basics:what_is_a_passive_house
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+ | ====== What is a Passive House? ====== | ||
+ | Want to see a video first? Click the video-frame: | ||
+ | {{ : | ||
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+ | A building standard that is truly **energy efficient**, | ||
+ | Passive House is not a **brand name**, but a **construction concept** that can be applied by anyone and that has stood the test of practice.\\ | ||
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+ | Yet, a Passive House is more than just a low-energy building.\\ | ||
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+ | * Passive House buildings allow for heating and cooling related energy savings of up to 90% compared with typical building stock and over 75% compared with average new builds. In terms of heating oil, Passive House buildings use less than 1.5 litres per square meter of living space per year – far less than typical low-energy buildings. Similar energy savings have been demonstrated in warm climates where buildings require more energy for cooling than for heating. | ||
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+ | * Passive House buildings are also praised for their high level of comfort. They use **energy sources inside the building** such as the body heat from the residents or solar heat entering the building – making heating a lot easier. | ||
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+ | * Appropriate windows with good insulation and a building shell consisting of good insulated exterior walls, roof and floor slab keep the heat during winter in the house – and keep it out during summer. | ||
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+ | * A ventilation system consistently supplies fresh air making for superior air quality without causing any unpleasant draughts. This is e.g. a guarantee for low Radon levels and improves the health conditions. A highly efficient heat recovery unit allows for the heat contained in the exhaust air to be re-used.\\ | ||
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+ | The vast energy savings in Passive House buildings are achieved by using especially energy efficient building components and a quality ventilation system: There is absolutely **no cutting back on comfort**; instead the level of comfort is considerably increased (see [[basics: | ||
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+ | |{{: | ||
+ | |// **Heat consumption measured in 4 residential estates: one low-energy estate (left) and three Passive House estates. | ||
+ | Notice: No " | ||
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+ | ===== The Passive House has got it all ===== | ||
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+ | ==== Comfort ==== | ||
+ | The Passive House Standard offers a new level of quality pairing a maximum level of [[basics: | ||
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+ | ==== Quality ==== | ||
+ | Passive House buildings are praised for their efficiency due to their high level of insulation and their airtight design. Another important principle is [[planning: | ||
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+ | ==== Ecology / Sustainability ==== | ||
+ | You may have been surprised by not finding ecological aspects mentioned at the very beginning of this article. Passive House buildings are eco-friendly by definition: They use extremely little [[basics: | ||
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+ | ==== Affordability ==== | ||
+ | Are Passive House buildings a good investment? Passive House buildings not only save money over the long term, but are surprisingly affordable to begin with. The investment in higher quality building components required by the Passive House Standard is mitigated by the elimination of expensive heating and cooling systems. Additional financial support increasingly available in many countries makes building a Passive House all the more feasible. Learn more about [[basics: | ||
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+ | ==== Measurement results ==== | ||
+ | Measurements carried out in 114 Passive House apartments which were part of the CEPHEUS project showed average savings of approx. 90%; since then, lots of realized passive houses have been monitored with [[operation: | ||
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+ | ==== Versatility ==== | ||
+ | Any competent architect can design a Passive House. By combining individual measures any new building anywhere in the world can be designed to reach the Passive House Standard. The versatile Passive House Standard is also increasingly being used for non-residential buildings such as administrative buildings and [[Examples: | ||
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+ | ==== Retrofits ==== | ||
+ | The Passive House Standard can also be achieved in [[planning: | ||
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+ | ==== Hands-on experience of Passive Houses – You have to see one to believe it ==== | ||
+ | The International Passive House Open Days takes place once a year. At this event, hundreds of Passive House residents open their doors to anyone interested in getting a hands-on experience of living in a Passive House. The International Passive House Days are put on by the [[http:// | ||
+ | \\ | ||
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+ | ===== And this is how it works ===== | ||
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+ | **⇒ Efficiency improves comfort** | ||
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+ | The Passive House is the world leading standard in energy-efficient construction: | ||
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+ | * Passive Houses require less than 15 kWh/(m²yr) for heating or cooling {{ : | ||
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+ | * The heating/ | ||
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+ | * Conventional Primary energy use may not exceed 120 kWh/(m²a) - but the future is renewable energy supply (PER) with no more than 60 kWh/(m²a). This is easy to accomplish with passive houses. | ||
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+ | * Passive Houses must be airtight with air change rates being limited to n< | ||
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+ | * In warmer climates and/or during summer months, excessive temperatures may not occur more than 10 % of the time. | ||
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+ | The Passive House is a sustainable construction concept that provides for affordable, high-quality buildings as well as comfortable, | ||
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+ | * As newer buildings are increasingly airtight, ventilation through joints and cracks alone is not sufficient to provide for fresh indoor air. Opening the windows as recommended won’t do the job either. Fresh air is not merely a matter of comfort but a necessity for healthy living - Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is the basic performance goal. [[planning: | ||
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+ | * Even though ventilation systems do require an extra investment to begin with they will end up saving considerable amounts of energy costs, provided that they are highly efficient systems. Passive House quality ventilation systems will reduce the operating costs of any building.\\ | ||
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+ | * This is where the Passive House concept comes in: As large amounts of fresh outdoor air need to be supplied to the building anyway, why not use this air for [[planning: | ||
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+ | * This " | ||
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+ | __**The Passive House – the leading concept for**__\\ | ||
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+ | An [[planning: | ||
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+ | ==== Examples of existing Passive Houses and their residents confirm: the Passive House concept works! ==== | ||
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+ | Please click here to view [[: | ||
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+ | ===== What’s the Passive House “secret“? | ||
+ | ---- | ||
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+ | 1) The Passive House concept doesn’t only work on paper – [[: | ||
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+ | 2) The Passive House concept has been proven to works in real life: [[operation: | ||
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+ | 3) Passive Houses are **[[basics: | ||
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+ | 4) Passive Houses offer a maximum level of **[[basics: | ||
+ | For some 40 years the meaning of superior termal comfort has been well established on a scientific level: It was the publication of Ole Fanger in 1972: " | ||
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+ | 5) Passive Houses are **[[basics: | ||
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+ | 6) Passives Houses mostly **benefit regional manufacturers** - everybody is invited to contribute.\\ | ||
+ | Products for Passive Houses are best practise products all around the world: Minimal U-values, superior window energy performance, | ||
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+ | ===== See also ===== | ||
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+ | [[basics: | ||
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+ | [[http:// | ||
basics/what_is_a_passive_house.txt · Last modified: 2022/09/25 19:35 by wfeist