Picking a winner at the 2016 Passivhaus Awards

Guest Blog: Malcolm Taylor, Product Manager at REHAU

The finalists in this year’s Passivhaus Awards have just been announced by the Passivhaus Trust and, as ever, there are some inspiring houses on the list.

In two categories – Urban and Renewal – they represent the very best small scale custom and self-build projects built in the Passivhaus sector in recent years. You can see the list here.

I’m not sure you can pick out any trends from looking at the shortlist, for the very reason that they have been chosen to show that Passivhaus technology can be used in many very different house designs.

There’s everything from a single storey garden build in Norfolk to a semi-submerged home in the middle of London – some with timber frame, some in brick and one even clad in zinc.  

Although the shortlist has been drawn up by a panel of independent judges, it’s now up to the members of the trust to choose the winner.

As both a member and the main sponsor of the 2016 Passivhaus Awards, REHAU has a vote in the awards, so we will be taking a very keen interest in the presentations which the finalists will make at the Awards ceremony on 7^th July in London before casting our vote.

It’s obviously tempting, as a supplier of fenestration products, to vote for the one which has best used glazing to maximise natural light, while minimising thermal heat loss during winter and gain during summer. 

But, I think the whole point of these awards is to recognise innovation and originality, and we will be doing our best to choose the one which demonstrates real technical advancements, or which does something we haven’t seen before.  

When all the votes have been cast, we’ll all find out the winner the next day – on the 8^th July.