Whole House Energy Launch Fabric First Institute Project

Fabric First Institue Project to Support Delivery of Homes to Passivhaus Standard in Norwich

Last week saw the launch of the Fabric First Institute project, a £200k grant funded project, aimed at up skilling construction tradespeople in East Anglia in low energy building techniques.

The project has seen delivery of a one and a half storey ‘Fabric First’ (Passivhaus) demonstration unit, built on the campus of Easton and Otley College outside Norwich.  The unit has been built using different materials (timber frame and brick and block) to demonstrate the different approaches and how these can be detailed.

speaker at fabric first launch
Opening speaker, Mark Pendlington, Chairman of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership

The aim of the project is to support Norwich City Council’s plan to deliver 100’s of homes to the Passivhaus standard over the next three years, through their Fabric First Framework.  Whole House Energy will deliver a one day training course to SME contractors or subcontractors, with a focus on best practices in relation to insulation, airtightness and ventilation; the key elements of achieving the Passivhaus standard.  In addition a pilot, one week module is being developed to be delivered to the construction students at the College which, as part of the project, aims to become a City and Guilds accredited Level 3 qualification and become nationally available to other construction learning centres.

The funding was received from the New Anglia Skills Deal Programme delivered by Norfolk County Council, Suffolk local authorities and the Skills Funding Agency.

For more information on the courses please either visit the Whole House Energy website  or call Jackie on 01603597716.

Main photo shows all 25 project partners involved in delivering the project in front of the demonstration unit.