Is Passivhaus the key to low-carbon leisure?

With the resurgence in swimming’s popularity post-COVID, leisure centres are a vital part of the local authority estate. However, their historic reliance on fossil fuels, combined with the extreme rise in energy prices, is indicative of an aging stock that isn’t fit for purpose - in an era where reaching net zero is mission critical.

This has left local authorities with a juggling act, weighing up the need for increased capacity and improved facilities, with finding an approach to design that can help tackle the climate emergency.

As a result, the private sector is rallying. “Councils are finding themselves in a difficult position when it comes to their leisure centres,” says Kevin Burns, a man that knows his pools, having represented Great Britain at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and now leads business development in the UK for Myrtha Pools - which specialises in off-site manufacture.

“Demand is rising all the time, yet nearly half of the pools in the UK are more than 30 years old. If you combine that with the wider aging of leisure centres across the country, there’s a big challenge ahead for local authorities.

“Through our conversations with the public sector, we’re finding that they are increasingly looking at solutions that account for the sustainable benefits of not just the pool, but the wider facility too.”