Learnlife Eco Hub is a sustainability and innovation centre situated in Castelldefels, near the city of Barcelona. A learning centre for all ages and community members, located in a stunning plot of land just yards from the sea and surrounded by a pine forest.

The hub consists of a prefabricated timber module built by Tall Fusta, sitting on screw pile foundations, and made from healthy and low environmental impact materials, including PEFC certified timber, wood-fibre insulation, and fibreboard made from recycled gypsum, recycled cellulose fibres from post-consumer waste paper. Windows are made by Elke Wood Windows, with meranti frames and low-e argon filled double glazing. The module is equipped with a Passivhaus certified Zehnder mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, for optimum air quality. A 2.73 kWp solar PV array generates around 90% of the building's energy consumption. Indoor air quality, energy consumption and PV generation is monitored to assess real performance.

THERMAL ENVELOPE

Exterior wall:

• Fermacell fiberboard, 13mm
• OSB 3 timber board, 18mm
• Wood fibre thermal insulation between timber structure, 145mm
• OSB 3 timber board, 15mm
• Waterproof & vapour permeable membrane
• Service void, 60mm.
• Timber cladding
• U-value = 0.271 W/(m²K)

Basement floor/floor slab:

• Linoleum flooring.
• OSB 3 timber board, 18mm
• Service void, 60mm.
• Wood fibre thermal insulation between timber structure, 200mm
• OSB 3 timber board, 15mm
• Waterproof & vapour permeable membrane
• U-value = 0.21 W/(m²K)

Roof:

• Gravel
• EPDM membrane, 2mm.
• OSB 3 timber board, 18mm
• Ventilated cavity, 50mm.
• Waterproof & vapour permeable membrane
• OSB 3 timber board, 15mm
• Wood fibre thermal insulation between timber structure, 200mm
• OSB 3 timber board, 18mm
• Fermacell fiberboard, 13mm
• U-value = 0.218 W/(m²K)

MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Ventilation: Zehnder Group Nederland B.V., ComfoAir XL1500
Passivhaus certified ventilation unit with sensible heat recovery.

Heating installation: 2 x BAXI NANUK RZGK35 direct expansion cassettes for cooling and heating

Domestic hot water: Cointra MTIO SLVP 6.5 instantaneous electric water heater

Ecological aspects: Screw-pile foundations, to minimize impact on the site and allow for future dismantling and transportation to a new site, if required

PHPP VALUES

Air tightness: n₅₀ = 0.48/h

Annual heating demand: 13 kWh /(m²a ) calculated according to PHPP

PER demand (renewable Primary Energy): 54 kWh /(m²a ) on heating installation, domestic hot water, household electricity and auxiliary electricity calculated according to PHPP

Generation of renewable energy: 34 kWh /(m²a ) based on the projected area

Find more details here.