17-48 Melfield Gardens

4. About your new home

This section provides information about your new homes. If you have any questions, please contact your Phoenix housing officer.

a) Passivhaus Homes Your new home has been designed and constructed to meet the ‘Passivhaus’ standard. Passivhaus, or passive house in English, refers to buildings created to rigorous energy efficient design standards so that they maintain an almost constant temperature. Passivhaus buildings are designed to be simple and are so well constructed, insulated and ventilated that they retain heat from the sun and the activities of their occupants, requiring very little additional space heating which is normally the largest household energy user. Your new ‘Passivhaus’ home has a quiet, highly efficient mechanical ventilation system which runs continuously providing fresh filtered air to each room whilst removing humid from your kitchen and bathroom areas. You probably won’t hear or notice the mechanical ventilation system, there are no settings you will need to change, it will just work away in the background ensuring high air quality in all rooms at all times and of course, should you want to, you can open your windows to increase ventilation whenever you like. Well insulated and airtight Passivhaus buildings are not only good at keeping the heat in during the winter, they are also good at keeping the heat out during the summer. If it is an especially hot day, then closing your curtains or blinds during the day will help your home stay cool. The buildings also make use of solar panels installed on the roofs, which generate electricity used by the communal areas of the building (lighting, ventilation and lifts) and save you money through a lower service charge. b) Electricity The electricity supply to your home enters the building through the electrical intake room on the ground floor where your meter is. This room is not accessible to residents. On moving into your home, your electricity will be supplied by a company called Octopus Energy.

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