Table of Contents
EnerPHit: The Passive House Standard for retrofits
It is not always possible to achieve the fulll Passive House Standard for refurbishments of existing buildings (introductory article), even with adequate funds. For this reason, the PHI has developed the EnerPHit Standard – Quality-Approved Energy Retrofit with Passive House Components - as quality assured certification scheme for renovation of existing buildings. It can be applied on one go or as a phased approached using the EnerPHit retrofit plan.
EnerPHit building renovation: Highly efficient building renovation as a societal no-regret measure
Significant heating/cooling energy savings of between 75 and 90 % can be achieved even in existing buildings, for which the following measures have proved to be particularly effective [Bastian 2022]. The general approach to prevent lock-in and achieve high quality cost-effective solutons is: If you do it, do it right!
- Improved thermal, similar to Passive House newbuild levels
- Considerably improved airtightness
- Use of high quality windows: Use of Passive-House-suitable windows whenever the opportunity arises.
- Ventilation with highly efficient heat recovery. Again, aligned with Passive House newbuild efficiency recommendations
- Efficient heat generation
- Use of renewable energy sources. Depening on use of renewable energy, EnerPHit is also availble as certification classes Classic, Plus and Premium.
These are exactly the same measures that have proven to be successful for new constructions. A number of examples demonstrating the application of high-efficiency technology in existing buildings are available, including monitoring data as proof of concept of the achieved energy savings. You can find examples of implemented EnerPHit buildings in the online Passive House Database (advanced search, filter by Energy Standard / building type for EnerPHit projects).
To know more about the EnerPHit-Standard we recommend visiting the following section in the Passive House Institute's website and take a look at additional resources listed below.
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Example certified EnerPHit Plus project in Manchester, UK. Find out more in the project database: ID: 5807 | Examle certified EnerPHit universtity building in Innsbruck, Austria. Find out more in the project database: ID: 4200 |
Literature
[Bastian 2022]: Bastian, Z., Schnieders, J., Conner, W., Kaufmann, B., Lepp, L., Norwood, Z., Simmonds, A., Theoboldt, I.: Retrofit with Passive House components. Energy Efficiency 15, 10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-021-10008-7. The article can be read online here.
See also
Landing page on refurbishments of existing buildings
Overview of Building Certification
EnerPHit building renovation: Highly efficient building renovation as a societal no-regret measure
1.3 EnerPHit criteria for basements and building components in contact with the ground
Factors that influence the energy balance and affordability of non-residential EnerPHit projects
International EnerPHit Certification Criteria for Energy Retrofit with Passive House Components
Further publications on Passipedia related to EnerPHit
Fact sheets: