Passivhaus
Passivhaus or 'Passive House' is an energy performance standard for dwellings, commercial, industrial and public buildings that can be adopted throughout the world.
It was developed in Germany in the early 1990s by Professors Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist. The first Passivhaus dwellings were constructed in Darmstadt in Germany in 1991. It is intended primarily for new buildings, although it can be applied to refurbishment projects, but this can be expensive.
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.’ This means that a traditional heating or cooling system is no longer essential.
The Passivhaus standard can be achieved by measures including:
- Shading.
- Pre-cooling of the supply air.
- Night purging.
- Natural ventilation.
- Air-tightness.
- Mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR).
- Insulation.
- Avoidance of thermal bridges.
- Passive solar gains.
- Exploitation of internal heat sources.
Whilst Passivhaus adopts the principles of passive design, it differs in its imposition of an overall limit on primary energy consumption. This limit includes; domestic hot water, lighting, projected appliance consumption, space heating, fans and pumps.
The primary energy demand target must be met in all cases, and either the specific heating demand target or the specific heating load target must be also met. In addition, there are limiting values for the performance of the building fabric, doors and glazing, ventilation systems, air tightness levels and thermal bridging. See Passivhaus Outline specification for details.
The energy balance of the proposed building must be verified using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP).
Certification is available in the UK from a number of organisations approved to assess and issue the Passivhaus Certificate, the EnerPHit certificate (for retrofit projects) and PHI Low Energy Building Certificate. See The Passivhaus Institute.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Active House.
- Aktivplus.
- An Introduction to Passive House - review.
- Code for sustainable homes
- BREEAM.
- Fabric first.
- Flue insulation and air tightness requirements.
- Green deal.
- Home Quality Mark.
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
- NHBC technical standards.
- Passive design.
- PHribbon tool calculates embodied carbon of designs.
- Saffron Acres, Leicester, the UK’S largest Passivhaus residential development.
- Sustainability.
- The building as climate modifier.
- Warming houses using free CO2.
- Wood and carbon.
- Wood and passivhaus.
- Zero carbon homes.
- Zero carbon non-domestic buildings.
[edit] External references
- Passivhaus organisation.
- Passivhaus Trust.
- Passipedia.
- Passive House Institute.
- Passivhaus Outline specification
Featured articles and news
Heat pump announcements, what homeowners need to know
An 'ultimate guide to heat pumps' from a heating company.
Construction contract awards reach £7.1bn in February
Their highest level in seven months.
The journey to sustainability in heritage
Research is the key to better understanding.
Heritage approaches to adaptation, mitigation and loss.
Bridging the gap between policy, finance and installation.
Development on brownfield land
Definition, background, policy and the latest consultation.
With the Design Framework for Building Services.
Retrofit of Buildings, a CIOB Technical Publication
Pertinent technical issues, measures and the roles involved.
ECA joins HSE campaign to support mental health
Working Minds’ five simple steps based on risk assessment.
Mental health in the construction industry
Mental health issues in brief with related articles.
Transitional arrangements, Building Control and the BSR.
For pre-October buildings with substantial progress by April.
How to write an inspection and test plan
ITPs for quality control and assurance particular elements.
Why quality counts in domestic ventilation systems
From products, to systems to the installation.
Empowering the Future with CIOB Academy
Lifelong learning, upscaling, and reskilling for the built environment.
Winners of the 2024 ASBP Awards
Project, Product and Initiative according to the 6 pillars.