Active House

[edit] Introduction

In 2011, representatives from around the world and across the construction sector, collaborated to develop strategies that would deliver holistic buildings that could be healthier for their occupants and more beneficial to the environment.

[edit] Principles

The Active House principles have been applied to different types of buildings including residential, academic, commercial and others. The primary goal of an Active House structure is to provide a beneficial indoor environment with an emphasis on the user. Increased daylight and climate control are seen as key contributors to the mood and performance of building occupants and are essential in Active House designs.

Additional considerations include energy efficiency, water conservation and sustainable materials. For the thought leaders associated with Active House, buildings are seen as ecosystems that should be self sustaining.

[edit] Nine key factors

Three primary principles - comfort, energy and environment - are the driving factors behind Active House. Within these principles, there are nine factors, each with qualitative and quantitative components.

Comfort:

• Daylight.
• Thermal environment.
• Indoor air quality.
• Acoustic quality.

Energy:

• Energy demand.
• Energy supply.
• Primary energy performance.

Environment:

• Sustainable construction.
• Freshwater consumption.

An Active House radar diagram maps these factors and can be used to illustrate how each has an impact on the other and how this influences the eventual outcome of the proposed design.

[edit] Active House, not Passivhaus

As the name implies, Active House is about actively taking the initiative to do whatever is possible to deliver desirable outcomes for building occupants. It is a holistic approach to design. This is seen as a contrast to the Passivhaus approach, which stresses the significance of heating and cooling.

Developed in Germany in the early 1990s, Passivhaus suggest that, 'A Passivhaus is a building, for which thermal comfort can be achieved solely by post-heating or post-cooling of the fresh air mass, which is required to achieve sufficient indoor air quality conditions – without the need for additional recirculation of air.’

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Aktivplus.
• An Introduction to Passive House - review.
• Code for sustainable homes
• BREEAM.
• Fabric first.
• Green deal.
• Home Quality Mark.
• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
• Passivhaus
• Sustainability.
• VELUX.
• Zero carbon homes.

[edit] External resources

• Active House, Active House for dummies.
• Create an Active House radar.