Our Latest News
2024-11-03
The Sunday Times
We converted a Victorian church into a home and made history
The first church in the world to be certified to the Passivhaus standard for energy efficient houses is in a Northumberland village
2024-11-01
Architecture Today
Pitched Passive House
In Dulwich, southeast London, RDA Architects has finished a new build home that is PassivHaus certified and in sync with the area’s Arts & Crafts vernacular.
2024-10-22
Financial Times
How luxury property owners are putting eco concerns at the heart of their dream home
By using the newest tech and designs, wealthy homeowners can help bring down the high costs associated with sustainability
2024-09-16
Homebuilding & Renovating
Church converted into net-zero Passivhaus home in Northumberland could be a world-first
This historic conversion has met the stringent EnerPHit standards (equivalent to Passivhaus for existing buildings) and was completed in just one year
2024-08-07
Passivhaus Trust
Let the Passivhaus bells ring!
Old meets new at Warksburn Old Church, a historic building getting a new lease of life as a Passivhaus holiday destination.
2024-05-20
Houzz
8 Sustainable Materials to Consider for Your Renovation
Improve the fabric of your home by opting for environmentally kind materials. Let this starter guide inspire you
2024-05-01
Towards a Carbon Neutral Future
Global warming potential comparison of lime and cement-based masonry repair mortars
Ecospheric's industry-based PhD researcher Luke Dickens has published a chapter about his research comparing the global warming potential of lime vs. cement based mortars in the context of heritage retrofit.
2024-03-03
Hexham Courant
Warksburn Old Church to become new home with eco-friendly revamp
Warksburn Old Church, a historic Presbyterian church, is becoming a luxurious three-bedroom holiday rental home with pioneering smart energy efficiency.
2024-01-04
Houzz
How to Save Money and Energy in Your Home
What measures can you take to reduce household bills and ensure your home is working as efficiently as possible?
2023-12-22
Homebuilding & Renovating
This modernist EnerPHit consumes 88% less energy than the average UK home
Aline Knowles has restored and upgraded her 1960s modernist house to create a highly energy efficient and sustainable home of the future
2023-12-21
Passive House Plus
Play To Win: Creative Play Cafe Brings Passive Benefits for Bristol Families
A site with a dilapidated building in Bristol has been transformed into a crucial social space by a husband and wife team of environmentally and socially engaged architects, aided by a polymath sustainability consultant.
2023-12-07
Homebuilding & Renovating
Real Project: Eco Retrofit
Homebuilding & Renovating magazine interviews Ecospheric client, Aline, about the retrofit of her 1960s modernist house to create a highly energy-efficient and sustainable home of the future. The project has won HBR's Best Green Home award for 2023.
2023-12-07
Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2023
The winners of The Daily Telegraph Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2023 are revealed
Ecospheric's Modernist EnerPHit project wins the award for Best Green Home at the Homebuilding & Renovating Awards
2023-12-01
ASBP Awards 2024
Goldfinch Create & Play Shortlisted for Best Project Award
Goldfinch Create & Play is named as one of three finalists in the Project category for the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products awards. Ecospheric supported this project to become the world's first Passivhaus certified art cafe.
2023-11-13
Houzz
Should You Install an Air Source Heat Pump?
Find out what’s involved, the pros and cons, and whether there’s an alternative solution
2023-10-31
Passivhaus Trust
Creative café claims UK Passivhaus first
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.
2023-10-30
RIBA Journal
Toughened standard for government-funded whole house retrofits
This article about the changes to home retrofit requirements under a national PAS 2035 standard features our Passivhaus project in Manchester. The focus shifts to a whole house approach rather than individual measures and a medium-term retrofit plan.
2023-10-29
Houzz
Should I Install Photovoltaic Solar Panels?
Ecospheric's director Kit Knowles provides advice on how solar panels can help to bring down energy bills and reduce our carbon output.
2023-10-19
Houzz
How Do I Choose and Install Energy-efficient Windows?
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.
2023-10-01
Energy and Buildings: Volume 296
Life cycle carbon assessment of decarbonising UK’s hard-to-treat homes
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.
2023-08-28
Bristol 247
Energy efficient Passivhaus Art Cafe to open
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.
2023-08-03
i-Build
EnerPHit: Turning Ordinary Homes into the Extraordinary
If you love where you live and want to radically reduce your energy bills, make your home more comfortable and help tackle the climate crisis, then undertaking a Passivhaus retrofit (EnerPHit) could be for you.
2023-07-24
Zero Ambitions Podcast
Fabric second, not fabric first: impact, heritage, retrofit, and strategy, with Kit Knowles (Ecospheric)
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).
2023-07-23
Houzz
How Can an Eco Consultant Make My Home More Energy Efficient?
Houzz features Ecospheric in this article about how hiring an eco specialist can help with your next renovation project
2023-07-21
Financial Times: House & Home
Rebuild or renovate: the embodied carbon conundrum
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
2023-05-04
Passivhaus Trust
Modernist EnerPHit Plus
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.
2023-04-21
Passive House Plus
Modern Love: 1960's Lambeth modernist gem gets Enerphit treatment
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.
2023-04-21
Financial Times
Retrofit roadblocks: the struggle to make England’s older homes energy efficient
Efforts to upgrade protected properties are being thwarted by an overstretched planning system, fraught with delays and confusion
2023-04-15
Houzz
Should You Install an Air Source Heat Pump?
Find out what’s involved, the pros and cons, and whether there’s an alternative solution
2023-04-11
Warrington Worldwide
Futuristic homes plan approved for grounds of historic hall
Planning chiefs at Warrington have given the go-ahead for the construction of five futuristic homes in the grounds of historic Lymm Hall
2023-03-31
RIBA Journal
Retrofitting a 1960s modernist house to Passivhaus standards
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
2023-02-23
Houzz
How to Improve the Air Quality in Your Home
Want to ensure your home environment is clean and healthy? Start by assessing the quality of your air
2023-01-21
Passive House Award
3rd Passive House Architecture Award: Award Recipients & Finalists Book
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.
2022-11-15
Houzz
Is it Worth Getting a Boiler Upgrade?
When to upgrade, what to pick and ways to be efficient – read on for expert boiler advice
2022-09-09
The RIBA Journal
How to make sure your in-use sustainability sums add up
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
2022-06-17
House Planning Help
Getting ambitious with sustainability - with Kit Knowles from Ecospheric
Kit Knowles from Ecospheric explains why he is driven to keep pushing further in pursuit of sustainability in building projects
2022-03-27
Houzz
How to Improve the Air Quality in Your Home
Want to ensure your home environment is clean and healthy? Start by assessing the quality of your air
2022-02-17
ASBP Awards 2022
People's Prize Winner: Zetland Passive House
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.
2021-11-28
Houzz
What Type of Heat Pump Would Work in My Home?
It’s a greener alternative to a traditional boiler, but what are the pros and cons? Here’s what you need to know
2021-11-12
Historic Environment Forum
Heritage Responds
Case studies for heritage and climate change
2021-10-27
Financial Times
Grade I to net zero: can historic houses be made energy efficient?
The protected status of the UK’s older homes makes green retrofitting costly and complex — a problem if it is to meet emissions targets
2021-10-21
Building Design
Architects unveil ‘game-changing’ housing retrofit handbook
LETI sets clear energy use targets but warns of skills gap ahead of 30m-home retrofit marathon
2021-09-10
2021 Passive House Award
The awardees of the Passive House Award 2021
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.
2021-08-31
The Building Limes Forum Newsletter
New Member Spotlight ‘Luke Dickens’
Welcome to new BLF member, Luke Dickens, PhD Researcher in Materials Analysis and Decarbonation of the Built Environment.
2021-03-25
Historic England
New Report: “Greening” Historic Homes Could Save up to 84% in Carbon Emissions
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.
2020-09-30
House Beautiful
From Period House to Eco Home
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?
2020-07-17
Houzz
How to Retrofit Healthy Ventilation into Your Home
Want to fit a mechanical ventilation system into your existing property? These expert tips will help you get started
2020-02-26
Building Design
Reusing our heritage is ‘vital’ to meet net-zero ambitions
Report calls for step-change in carbon-footprint calculation methods and VAT breaks
2020-02-11
Place Northwest
SPECIAL REPORT | Buildings ‘must respond to climate crisis’
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
2020-01-16
RIBA: Professional Feature
How hard is it to retrofit a house to zero carbon levels?
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.
2019-12-02
Azero
Victorian Houses in Zetland Road, Manchester
For readers of Italian, this sustainable architecture magazine features the Zetland Passive House project in its latest issue.
2019-11-01
Historic England
Heritage Counts: 2109 - Carbon in the Built Historic Environment
Victorian Townhouse Meets Passive House Standards in Zetland Road
2019-10-03
SIGA Build It Better Blog
SIGA Build It Better Blog
How Kit Knowles is pushing the envelope for sustainable construction
2019-07-16
Blueprint Magazine
Ay-up? Manchester
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
2019-07-09
Sky News
Manchester declares a climate emergency
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.
2019-06-02
The Modern House
Insight Report: sustainable living at home
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.
2019-06-01
Grand Designs
10 Inspiring Passivhaus Projects
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.
2019-05-13
Professional Builder
Creating a Victorian Passivhaus
A Victorian townhouse in Manchester has achieved the world’s toughest performance standards set by the renowned German Passivhaus Institute.
2019-04-30
RIBA Journal
Victorian homes' invisible retrofit
If you thought period homes and Passivhaus were incompatible, have a look at the Ecospheric's retrofit of two Victorian homes. Stephen Cousins reports.
2019-04-30
House Beautiful
Property: Eco Victorian
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.
2019-04-26
The Telegraph
How to turn your draughty period property into an eco home
Telegraph property writer Zoe Dare Hall explains how the Zetland Passive House "gives new-builds a run for their money".
2019-04-01
Self Build & Design
Forever Green
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.
2019-03-31
Positive News
Beyond Retro
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.
2019-03-01
Local Government News
The UK's Greenest Victorian Homes
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.
2019-02-24
Houzz
Houzz Tour: Is This the UK’s Greenest Victorian House?
Think you can’t have a period home that’s also warm, dry and energy-efficient? Step inside this Manchester marvel... By Amanda Pollard.
2019-02-21
The Negotiator
Old house, new house!
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.
2019-02-14
Architecture Today
Taking Stock: A pair of Victorian semis have been renovated to the Enerphit Plus standard by Guy Taylor Associates and Ecospheric
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.
2019-01-22
The Fifth Estate
Graphene stars in Passivhaus retrofit of Victorian townhouses
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.
2019-01-20
Green Building
Zero Energy Bills for what may be the UK’s Greenest Victorian Homes
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.
2019-01-18
The Times: Bricks & Mortar
Go Green: The cleanest wood-burning stoves and other eco-friendly home improvements
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.
2019-01-18
Northwest Tonight
Zero Energy Bills for the UK's Greenest Victorian Homes
Northwest Tonight interviewed Kit Knowles about the Zetland Passive Houses.
2019-01-17
Environmental Journal
Step inside Britain’s greenest Victorian house
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.
2019-01-15
Building Construction Design
Zero energy bills for the UK’s greenest Victorian homes
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.
2019-01-15
Housebuilder & Developer
Zero energy bills for the UK’s greenest Victorian homes
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.
2019-01-11
e-architect
Zetland Road Homes in Chorlton
Eco Victorian Townhouses in Manchester. Published by Adrian Welch.
2018-12-21
Passive House Plus
Industrial Revolution: Manchester retrofit may be the greenest ever
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?
2018-12-17
Passivhaus Trust
Victorian homes enter 21st century with EnerPHit Plus certification
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.
2018-12-03
BBC R4 Beyond Today
Can Manchester mend the planet?
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.
2018-09-16
The Daily Mail
The £1million home with NO energy bills
Detached 'passive house' comes with so many mod cons it generates its own heating and lighting. By James Tozar.
2018-03-30
Manchester Evening News
The Chorlton homes which generate their own electricity and require no gas or central heating
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.
2016-05-31
Renovations: An Inspirational Design Primer
RIBA publishing. By Richard Wilcock.
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.
2013-11-01
Homes & Antiques
Essential guide to reducing your heating
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…
2012-08-31
Greenbuilding Magazine
SuperHomers embrace passive solar
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 ...
2012-02-01
25 Most Beautiful Homes
Hi-tech Renovation: Eco Logical
Ellie and Kit Knowles used their expertise to turn an Arts and Crafts property into an energy-efficient home.
2011-03-03
Manchester Evening News
An ecological grand design
Kit Knowles has turned his arts and crafts house into a sustainable superhome. Jill Burdett reports.