Slides from a CPD webinar presented for the NZIA
5 things to know about Passive House
The Passive House Standard
Passive House Design
Passive House in NZ so far
UK large scale examples
The Benefits of Passive House
2. Elrond Burrell
UK Registered Architect
Certified Passive House Designer
Board member Passive House Institute NZ
http://via-architecture.net
3. VIA architecture
Specialise exclusively in Passive House
Design: Passive House buildings
Consult: to other architects on Passive House
Sell: Passive House modelling software
4. Overview
• 5 things to know about Passive House
• The Passive House Standard
• Passive House Design
• Passive House in NZ so far
• UK Large Scale Examples
• The Benefits of Passive House
5. Passive House: 5 Things
It’s all about the numbers & design by
spreadsheet, right?
19. Why Passive House?
Performance gap
‘Eco’ but uncomfortable
A design solution to provide excellent indoor
conditions for people with minimal energy input
20. Wolfgang Feist
I was working as a physicist. I read that the
construction industry had experimented with
adding insulation to new buildings and that energy
consumption had failed to reduce. This
offended me – it was counter to the
basic laws of physics. I knew that they must
be doing something wrong. So I made it my
mission to find out what, and to establish what
was needed to do it right.
21. Passive House Definition
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.
https://passipedia.org/basics/the_passive_house_-_definition
In plain English: Exceptional comfort & performance by
design, not by adding heating or other technology.
22. The Passive House Standard
Energy Efficiency / Low Carbon
Comfort
Quality Assurance
23. The Passive House Standard
A voluntary international best practice
Performance Standard
Rigorous Design Process
Rigorous Certification Process
24. Meeting the PH Standard
High-performance* continuous unbroken thermal
envelope
High-performance* windows and doors
Thermal bridges eliminated or accounted for
Airtight building envelope
Ventilation system with high-efficiency heat
recovery
Modelled in PHPP
*High-performance is climate specific
25. Passive House Requirements
Metrics – Energy
Heating Demand: 15 kWh/(m2.a)
OR Heating Load: 10 W/m2
Cooling Demand: 15 kWh/(m2.a)
OR Cooling Load: 10 W/m2
Airtightness n50: 0.6 ach
Primary Energy: 120 kWh/(m2.a)*
* Varies when renewable energy accounted for
26. Passive House Requirements
Metrics – Comfort / other
Overheating: less than 10% of the year over 25 C
Fresh Air: effective ventilation required for all rooms
Indoor RH: not below 30%
Air temperature: design set point 20 C
Surface temps: max 4.2 K lower than air temps
Moisture: must rule out excessive buildup in elements
Habitable rooms: at least one opening window
Controls: users must be able to operate
Sound: ≤ 25 db(A) from the ventilation system
Draughts: no draughts to be perceived
27. Passive House Outcomes
• Meaningful energy demand reductions 75 - 90%
• Meaningful CO2 emission reductions 60 - 75%
• Exceptional comfort – ambient and radiant
temperatures, low stratification, symetrical
• Free from draughts
• Free from condensation, damp and mould
• Constant fresh air at a comfortable temperature
• Quiet
28. Passive House Success
• Simple clear standard
• Integrated in the design process
• Rigorous methodology
• Verification by modelling & real-world monitoring
• Grass-roots adoption & passion
• Hot-bed of building innovation globally
• It works
30. Process
• Clear performance requirements
• Rigorous non-prescriptive design methodology
• Modelling integral to the design process
• Design QA
• Construction QA
• Rigorous 3rd-party verification process
• Accountability
31. A focus on details that matter
1. The thermal envelope
• Insulation
• Airtightness
• Thermal Bridges
• Windows & Doors
2. Ventilation with Heat Recovery
72. Takeaways
• It’s about design
• Get the fundamentals & details right
• De-risk process and outcomes
• High performance outcomes
73. Happy Clients
Residential Passive House:
We’ll never live in anything else
Passive House Social Housing:
No voids, no rent arrears, positive social behavior,
tenants can afford Xmas / Holiday
Commercial Passive House:
We’ll have another one, please