Our Latest News

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2023-11-13

Find out what’s involved, the pros and cons, and whether there’s an alternative solution

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2023-10-31

This case study on the first Passivhaus-certified Art Cafe in the UK, Goldfinch Create & Play, with energy design by Ecospheric is online on the Passivhaus Trust website.

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2023-10-29

Ecospheric's director Kit Knowles provides advice on how solar panels can help to bring down energy bills and reduce our carbon output.

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2023-10-19

Houzz contributor Cheryl Freedman interviewed Ecospheric's director Kit Knowles about how well-fitted, quality windows can greatly improve the energy efficiency of a home.

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2023-10-01

Ecospheric's technical director Ben Riddle co-authored this comparative study of conventional retrofit vs EnerPHit, heat pump first vs fabric first and ecological vs petrochemical retrofit approaches. The research was carried out in collaboration with the University of Liverpool School of Architecture.

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2023-08-28

This article in Bristol 247 announces the opening of Goldfinch Create and Play, the UK's first Passivhaus certified art cafe, for which Ecospheric provided the energy design and sustainability advice.

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2023-07-24

Ecospheric director Kit Knowles is featured in this podcast about sustainability and the built environment hosted by Jeff Colley (Passive House Plus), Dan Hyde (Everything is User Experience) and Alex Blondin (Everything is User Experience).

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2023-07-23

Houzz features Ecospheric in this article about how hiring an eco specialist can help with your next renovation project

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2023-07-21

The urge to knock down a home and start again can be strong — but even new eco-friendly buildings can come with a high emissions cost

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2023-05-04

A 1960s 'Modernist' London home, originally designed by architect Michael Blackstock, has undergone an EnerPHit Plus retrofit makeover. Passivhaus retrofit standards were implemented to allow the home to face the challenges of the future and future-proof the house against rising energy bills.

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2023-04-21

Where does the balance lie between conservation of buildings, energy and nature. One deep retrofit to a London modernist house may point the way ahead, bringing light, form and avant garde energy performance to old ideas about contemporary living.

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2023-04-21

Efforts to upgrade protected properties are being thwarted by an overstretched planning system, fraught with delays and confusion

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2023-04-15

Find out what’s involved, the pros and cons, and whether there’s an alternative solution

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2023-03-31

A 1960s modernist house had not been touched for 40 years before RDA Architects reconfigured it and brought it up to the EnerPHit standards – the Passivhaus criteria for retrofits. Practice director Richard Didzucki explains the process

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2023-02-23

Want to ensure your home environment is clean and healthy? Start by assessing the quality of your air

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2023-01-21

Ecospheric's Zetland Passive House project was awarded the Swisspacer award for "Living Comfort" at the 2021 International Passive House Awards. The winning projects have been commemorated in this book.

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2022-11-15

When to upgrade, what to pick and ways to be efficient – read on for expert boiler advice

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The RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge is asking architects to check their buildings' energy performance against sustainability targets. This first of a mini series sets out why operational energy calculations matter and how to go about them on a live project

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Kit Knowles from Ecospheric explains why he is driven to keep pushing further in pursuit of sustainability in building projects

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Want to ensure your home environment is clean and healthy? Start by assessing the quality of your air

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2022-02-17

The Zetland Passive House project is the UK’s first certified EnerPHit Plus building. Originally built in 1894, this Passivhaus project is intended to provide a blueprint for retrofitting the UK’s 8 million pre-1930’s, hard to treat homes. Using natural, breathable materials and reusing all the recoverable, original fabric, the project is a pioneering example of sustainable low carbon retrofit.

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It’s a greener alternative to a traditional boiler, but what are the pros and cons? Here’s what you need to know

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Case studies for heritage and climate change

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The protected status of the UK’s older homes makes green retrofitting costly and complex — a problem if it is to meet emissions targets

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LETI sets clear energy use targets but warns of skills gap ahead of 30m-home retrofit marathon

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The awardees of the Pass­ive House Award 2021 have been an­nounced on Fri­day, Septem­ber 10, 2021. The awards ce­re­mony was streamed live from the His­tor­ic­al City Hall of Wup­per­tal, Ger­many.

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Welcome to new BLF member, Luke Dickens, PhD Researcher in Materials Analysis and Decarbonation of the Built Environment.

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Carefully retrofitting our historic homes could save up to 84% in carbon emissions, according to this year’s Heritage Counts report, published today (25 March) by Historic England on behalf of England’s leading heritage organisations which make up the Historic Environment Forum.

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Traditional properties were built to last, and many have stood the test of time, but few meet today's high standards of sustainability. So is it possible to improve the eco credentials of an older home?

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Want to fit a mechanical ventilation system into your existing property? These expert tips will help you get started

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Report calls for step-change in carbon-footprint calculation methods and VAT breaks

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Extinction Rebellion member and Sheppard Robson architect Jasmin Eastwood speaks to Place Northwest about how to address climate change in the built environment, giving the example of the Zetland Passive House

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It's one thing to design and construct new, exemplary zero-carbon buildings, but quite another to tackle the huge carbon footprint of the existing built environment. RIBA's Professional Feature writer Neal Morris interviews Kit Knowles.

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For readers of Italian, this sustainable architecture magazine features the Zetland Passive House project in its latest issue.

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Victorian Townhouse Meets Passive House Standards in Zetland Road

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How Kit Knowles is pushing the envelope for sustainable construction

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Manchester is booming with so many city centre developments that the sky is a forest of construction cranes. But caution and chill are tempering the city’s confidence. What does the proliferation of residential projects say about Manchester’s future? Words by Herbert Wright

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Manchester council has declared a climate emergency. Sky News correspondent Sally Lockwood spoke to Kit Knowles to find out how sustainable retrofit will help the UK meet its net zero carbon target.

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Modern House magazine looks at how the idea of sustainable living at home is coming to the fore of multiple fields, keeping designers, architects, developers, and homeowners’ minds busy with how to reduce emissions, cut energy needs and, in some cases, achieve rarefied ‘carbon negative’ status.

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A gallery of 10 Passivhaus projects provides an insight into this highly energy-efficient and eco-friendly build method, and Kevin McCloud offers his opinion on the benefits of constructing in this way, too.

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A Victorian townhouse in Manchester has achieved the world’s toughest performance standards set by the renowned German Passivhaus Institute.

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If you thought period homes and Passivhaus were incompatible, have a look at the Ecospheric's retrofit of two Victorian homes. Stephen Cousins reports.

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New-builds are usually thought of as warm, fuel-efficient and ecofriendly, while period homes are seen as cold, draughty and expensive to heat. But now there's a way of renovating older homes to make them as efficient as their younger neighbours - so much so, they don't even need central heating. Words by Jayne Dowle.

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Telegraph property writer Zoe Dare Hall explains how the Zetland Passive House "gives new-builds a run for their money".

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A pair of Victorian townhouses has been renovated to meet the Enerphit Plus standard, set by the Passivhaus Institute, renowned for its exacting demands for energy efficiency.

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A couple have implemented hundreds of eco-innovations in their Victorian house in Manchester, making it one of Europe's most efficient buildings. Words by Oliver Balch.

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Europe's first Passivhaus EnerPHit Plus homes have opened in Manchester. Laura Sharman finds out how councils can refurbish their own heritage properties to this demanding standard.

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Think you can’t have a period home that’s also warm, dry and energy-efficient? Step inside this Manchester marvel... By Amanda Pollard.

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Proving that you can have your cake and eat it, two beautiful Victorian townhouses in Manchester have become the first homes in Europe to achieve the world’s toughest performance standards set by the renowned German Passivhaus Institute.

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Kit Knowles, founder of eco consultant Ecospheric bought two adjoining semi-detached houses, then divided into flats and dilapidated, in Chorlton, Manchester. His ambition was to create an exemplary pilot project using old building stock.

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Passivehaus homes often have a distinctive look but with the help of a few new technologies and materials such as graphene there’s now more variation in shape and style than ever before – even Victorian-era townhouses are getting the Passivehaus treatment.

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Victorian townhouses in Manchester have become the first homes in Europe to achieve the world’s toughest performance standards set by the renowned German Passivhaus Institute.

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Go Green: Choose an eco-friendly makeover. From the cleanest wood-burner to rainwater harvesters, Jayne Dowle lists this year's top eco-conscious home improvements.

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Northwest Tonight interviewed Kit Knowles about the Zetland Passive Houses.

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A pair of Victorian townhouses in Manchester have become the first homes in Europe to achieve the toughest standards set by the renowned Passivhaus Institute.

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Victorian townhouses in Manchester become the first homes in Europe to achieve the world’s toughest performance standards set by the renowned German Passivhaus Institute.

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Victorian townhouses in Manchester become the first homes in Europe to achieve the world’s toughest performance standards set by the renowned German Passivhaus Institute.

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Eco Victorian Townhouses in Manchester. Published by Adrian Welch.

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With obsessive attention to preserving and restoring the original fabric of these two Victorian townhouses, and a commitment to shunning petrochemicals and using only natural materials, could this be the most wildly ambitious and sustainable passive retrofit ever undertaken in the UK?

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A pair of Victorian semi-detached houses in Zetland Road, Manchester, have just received EnerPHit Plus certification – the first in the UK to do so – and they’ve done it in style.

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World leaders are meeting in Poland for the latest round of United Nations-sponsored climate talks. The meeting is the most critical on climate change since the 2015 Paris agreement. Since the US pulled out of that deal the scale of the problem can seem overwhelming – as we hear in this episode the Swedes call it “climate angst” and have some radical solutions to address it. But there are plenty of more practical solutions to tackling climate change much closer to home. We travel to Manchester, which plans to go carbon neutral in the next twenty years.

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Detached 'passive house' comes with so many mod cons it generates its own heating and lighting. By James Tozar.

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On completion, later this summer, they will be Europe’s first-ever ‘Passive House Plus’ homes - an ecologically-friendly property which is so firmly insulated and tight it doesn’t need a centralised heating system.

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The UK’s housing stock has proved to be remarkably durable, as houses from the 18th and 19th centuries are still adaptable to the requirements of modern living. However, the need to respect the environment and to reduce energy costs presents a new set of challenges for the owners of period properties.

In Renovations, Richard Wilcock analyses a host of cutting-edge projects to examine the challenges of adapting traditional house types; retaining historic features whilst introducing modern interventions. The book brings together more than two decades of research to showcase the best examples of domestic extensions and internal remodelling in the UK today.

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By giving his Arts and Crafts home in Manchester an eco retrofit, Kit Knowles has reduced his utility bills by over £2,500 a year and turned a gas guzzling house into a nice little earner. Here he shares how…

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Passive solar design is no longer limited to Passivhaus and new-build housing projects. It is creeping its way into domestic retrofit too. Homeowners, with the freedom to extend their properties and glaze a south facing façade, are starting to take greater advantage of the sun’s light and warmth. This is reducing the need for artificial lighting, heating and cooling in their homes. Gordon Glass reports ...

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Ellie and Kit Knowles used their expertise to turn an Arts and Crafts property into an energy-efficient home.

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Kit Knowles has turned his arts and crafts house into a sustainable superhome. Jill Burdett reports.

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2022-06-17

Ben Adam Smith interviewed Kit for his podcast to find out why he is driven to keep pushing further in pursuit of sustainability in building projects.