International cooperations

The International Passive House Association (iPHA) and the Passive House Institute are often involved in collaborative research and dissemination projects e.g. co-funded within programmes of the European Union. Below you can find an overview of selected ongoing and completed projects with a brief description and links to further reading.

While certain marked articles have been created with the support of the EU, they do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the CINEA nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.The sole responsibility for the content of Passipedia lies with the authors.

REN+HOMES - a new method for positive buildings

As the urgency to combat climate change intensifies, REN+HOMES takes the lead in developing a universal methodology for positive energy homes and residential districts. This approach addresses the crucial role that buildings play in energy consumption and carbon emissions. Due to the significant impact of buildings on emissions, there is an increasing focus on positive energy buildings (PEBs). REN+HOMES aims to contribute to a sustainable transition by not only reducing carbon emissions but also addressing resource scarcity and energy poverty. In this respect, stakeholders are involved through education and participation programmes. Our goal is to establish a universal approach for developing positive energy homes and residential districts. This facilitates the transition to climate-neutral and energy-positive residential buildings.

Articles published on Passipedia in context of the Ren+Homes project will be included here as they beome available. General topics covered by Passive House institute as part of the Ren+Homes project are:

Article: Primary Energy Renewable PER

Article: Heat recovery from waste water

outPHit - Deep retrofits made faster, cheaper and more reliable

outPHit - Deep retrofits made faster, cheaper and more reliable pairs such approaches with the rigour of Passive House principles to make deep retrofits cost-effective, faster and more reliable. On the basis of case studies across Europe and in collaboration with a wide variety of stakesholders, outPHit is addressing barries to the uptake of high quality deep retrofits while facilitating the development of high performance renovation systems, tools for decision making and quality assurance safeguards. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 957175.

The following Passipedia articles/tools have been written within the framework of the outPHit project:

Tool:

outPHit Manufacturing Energy Evaluation Tool (MEET)

Guide:

Summer Comfort Guideline

Summer Comfort user Manual

Webinar:

Quality assurance concepts for fast deep renovation approaches

Summer comfort with passive measures

Embodied energy and carbon in Passive House construction

Preventing energy lock-in: Step-by-step retrofit to enerPHit

Assessing sustainability: CO2, PE and PER

outPHit single-family concept retrofit in Germany

Project Spotlight:

outPHit single-family concept retrofit in Germany

Factsheet:

outPHit: Indoor air quality: It’s important!

outPHit: The impact of warming climate conditions on buildings!

outPHit: Step-by-step to EnerPHit standard

outPHit Verified Performance – monitoring made easy

outPHit – Passive House Institute's new EU project

outPHit: Robust planning for a high level of summer comfort with rising temperatures

SINFONIA - Low Carbon Cities for Better Living

The SINFONIA project is a five-year initiative to deploy large-scale, integrated and scalable energy solutions in mid-sized European cities. At the heart of the initiative is a unique cooperation between the cities of Bolzano and Innsbruck, working hand in hand to achieve 40 to 50% primary energy savings and increase the share of renewables by 20% in two pioneer districts. This will be done through an integrated set of measures combining the retrofitting of more than 100,000m² of living surface, optimisation of the electricity grid, and solutions for district heating and cooling. Co-funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union.

Here you can find links to articles describing the deliverables of the SINFONIA project and how they relate to Passive House and highly energy efficient cities.

Tool: Condensation Tool Manual

Webinar: SINFONIA - Experiences in large-scale retrofits in Innsbruck

Article: Monitoring heat consumption: Calculation and Demand

Article: Renovation Strategies assessed via District Energy Balance

Article: Experience Passive House - Passive House Open Days

Article: Heat losses caused by drain pipes in the PHPP

Article: Electric Energy Efficiency for Households – Doing the whole step towards energy efficiency

Article: Energy Efficiency in Domestic Electrical Energy Use

3EnCult - Efficient energy for EU cultural heritage

The project 3EnCult bridges the gap between conservation of historic buildings and climate protection, which is not an antagonism at all: historic buildings will only survive if maintained as living space. Energy efficient retrofit is useful for structural protection as well as for comfort reasons - comfort for users and “comfort” for heritage collections. 3EnCult will demonstrate the feasibility of “Factor 4” to “Factor 10” reduction in energy demand, depending on the case and the heritage value. Project duration: 2010 - 2014. Co-funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union.

The following Passipedia articles have been written within the framework of the 3EnCult project:

Tool: Variant calculations and economic assessment with PHPP 9

Article: Airtightness of OSB boards

Article: Integrating wood beams into the airtight layer

Article: Energy refurbishment of heritage buildings with PHPP's and real measurements' feedback

Article: Retrofitting ventilation systems in non-residential buildings

Article: EnerPHit retrofit of non-residential buildings, in particular, the effects of internal heat gains

Article: Special features of modernisations

Article: Adapting the certification criteria and glazing for European climate zones

PassREg - Supporting the growth of Passive House regions towards an EU energy revolution

PassREg aims to trigger the successful implementation of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) throughout the EU, using Passive House supplied as much as possible by renewable energies as the foundation. Project duration: 2012-2015. Co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Union.

The following Passipedia articles have been written within the framework of the PassREg project:

Brochure: PassREg Brochure

Article: Financing and cost effectiveness of Passive House buildings: experience from Brussels and focus on social housing

Article: Passive House Regions: A Guide to Success

Article: Passive House for municipalities

Article: Component guidelines for cost-optimal Passive Houses and EnerPHit retrofits (clickable map)

Article: Lessons from the New Passive House Regions

Article: PassREg Solutions Open Source

Article: Economic feasibility of Passive House design

Article: Thermal protection and modernisation of existing buildings

Article: Passive House windows tender specifications

Article: Monitoring in the Passive House district of Bahnstadt, Heidelberg

Article: Life cycle cost analysis of energy interventions in 18 reference buildings

Article: Scrum team

EuroPHit - Retrofitting for the energy revolution, one step at a time

With the EnerPHit Standard as the goal and Passive House principles as the basis, EuroPHit applies knowledge on deep energy retrofits to the oft-overlooked yet critical area of step-by-step refurbishments. EuroPHit aims to significantly increase the quality and energy efficiency of perhaps the most common type of refurbishment: retrofits conducted gradually, over a period of years. Project duration: 2013-2016. Co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Union.