Why build a Passive House?
Passive House dwellings protect residents against fuel poverty
• The ultra-low heating demand of a Passive House means that space heating costs are greatly reduced. Experience shows that some householders are so comfortable that they can do without heating entirely.
• For those that do want additional heating, the low heating demand of less than 15kWh per square metre per year means that annual fuel costs are reduced by a factor of 5-10. For example a household living in a 70 m2 Passive Energy House with gas heating could spend as little as £25 on space heating each year. BREEAM excellent houses don’t guarantee low fuel costs and whilst Passivhaus space heating is limited to 15kWh/m2/year, a worst-case Code Level 4 house could have a space heating demand of up to 130kWh/m2/yr.
Passive House delivers exceptional internal air quality and thermal comfort
• Throughout the year continuous fresh filtered air is delivered to occupants through mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR). MVHR ensures a healthy indoor environment and has been shown to substantially reduce the risk and instances of asthma.
• Variations in temperature throughout the home are greatly reduced so even on the coldest days the areas beside windows are warm and comfortable and there are no draughts.
• Keeping houses cool and comfortable in high temperatures is a challenge. Like a thermos flask, Passive House buildings keep what’s inside warm or cool longer. So on a hot summer’s day, a Passive House with appropriate ventilation, shading and thermal mass will be more comfortable than a standard building with a less insulation and higher infiltration (more draughts and leaks).
• Disruption of electricity supply may become more prevalent in the future. Passive House buildings offer far higher resilience, survivability and comfort in extreme conditions. In the event of a prolonged power supply interruption, the risks associated with hypothermia in the winter or heatstress in the summer are significantly reduced; either of these extremes can be life-threatening to the elderly or infirm.
Passive House dwellings are a long term investment
• Passive Energy Housing is the ‘Bentley’ of housing. As each and every junction, window, door and ventilation pipe plays its part in the building’s
energy strategy attention to detail is vital. The combination of thermal bridge-free construction, airtight junctions and high specification glazing, doors
and fabric means that Passive House buildings are robust and durable and ‘feel’ high quality.
• In a Passive House the best building fabric is specified, saving the next generation the economic burden and disruption of energy refurbishments in the future. If residents wish to make further energy and carbon savings later additional renewable energy systems can be considered.
Passive House is the most economic approach to Zero Carbon buildings
Passive House doesn't see itself in competition with all other forms of sustainability in the built environment. It is rather the most economic foundation on which other sustainable systems can be built upon, such as solar thermal, biomass, small heat pumps, latent heat stores, PV, wind energy, rain water harvesting, grey water recycling, etc.
