Passivhaus Super Efficient Home
Passivhaus Super Efficient Home
Find out more about the idea of Passive Houses (passivhaus)
energy efficiency | heating | generalThe idea of a
passive house originated in Germany
(
Passivhaus) and is defined as a
building in which a comfortable interior climate can be maintained without active heating and cooling systems.
The first terrace of four passive houses (pictured above) was completed in 1991 in
Darmstadt., Germany under the leadership of German engineer
Dr. Wolfgang Feist (who was one of the instigators of the passive house concept with
Prof. Bo Adamson in 1988).
Since then around 15,000-20,000 passive houses (and offices and schools) have been built around the world with the majority built in Germany and Austria.
The Passive House Principles
To be considered a
passive house, a building must meet certain criteria and be built with certain specific features:
1) The building must be completely
air tight (defined as losing less than 60% of the house volume per hour through unsealed joints).
2) A full house mechanical
ventilation system must be installed fitted with a
heat recovery system achieving an efficiency in excess of 80%. This removes the warm, moist, stale air from the building, and uses it to heat up cold dry fresh air sucked in from outside.
3) The building must be
insulated to a very high level.
4) ...avoiding any
thermal bridges (e.g. letter boxes).
5) The building must be fitted wth
Low-E triple glazed windows in air-tight frames installed in positions to maximise
solar gain during the winter, and minimise it in the summer. This is achieved (in the Northern Hemisphere) by facing the building to the South, and installing shading carefully.
In the UK and the rest of Europe (40 - 60 degree Northern latitudes), a house can only be called a
passive house if the total energy required for space heating and cooling is less than
15 kWh (units) per square metre per year *; and the total
primary energy use for applicance, hot water, and space heating/cooling is less than 120 kWh (units) per square metre per year.
Note that in the UK a typical family home would use at least
200 kWh per square metre per year for space heating, or approximately 15 times as much as a
passive house. Even following the latest building regulations, a new build house would still use around 4 times the energy for space heating of a passive house.
*
4755 Btu per square foot per year.
Building Costs of Passive Houses
Building a
passive house need not be prohibitively expensive. In Germany it is currently possible to build a
passivhaus for as little as 1000 Euro per square metre. The cost of building is typically no more than 10% more expensive than building a house which meets current
standard (non-passive) building regulations.
Obviously the costs of heating and cooling a
passive house are less than 10% of the costs associated with a standard house - leading to savings of at least £1000 per year.
The passive house concepts can also be applied to refurbishments of old properties in addition to new buildings.
Useful Links
Passivhaus Institut - run by Dr. Wolfgang Feist
Article Last Modified: 07:48, 19th Feb 2009Comment on this Article
If you have any comments on this article, please email them to
neil@reuk.co.uk.
Recommended Related Articles
People who read this article also enjoyed the following articles:
Do It Yourself Power MeterFind out how to make your own power meter to measure electricity consumption
Article Last Modified: 11:02, 7th Jan 2009electronics | education | energy efficiencyPVC Wind Turbine BladesLearn how to make your own PVC wind turbine blades
Article Last Modified: 15:16, 19th Aug 2008windSimple Solar Water Preheating SystemUse solar power to pre-heat water and reduce electricity/gas consumption
Article Last Modified: 14:47, 7th Oct 2009solar | heating | waterDynamo Hubs For Wind TurbinesDynamo Hubs and bottle dynamos for use in small DIY wind turbine generators
Article Last Modified: 12:18, 11th Apr 2009wind | electronicsCavity Wall InsulationFind out about the benefits of cavity wall insulation
Article Last Modified: 10:27, 31st Mar 2009energy efficiency | heating | generalDirect Solar Water Heating SystemFind out how to put together a simple and cost effective direct solar water heating system
Article Last Modified: 14:30, 18th Aug 2009solar | water | heatingUnder 1000GBP Biodiesel Processor EquipmentFind a supplier of a <£1,000 Biodiesel Processor in the UK
Article Last Modified: 10:27, 31st Mar 2009biomass | transportGreenhouse Heatsink Connection DiagramPutting together a solar powered greenhouse heatsink
system
Article Last Modified: 10:27, 31st Mar 2009solar | heating | generalPaper Log Briquette MakerFind out how to turn old newspapers into briquettes for the fireplace or stove
Article Last Modified: 13:44, 18th Feb 2009heating | recycling | biomass | carbonMaking Voltage Doublers and MultipliersFind out how to construct an AC voltage doubler circuit. Extend it to a tripler circuit and more.
Article Last Modified: 14:29, 26th Apr 2007electric circuit | education
|
|
|
