On December 5th, the first Blowerdoor was passed in the construction phase of the Eco-Passivhaus “Casa Pomona” located in Ivars d'Urgell, Lleida, and a result of 0.11 h-1 was obtained. The construction of this single-family home of almost 300 m2 has been carried out with a light wooden frame finished internally with OSB class 4 and externally on the facades using a SATE of wood fiber and lime mortar and on the roof using mixed tiles on double battens. The carpentry has been resolved with Unione wood-aluminum profiles and Griesser Lamisol type solar protections.

This good result is the result of great work by the construction company Jesfer, the carpentry company Blas Recio e Hijos, the installation company Badia Energies and the technical management. From Play Arquitectura we would like to congratulate all the agents involved and the owners Gemma and Xavier for their patience and good management. Thank you for betting on such sustainable architecture.

The paper edition of the national newspaper El PAIS on Sunday, November 18, 2018, publishes an interview with Play Arquitectura in a special issue dedicated to Passivhaus, the content of which is as follows:

PlayArchitecture SL is an architectural, urban planning and engineering services company that has been committed to the Passivhaus standard since 2010.  

Why did you choose the Passivhaus standard?

The Passivhaus standard fits with our sustainable vision of architecture and we consider that It is revolutionary since he gets the better comfort, an interior environment healthier and the greater energy efficiency currently available. Therefore, the 90% of the projects from the study are designed Passivhaus and our entire team is trained in the Passivhaus standard and in Ecodesign.

What experience do you have with the Passivhaus standard?

Play Arquitectura has designed and directed the first public building of the State for the Ministry of Finance under standard Passivhaus and BREEAM as a pilot project in Sustainability and Energy Efficiency. In 2015, the company designed and managed the first certified Passivhaus public building in Spain and we are currently working on Passivhaus projects in La Rioja, Navarra, Vitoria, Lleida, Málaga and Mallorca with a combined surface area of more than 10,000 m2.

On September 10, 2018, work began on assembling the light wooden framework of the Pomona House in Ivars d'Urgell.

The manufacturing and assembly work on the light wooden framework designed to meet the Passivhaus standard is being carried out by the company JESFER, specialized in this type of construction.

Within a month, the entire wooden framework, roof and carpentry will be assembled, leaving only the partition work, interior installations and cladding pending.

Holland's bigger Bridge is currently under construction and will be ready for students Fall 2017.

On October 25, 26 and 27, Play Arquitectura attended the 10th Spanish Passivhaus Conference held at the Expo Congress Palace in Zaragoza.

The most notable aspect of the conference was the considerable examples of collective buildings designed and built under the Passivhaus standard, among which the developer Grupo LOBE stood out. This company, which started two years ago with its first Passivhaus developments, has incorporated the design, construction and certification process under the Passivhaus standard and currently the 100% of its development is Passivhaus with more than 1,000 homes planned.

Another notable example of collective housing was the cooperative project “Entrepatios Las Carolinas Promotion” presented by the SATT office in Madrid, with a very sustainable vision of architecture and the Passivhaus standard.

On September 19, 2018, the inauguration of the Rural House renovated according to the Enerphit standard in Casalarreina was held.

More than 100 guests attended the inauguration, including the President of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja.

The reference work has entered the FEDER funds through ADRA, as it is a rehabilitation under a standard of almost Zero Energy Consumption and is the first Rural House in La Rioja designed as a Passivhaus.

On June 7, 2018, an institutional visit was made to the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration Building Rehabilitated under standard Passivhaus and certified BREEAMThe visit, led by the Government delegate and the President of the Autonomous Community, aimed to learn about the details of the Rehabilitation and the high performance in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability of the Building.

The Play Arquitectura team attended the visit to explain the details of the project and the direction of the work, as well as all the unique features of this State pilot project that is currently a benchmark in energy efficiency and sustainability.

Today the Blower Door test was carried out in the Rehabilitation work under the Passivhaus standard of the Building located at Calle Doctores Castroviejo 9 in Logroño, which the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration will allocate to offices for various ministerial delegations.

The result of the test carried out by Energy House It has been very satisfactory with a value of 0.18 h-1 despite the fact that it is the rehabilitation of a building that is more than 74 years old.

By passing this test we are getting closer to the goal of achieving the First Passivhaus Certification for a State Public Building, thus demonstrating that the Public Administration has the capacity to promote Nearly Zero Energy Buildings under the most demanding standard, demonstrating a more efficient and sustainable building.

From Play Arquitectura we want to thank the work of the technicians of the General Directorate of State Assetstoday of the UTE companies Ocisa-HNV, Onhaus and Blas Recio Carpentry without them it would not have been possible to overcome this challenge.

On March 9 and 10, 2018, Play Arquitectura participated in the 22nd International Passivhaus Conference held in Munich.

At this Conference with more than 1,000 attendees, Play Arquitectura presented the Passivhaus and BREEM Rehabilitation project of the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrationss.

In turn, at the presentation of the Plenary Hall on March 10, the New Zealand architect Elrond Burrell presented the Villamediana Library as an example of a Passivhaus building with careful aesthetics and integration into the environment.