Design principles
Consider insulation, thermal bridges, airtightness, windows and controlled ventilation together, rather than optimising one component in isolation.
Technical · Ready-to-Assemble SIP Kits
Passive House & SIP design.
Bring the SIP kit into your high-performance building design from the start. Coordinate insulation, junctions, airtightness, windows and services, then carry the agreed decisions into manufacturing information and site verification.
01 / Agree the ambition
A whole-building target, not a panel label.
Passive House design brings the envelope and building systems together. A SIP kit can be coordinated within that approach, but selecting a panel is not the same as meeting a building standard. Establish the intended target and assessment route with the appointed designers before panelisation begins.
Project target
Record the intended performance and the modelling assumptions. The target guides choices about form, openings, layer build-ups and services.
Verified building
Where certification is pursued, the appointed certifier reviews the required design and construction evidence. No Quacent kit or pictured project is presented here as Passive House certified.
General principles and the building certification process: Passive House Institute ↗
02 / Envelope coordination
Bring the energy model into the kit design.
Start with the location, orientation, geometry, glazing areas and intended use. Review the options while the form and openings can still be adjusted. Share the accepted decisions with the kit designer so the drawings used for manufacture describe the same construction as the energy assessment.
For a Passive House Institute project, the specialist may use the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) to assess the building’s energy balance, heating and cooling requirements and summer comfort. It is a whole-building planning tool, not a calculation generated by ordering a SIP kit.
About the planning tool: PHI · PHPP ↗
Check the insulation strategy at panel edges, additional structural members, supports, foundations and roof junctions. Assess the window specification and its installation position together with the surrounding construction. An efficient panel area needs carefully resolved transitions around it.
03 / Design to inspection
Draw the airtight layer as a continuous line.
Identify the air-control layer on plans and sections, then follow it through the base, walls, roof, frames and service penetrations. Assign each transition a drawing reference, materials and an installer. The sequence should allow the seals to be completed and inspected before they become inaccessible.
Airtightness and vapour control have different functions. Airtightness limits air leakage; the vapour-control strategy addresses moisture transfer through the construction. Their design must be coordinated with the complete build-up and local climate. A good airtightness result alone does not establish that the moisture strategy is correct.
Plan a blower-door test while leaks can still be found and repaired, as well as the final verification required by the project. Agree methods and acceptance criteria with the specialist. Keep photographic records of critical transitions and record product substitutions before work is concealed.
Later service work needs the same care. Carry the approved penetration details into the contractor’s preparation, rather than leaving the final air seal to whichever trade arrives last.
04 / Building services
Design for fresh air, moisture and summer comfort.
High-performance envelope design is not limited to winter heat loss. It also needs an appropriate ventilation system, moisture-safe construction and a review of occupied conditions in warmer weather. Resolve the connections to the SIP kit before production is released.
Ventilation
Coordinate controlled supply and extraction, heat recovery for the chosen design, duct routes and commissioning. Identify penetrations and the parties supplying and installing the systems.
Moisture protection
Review the full layer build-up for the climate and internal conditions. Agree temporary protection during delivery, storage and assembly, then inspect before closing the construction.
Summer comfort
Review orientation, glazing, external shading, internal gains and the ventilation strategy together. Resolve the supports for shading and any related fixings or penetrations in the kit design.
Windows and ventilation are parts of the complete building package, not automatically included in the Quacent kit. Connect their supplier information to the panel drawings so dimensions, seals and installation responsibilities remain consistent.
05 / The project team
Put the right information around the same drawings.
The architect and structural engineer coordinate the building geometry, stability, foundations and SIP interfaces. The building-physics specialist develops the energy, thermal-bridge, moisture and ventilation assessments. Where certification is intended, the certification specialist identifies the evidence and review stages from the outset.
Quacent coordinates the agreed kit information with those inputs. The contractor translates the accepted details into site preparation, installation and inspection. Record who decides, who supplies the information and who verifies each transition; the responsibility should be clear even when several suppliers are involved.
When geometry, window positions, products or junctions change, return the revision to the relevant assessments before the updated information is released. Keep the energy model, kit drawings and installed specification aligned.
Ready for the first technical conversation
Bring your site location, drawings, intended standard, local design contacts and available calculations. Include the questions from your building-physics specialist and the decisions that may affect manufacture.
06 / Evidence and delivery
Agree verification before the construction starts.
Connect the evidence plan to the programme rather than treating it as paperwork at completion. Before manufacture, resolve the envelope decisions that affect the panels. During assembly, keep the critical transitions accessible. At handover, collect the required results and the actual installed specification.
01 · Concept review
Record the target, model inputs and unresolved assumptions. Agree the assessment or certification route with the appointed specialist.
02 · Production release
Coordinate openings, supports, layer build-ups and junctions. Identify the approved drawing issue and any information supplied by other trades.
03 · Construction checks
Inspect and photograph the agreed details before enclosure. Resolve substitutions, test findings and deviations while the work is still accessible.
04 · Completion
Collect the required airtightness and commissioning results, construction records and as-built information for the appointed reviewer.
Testing, certification services, foundations, ventilation and finishing are not automatically part of the kit supply. Set out these responsibilities alongside Quacent’s agreed drawings, components and support. A clear evidence plan connects the high-performance ambition to the people and information needed to deliver it.
Your next step
Coordinate your high-performance project.
Share the intended target, current drawings and the questions from your design team. We will review the kit information and interfaces to be resolved before production.