Zero Carbon House

PassivHaus

The PassivHaus (German for passive house) standard is the leading standard for energy efficient construction. Despite its name, the standard is applicable to all types of building. The standard was derived in Darmstadt in Germany, in 1990 with the Passivhaus-Institut being setup in 1996 to develop and promote the standard.

The PassivHaus standard aims to provide comfortable year round living conditions through minimal energy expenditure. This is achieved through:

• An effective passive solar design that will provide the necessary heat gain (heating).
• Coupled with this, to manage the heat gain:
  • very highly specified effective insulation,
  • almost complete airtightness (highly specified triple glazed windows, sealed joints and air barriers are key to this).
• Mechanical ventilation coupled with highly efficient heat recovery and ‘backup’ heating systems to manage the internal climate.

The PassivHaus standard defines maximum energy consumption levels, these are:

• Heating & Cooling: 15kWh per m2 floor area per annum.
• Total Primary (externally sourced) Energy  Consumption: 120kWh per m2 floor area per annum for all appliances, domestic hot water and heating and cooling.

For further details of the PassivHaus standard visit the PassivHaus Institute site:

PassivHaus Institute

What is a Passive House?

The Cardiff Passiv Haus project is an example of a real-world development:

Cardiff PassivHaus

The building of the first Passiv Haus in Cardiff, UK.

3 Responses to “PassivHaus”

1. Suzie Tisch Says:
   October 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm

   Thanks very much,

   Both the Cardiff Passivhaus and the Passivhaus Institute information is very clear and easy to understand.
   I am an architect currently practising on my own, having been working in the ecological building sector for some time. I am looking to develop my understanding of how to deliver more energy efficient buildings- a winter deep look at how to improve things!

   Would be interested to hear of courses and concise literature (there is so much out there claiming to be the key!). I am a member of the AECB and receive Green Building- and have just been reading about the code for sustainable homes- wondering now how this Passivhaus standard will compare and what analytical tools I can get to support this need to demonstrate energy performance.

   Will the analytical work all be ‘farmed out’ to specialist consultants?

   Thanks again,

   Kind regards
   Suzie

2. Mary Jo Moore Says:
   December 27th, 2008 at 6:45 pm

   Question, not comment: When do you envision this technology coming to the U.S.? If it’s here already, where is it? Thanks.

3. admin Says:
   December 27th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

   Mary Jo,

   They already have arrived in North America, you may find the following page interesting…

   http://www.e-colab.org/ecolab/SmithHouse.html

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