Passive House - A Building Methodology rather than a Building Style
The Passivhaus Institute has developed several Passive House building techniques to suit the Central European climate, however, it would be folly to directly copy details, especially those for insulation, windows and ventilation from the Central European example to other parts of the world. Instead, the details should be found to suit the climate and geographic conditions to develop a Passive House solution of each location. The following boundary conditions of each region must especially be considered:
--> The local building traditions
--> The specific climatic conditions
Therefore, specific Passive House solutions must be adapted for each territory and climate under consideration. Californian passive solar building techniques were copied and directly applied to construction projects in the European climate in the past. Designed this way, European houses had poor results because of the difference in solar gain between sunny California and cloudy mid-Europe. This mistake should not be repeated by simply copying Central European housing solutions to potential projects in other places with dissimilar climates and differing construction techniques like Korea, Australia or Florida.
However, the Passive House concept and the laws of physics remain the same around the world and in every climate and region. The challenge to build nearly energy self-sufficient homes, i.e. Passive Housing, is well defined. The physical equations remain the same – only the construction conditions vary. The methodology of the Passive House solution can be soundly applied independent of the geographic and climatic circumstances. The first steps towards starting a Passive House development in your region is to use the Passive House method.
The proven Passive House process can be used to determine the appropriate Passive House design solutions for each region and climate.
