Table of Contents
Summer Comfort
On this page you will find links to Passipedia article and further resources on the topic of summer comfort.
Proving high comfort throughout the entire year lies at the very heart of the Passive House concept. The perception and measurement of thermal comfort is a complex topic in itself, as it is influenced by many aspects e.g. temperature and humidity, air movement, clothing levels, activity and even personal preferences. A meaningful indicator for summer comfort - which has proven itself in practice - is temperature, which should not exceed the comfort level for extended periods of time. As part of the quality assurance measures to ensure high thermal comfort in summer, the overheating frequency is limited for Passive House buildings. More specifically, the internal temperatures of a Passive House building must not exceed 25 °C for more than 10% hours per year, and is recommended to be below 5%, as calculated during the design process with the PHPP. The carefully assessed boundary conditions used for the calculations during design, however, can vary from the actual building use e.g. the annual weather and the user interaction. A risk analysis via design stress testing is absolutely essential for a robust summer comfort strategy. If it is not feasibly to limit the overheating risk reliably, active cooling is crucial in order to maintain high summer comfort, which must be kept below a certain threshold.
General articles and tools
The impact of warming climate conditions on buildings!
A Simplified Method for Determining Thermal Comfort in Summer for Buildings Without Active Cooling
On the impact of a warming climate on the energy demand for cooling and summer comfort
Tools and Guides
Tool: Summer temperature modification of PHPP climate datatool
Case studies:
Passive House in different climates
Summer comfort in non-residential buildings
Summer situations in refurbished non-residential buildings
AkkP 41 Cooling in non-residential Passive House buildings
Passive cooling measures
Importance of summer ventilation in Passive House buildings
See also: Energy-Efficient Hot Water Systems Internal heat capacity
Active cooling
Further readings
from the Research Group for Cost-effective Passive Houses:
- AkkP 15 Passive House Summer Comfort
- AkkP 22 Summer ventilation strategies
- AkkP 31 Energy efficient cooling
- AkkP 37 Optimisation strategies for window constructions and solar aperture
- AkkP 41 Cooling in non-residential Passive House buildings