators to make the most from their property; sources of finance and mortgage solutions; information on Passivhaus standards, and a range of products will be showcased by their suppliers.

Each session is free and lasts approximately 20 minutes - no need to book, just make sure you arrive early so that you get a seat!

Don’t miss the Seminar programme either. Held in three different theatres, their subjects focus on Eco, Self Build and Home Improvement, there will be something interesting and helpful for everyone to enjoy. They run at the same time every day, and are also free to attend.

To get your two free tickets, click here.

If you can’t make it to the show, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to us for a no-obligation quotation.

See you in Birmingham!

07/03/2013 - Get your free tickets for the National Homebuilding and Renovating Show at Birmingham's NEC this month

One again we're getting ready to hit the road this month. From 21st- 24th March we will be on stand K145 at Birmingham's NEC, looking forward to meeting our existing and new customers, other suppliers, and industry experts from a diverse range of fields. 

The National Homebuilding and Renovating Show provides the opportunity for self-builders, developers, architects and anyone interested in what's new in the world of construction, to see first hand what is available in the market. We'll be demonstrating our heat recovery ventilation units from several leading manufacturers, plus showing how ground to air heat exchangers can add extra value to your heat recovery system. We've got a new central vacuum supplier who we'd like to tell you about, and a huge collection of high quality components and ducting on display.

We have all of our expert engineers on the stand over the weekend, so you'll get great advice from ADM Systems about all your ventilation requirements. We regularly install our systems into Passivhauses, and are highly experienced in satisfying the demands of SAP appendix Q standards. 

Come  and talk to us this month at the biggest Homebuilding and Renovating Show in the country, and see how we can help you.

Follow this link to collect 2 free tickets!