Introduction to the Passive House Standard

Newgrange, a 5,000 year old monument celebrating the importance of passive solar gain

What is the Passive House standard?

The building primarily heats and cools itself, hence passive...

Its a 20 year old concept.

First Passive House, built near Frankfurt in 1991

Advantages of Passive Houses:

Very low heating costs Reduced carbon emissions High comfort Healthy indoor living environment Bright airy buildings Prolonged building life Excellent sound proofing

 To put it simply, Passive Houses

Use 60% less heating energy than dwellings built to Part L Provide very high levels of Comfort and health

Are affordable to build

how

does a passive house work?

If you minimise heat losses and maximise solar gains, you can reduce heating demand very significantly

Passive House Design Principles

- Optimize solar orientation - Build a compact form - High insulated and airtight

fabric

- Avoid

thermal bridging heating/ventilation system

- Use efficient

Passive House Schematic Composition

fresh air thermal insulation exhaust air ventilation with heat recovery

filter

extract air

supply air
passive solar gain through windows

Avoid thermal bridges at all junctions

air tight construction

Highly insulated

fabric

conventional

passive houses

High Performance Windows

Triple glazed with overall U-value < 0.8W/m2K

Typically double low-E coating, argon filled

Special low conductivity spacers Double-gasket for airtightness

Frames thermally broken

Build it tight...
Blower Door Test
to measure level of air tightness

Level required is 0.6 ACH @ 50 Pascal (n50, not q50)

Thermal Bridge Free Detailing

- Reduces heat loss - Improves surface temperatures - Enhanced comfort - Eliminates risk of mould

Passive house standard Some Specifics

Maximum Space Heating Demand of
Or

15 kWh/m /year
2

Maximum Heat Load of

10 W/m

2 (normally 100 W/m2)

Maximum Primary Energy Demand of

(for all energy needs, including appliances!)

120 kWh/m /year

2
50,

Minimum Airtightness of

0.6 ACH @ 50 Pascal (n

not q50)

Passive House is not just for Houses

Passive House Passive House

House
Passive House

School
Passive House

Apartments
Passive House

Factory
Passive House

Offices
Passive House

Church
Passive House

Industrial

Retrofit

Tesco Supermarket Tramore, Waterford

Joseph Doyle Architects

Worlds 1st PH Supermarket

All projects have to be modelled with the passive house planning package (PHPP)

PHPP the essential design tool

Retrofitting to the Passive House Standard

Social Housing Project, Newry

How does Passive House compare to other standards?

Conventional energy standard (65kWh/m2/year for space
heating)

Low energy (40kWh/m2/year for space heating)

Passive House (15kWh/m /year for space heating)

2

2013 Carbon Neutral (on-site production of sufficient

renewable electricity to cover all primary energy needs except white and black goods)

Net Zero Carbon (enough renewable electricity to cover all

primary energy needs as well as all embodied energy )

Living Building International Living Building Institute, Oregon

Policy Context: Irish Department Of Energy

Draft National Renewable Energy Action Plan:
June 2010

Carbon Neutral Likely to require two elements:

1. Passive House Building Envelope

2 Renewable Energy Supply 2.

Passive House Government Guidelines Published by SEAI

Residential New Build 2008

Residential Retrofit 2009

Non-Domestic Non-Domestic D t September 2010