Table of Contents
Planning and Construction
The Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) is an effective and user-friendly energy balancing tool allowing designers to plan and optimise Passive House buildings. It supports all details which need to be considered when planning a Passive House: insulation, airtightness, Thermal bridge free design , Passive House windows, ventilation, heating loads, heating, summer comfort, etc.
This section contains information about the following topics:
When planning a Passive House, these components are important:
The definition of the term “Passive House” and the requirements set up for Passive Houses and EnerPHit-refurbishments can be found here:
- Check list for planning and implementation of Passive Houses
- Criteria for Passive Houses and EnerPHit-refurbishments
The Passive House Institute provides several tools:
Information about Passive Houses using passive cooling techniques in summer can be found here (suitable for climates in which night temperatures keep being low (<18°C) even in hot periods; e.g. Central and Northern Europe):
Information about Passive Houses using active cooling techniques in hot or hot and humid climates (suitable for climates in which passive cooling can not guarantee to give a comfortable indoor climate; e.g. if temperatures are above ~ 22°C all night or if there is high humidity:
Through the refurbishing of buildings, significant energy savings can be made:
The number of non-residential and residential Passive Houses with special user-based requirements is increasing:
Information about planning Passive Houses in different climates:
Quality Assurance
This section compiles the main tasks regarding quality assurance in the course of site supervision, up to the time of final approval. It must be ensured that all that has been arranged in the plans, especially the implementation plans, is also implemented on site. Generally recognised technical regulations and relevant provisions must be complied with in the process. For innovative projects in particular, requirements often go far beyond regulations as the technology used in such structures has often not yet been included in the standards. The special features of energy-efficient buildings are presented in the following sections in detail. Special attention is paid to practical relevance and the examples herein can thus serve as a basis for numerous approaches. It is essential, however, that an investigation of further local or national technical regulations be carried out by the designer. Designers should inform their clients comprehensively about the advantages and risks associated with innovative solutions and in return, clients should exempt designers from any liability extending beyond these risks. This should be done carefully in written form: it is advisable to include these aspects in the construction specifications that are signed by the client.
Special aspects of quality assurance are presented in the following sections.
