Passive House building can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts associated with traditional building methods. By reducing energy consumption and incorporating sustainable materials and technologies, Passive House buildings can help to mitigate the environmental impacts of the built environment.
Climate change is a hot topic all over the world. While international governments debate its existence, the Earth continues to face challenges on all fronts, land, sea, and air. The UN does its best to ensure countries uphold their frequently revised commitments to reduce emissions, but it’s people who can make a real difference.
By making your home as energy efficient as possible. The Passive House Institute (Passivhaus) based in Germany, is a leader in passive house building and has set strict standards for homes that want to be certified energy efficient.
The Passive House Institute (PSI) puts the environment first and foremost by not only encouraging home owners and builders to embrace energy saving materials and techniques, but it gives them a standard to aim for. A certified Passive House proves your desire to decrease your carbon footprint – and save money along the way.
Certified Passive Houses are built by certified Passive Houses builders to ensure optimum use of sustainable materials and eco-friendly building techniques that meet PSI’s rigorous criteria.
The Passive House Institute (PHI) requires high performance in five areas:
1) Thermal insulation
2) Energy efficient triple-glazed windows
3) Effective ventilation
4) Airtight construction
5) Elimination of thermal bridging and cold spots
When the criteria are met, you should see a 90% drop in energy consumption when compared to existing homes or buildings. You can expect a 75% drop in energy consumption in new builds, which may be built with a degree of energy efficiency in mind, but it’s not the primary focus.
Your passive house provides several benefits, regardless of whether you’re building a home from scratch or are retrofitting your existing home.
The main aim is to reduce energy usage in your home. Improvement in just one or all of the targeted areas will immediately impact your energy consumption. For example:
Either one on their own will make a substantial difference to your energy use. The results can be vastly improved when they are combined.
Passive houses have durable and resilient building envelopes. This means that the exterior features of the house seal all potential gaps (thermal bridges) and make the house as airtight as possible.
Basically, it means that the windows, doors, roof, floor, and foundations are so tightly sealed that the unwanted bits from the outside – dust, bugs, rain – stay outside. It also means that the building materials used are of such a high quality that they can withstand environmental elements – ensuring the building will perform long-term.
With everything so tightly sealed, the indoor temperature remains stable, so you don’t have to use other heating systems to ward off the incipient cold.
The ventilation systems in passive houses ensure that the air circulated is always fresh and pollutant-free. The systems are designed to filter air to such a high degree that airborne pollutants can’t slip into your home. This is particularly important for people who are prone to allergies and suffer from respiratory conditions.
Furthermore, because the building envelope is so secure, there is no chance that moisture will seep into your home and allow mold and damp to develop. Mold can be particularly bad for people with respiratory problems, so an airtight home is very important.
What is a home if not a sanctuary? Sanctuaries should be comfortable, otherwise, they don’t quite fit the bill. A house built to PSI standards with certified windows, insulation, and MVHR systems automatically delivers comfort.
The building envelope keeps the cold and draughts out and eliminates the risk of overheating to maintain a consistently comfortable temperature throughout the house.
The best way to ensure perfect comfort is to work it into the plans as far back as the design period. This enables the team to design a layout that optimises the use of certified materials; for example, the orientation of the house to maximise exposure to the sun which allows the home to absorb as much solar energy as possible.
An added bonus is that the insulation inherent in a passive house can actually dampen noise and reduce your exposure to noise pollution. Your sanctuary is not only warm, but also peaceful and quiet.
The difference in building costs between passive and standard homes is getting smaller as more people see the cost benefits that bespoke energy-efficient buildings provide. As a result, the market for new builds and retrofitting existing homes is growing and prices are coming down. This makes passive homes affordable for those who want to reduce their carbon footprint.
The main financial benefit is the reduced reliance on fossil fuels for energy. This is a feature that is becoming increasingly important because the price of fossil fuels is going only one way, and that is up. When renewable energy and energy efficiency come into play, the drop in your monthly utility bill makes a significant difference to your disposable income.
Passive houses are being used more widely in the world as people demand more energy efficiency and energy savings from their homes. The overarching aim, however, is to reduce humanity’s negative impact on the environment. Every effort counts. The simple installation of Passive House certified triple-glazed windows will have knock-on effects throughout your home. You’ll shave some money off your utility bill but you’ll also minimise your environmental footprint, which really is the name of the game.
