There are numerous reasons to build a Passive House.
Passive Houses allow for heating and cooling related energy savings of up to 90% compared with typical building stock and over 75% compared with average new builds. In terms of heating oil, Passive Houses use less than 1.5 litres per square meter of living space per year – far less than typical low-energy buildings.
- Passive Houses are also praised for their high level of comfort. They use energy sources inside the building such as the body heat from the residents or solar heat entering the building – making heating a lot easier.
- Special windows and a building shell consisting of highly insulated exterior walls, roof and floor slab keep the desired warmth in the house.
In the next 2 to 5 years, it is hoped by the European Parliament that the Passive House will become the base standard of construction across the EU.
A Passive House will have:
- Highly insulated building fabric
- No air leakages, airtight construction.
- thermal bridge free construction
- Highly energy efficient windows
- Orientation and shading to take advantage of sun and shade in terms of heating and cooling
- Use of heat recovery ventilation to moderate heating and cooling
Passive House Explained in 90 Seconds from Hans-Jörn Eich on Vimeo.
