PASSIVE HOUSE METRICS

ARTICLE BY TIM DELHEY EIAN, TE STUDIO This document summarizes the metrics for the Passive House building energy standard, as well as recommended best practices and opportunities. Passive House is a global building energy standard. Its metrics are universal and apply to residential and commercial buildings. The sophisticated energy modeling software used for Passive House designs can accommodate many different building types and uses. The following article lists some of Passive Houses key parameters: Passive House Requirements Annual space conditioning energy use (heating/cooling) <15 kWh/m per year (4746 btu/ft per year) Total source (or primary) energy consumption including household electricity <120 kWh/m (3.79 kbtu/ft per year) Highly airtight building envelope, air tightness <0.6 ACH @ 50 Pa, third party verified Balanced highly efficient mechanical ventilation system (80% or greater heat recovery), third party verified. 30 cubic meters of fresh air per person in one hour in a residential application Passive House Planning Package energy modeling prior to construction, verified by the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) Recommendations 0 Maximum heating load at heating design temperature <10 W/m (3.4 btuh/ft). At 10 W or less, no separate traditional heating system is needed. Distribution of heating is possible by mechanical ventilation only. Calculated with Passive House Planning Package energy modeling software 1 Highly insulated building envelope. R-values for Minnesota climate may be in excess of R-60. Calculated with Passive House Planning Package energy modeling software 2 Avoidance of thermal bridges 3 Airtight high-performance windows with a U-factor (installed) < 0.8 W/m (> R-7), and a solar heat gain coefficient of 50% or better 4 Shading provisions for south-facing windows. Calculated with Passive House Planning Package energy modeling software 5 Southern orientation of building, if possible 6 Domestic hot water heating with renewable energy sources 7 Highly efficient household appliances

TE Studio, Ltd.

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11/23/12

PASSIVE HOUSE METRICS

ARTICLE BY TIM DELHEY EIAN, TE STUDIO Opportunities High-performance building envelope minimizes space conditioning energy by up to 90% or more over standard construction. Source energy can be reduced by up to 75% or more. High-performance envelope adds tremendous value to the investment Mechanical ventilation creates healthy and comfortable indoor environmental quality Large south-facing windows allow for healthy, natural daylighting Passive House buildings are much more affordable to operate than standard construction buildings Net Zero Site Energy: A site ZEB (Zero Energy Building) produces at least as much energy as it uses in a year, when accounted for at the site Net Zero Source Energy: A source ZEB produces at least as much energy as it uses in a year, when accounted for at the source. Source energy refers to the primary energy used to generate and deliver the energy to the site. To calculate a buildings total source energy, imported and exported energy is multiplied by the appropriate site-to-source conversion multipliers (to account for transmission losses) Net Zero Energy Costs: In a cost ZEB, the amount of money the utility pays the building owner for the energy the building exports to the grid is at least equal to the amount the owner pays the utility for the energy services and energy used over the year Net Zero Energy Emissions: A net-zero emissions building produces at least as much emissions-free renewable energy as it uses from emissions-producing energy sources.

TE Studio, Ltd.

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11/23/12