The Passive House - A Building With Minimal Energy Use

Dec 30, 2011
Hannah Mueller

Thermogram of a passive house - Passivhaus Institut

Passive houses are built to minimise energy use through intelligent architecture, clever technologies and sound heat insulation.

A passive house is a house, or rather a standard of building a house, that optimises energy use through insulation, household appliances, occupants and clever use of heat sources that are freely available, such as sunlight. As described by the founding institute of passive houses, the German Passivhaus Institut, houses which are built up to the standard require less than 15 kWh per m² energy input for heating per year, and less than 120 kWh per m² of of primary energy a year which includes heating, hot water and electricity [1].

Profiting From Freely Available Energy

Passive houses profit from intelligent use of such freely available sources of heat combined with effective insulation that prevents unnecessary heat loss. In that way, so-called passive heat gains through sunlight and from heat sources inside the house are maximised. The houses generally maintain a comfortable air temperature of approximately 20° C (68° F) all year round through minimal energy input. Ventilation systems help with the adjustment of temperatures depending on seasons as well as climatic conditions [2].

The Passive House Concept

Initially developed in Germany by Dr Wolfgang Feist, the passive house concept has by now been applied to over 30,000 houses world wide and its concept is increasingly gaining popularity not only by those that are environmentally concsious and would like to reduce their household's ecological impact, but also to cut costs and hence increase economic sustainability [1, 3].

Adjustment Throughout The Seasons

In winter, houses built according to passive house standards make the most of the available sunlight and other passive heat sources, trapping heat inside and thus requiring little additional heating energy input. In summer, venilation allows for management of the temperature. This is also regulated by sound insulation which does not only keep heat in in winter, but also avoids excessive temperatures during hot days. Furthermore, effective siting of the house as well as movable shades on the outside of the house aid the temperature adjustment process [4].

Passive House Standard For Commercial Buildings

Beyond residential houses, the design of the passive house has also been used for public and commercial buildings such as offices and schools [2]. Businesses can profit from low electricity use as much as a comfortable, continuously warm and healthy work environment that positively affects economic, environmental as much as social aspects of the company or organisation.

Contributions To A Sustainable Future

With the success of the building concept, more and more countries have started implementing the idea and governments are increasingly supporting it. Passive house institutes have been founded in many European countries, the USA, Canada and New Zealand. With progressive development of technologies including solar energy, the small niche market of passive house building has the capabilitiy of becoming more mainstream in time as more people may take to the idea of low energy, healthy and sustainable housing.