‘Passive design’ is design that works with the local climate to maintain a comfortable temperature in the home. Good passive design should reduce or eliminate the need for additional heating or cooling depending on your location and often relies on an active occupant to work properly.

What makes a House a Passive House?

Passive House Principles Employs continuous insulation throughout its entire envelope without any thermal bridging. The building envelope is extremely airtight, preventing infiltration of outside air and loss of conditioned air.

What is meant by a Passive House?

The exact definition is as follows: “A Passive House is a building, for which thermal comfort (ISO 7730) 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.”

What is passive design of building?

Passive design, an approach to building design that uses the building architecture to minimize energy consumption.

How does a Passive House work?

Passive houses are built to optimise thermal gain and minimise thermal losses. Passive homes therefore do not rely on traditional heating sources like furnaces or boilers. Instead they use renewable energy sources like solar panels, geothermal energy or heat pumps.

Are passive houses expensive?

Currently, a passive house typically costs about 5-10% more than a conventional home. Larger projects benefit from the economy of scale: a multifamily passive building typically only costs 0-3% more than a building built to an energy star baseline.

Can you open windows in a Passive House?

Can you open windows in a Passive House? Passive House occupants may open windows whenever they want. Of course, as with all houses, if windows are left open for longer periods with extreme outdoor temperatures, the inside air temperature will be affected and energy consumption for heating/cooling will increase.

What are the 5 Passive House principles?

According to the Australian Passive House Association, a Passive House is designed and built in accordance with five simple building-science principles:

• Airtightness.
• Thermal insulation.
• Mechanical ventilation heat recovery.
• High performance windows.
• Thermal bridge free construction.

How thick is a passive house wall?

The walls of a passive home are at a minimum of 6-inches thick, and in some places, may go to as much as 12-inches thick to accommodate additional insulation.

Why are passive houses good?

Passive House homes and buildings offer superior indoor comfort due to consistent temperatures and good air quality. They also have the added benefit of reducing both external and internal noise due to the high levels of insulation.

Can I make my house a passive house?

Most passive house projects are new construction, but renovations can retrofit an existing apartment or house. These types of remodels require a full-scale commitment to saving energy. Most are complete gut-to-the-exterior-walls projects to accommodate high insulation levels and other passive house techniques.

What is passive architecture?

INTRODUCTION • Passive Architecture involves blending conventional architectural principles with solar & wind energy and the inherent properties of building materials to ensure that the interiors remain warm in winter and cool in summer, thus creating a year-round comfortable environment.

How do I get a passive house?

Fundamental to the energy efficiency of these buildings, the following five principles are central to Passive House design and construction: 1) superinsulated envelopes, 2) airtight construction, 3) high-performance glazing, 4) thermal-bridge-free detailing, and 5) heat recovery ventilation.

How expensive is it to build a passive house?

A Passive home can cost $150 per square foot or more than $500 per square foot depending on the level of finishing. No matter which finishes are selected both homes will have the same energy performance.

Can a passive house have air conditioning?

If your passive house does have a small air-conditioning system, then you can run that as needed, but keep the windows closed (just like you would in your car!).

Are passive houses healthy?

Healthy and quiet The ventilation systems installed in Passive House buildings provide a constant supply of fresh air, ensuring pollutants and odours are removed from the building whilst maintaining a comfortable indoor air temperature.