Welcome to the Passive House

Filed under: Design, etc, Architecture, News & Trends

So, here's how it works: The Passive House concept refers to a performance-based standard that can be applied to new or existing homes. The key is not so much in the materials, like those used in most green buildings in the U.S., but in the attention to air infiltration, BTU use and total energy consumption. Instead, home positioning is an important factor. By reducing the size and number of north-facing windows, homes get more heat from the sun. It's a simple idea that can have a big impact on the amount of energy used; a home that has met the Passive House standard will use only about 50% of the energy consumed by a house built to the current national building code. Just imagine living in a house that spends half of what the neighbors spend on energy bills. Sounds pretty sweet, doesn't it?

The Passive House standard originated in Germany in 1996 by two scientists, Dr. Wolfgang Feist and Bo Adamson. Feist and Adamson took many of the ideas developed by the people who built the first super-insulated houses in the 1970s, and then improved and refined them with the help of current technology. The movement has only recently made its way to the United States, with Illinois-based architect, Katrin Klingenberg, leading the charge. Today, only a handful of Passive Houses have been built in the United States, but the numbers are growing.

"The key to these homes is that they maintain a comfortable indoor climate without large 'active' mechanical systems, hence the term 'Passive,'" says Katy Hollbacher, a certified Passive House consultant with Beyond Efficiency Inc. "While heating systems generally can't be completely eliminated in a Passive House, they can be drastically downsized and simplified since the building is primarily heated from passive solar gains and internal heat generated from cooking, bathing, lighting, appliances and, actually, just breathing in and out."

 

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