PASSIVHAUS OUTLOOK
The outlook in the UK for Passivhaus is enormous but it will require higher quality of design and construction than has ever been seen in the housing market. This standard is being set by the Government and its energy policy agencies. Social housing providers are already looking at Passivhaus developments. We at PDS are uniquely placed to offer a huge depth of experience from German practice together with expert knowledge of the requirements of the UK social housing sector to deliver the new solutions that will meet the lower energy dwellings needed now and beyond 2016.
According to the Passivhaus Institute, a passive house is:-
“a building in which a comfortable interior climate can be maintained without active heating and cooling systems (Adamson 1987 and Feist 1988). The house heats and cools itself, hence "passive". For European passive construction, prerequisite to this capability is an annual heating requirement that is less than 15 kWh/(m²a) (4755 Btu/ft²/yr), not to be attained at the cost of an increase in use of energy for other purposes (e.g., electricity). Furthermore, the combined primary energy consumption of living area of a European passive house may not exceed 120 kWh/(m²a) (38039 Btu/ft²/yr) for heat, hot water and household electricity. With this as a starting point, additional energy requirements may be completely covered using renewable energy sources. This means that the combined energy consumption of a passive house is less than the average new European home requires for household electricity and hot water alone. The combined end energy consumed by a passive house is therefore less than a quarter of the energy consumed by the average new construction that complies with applicable national energy regulations. A passive house is cost-effective when the combined capitalized costs (construction, including design and installed equipment, plus operating costs for 30 years) do not exceed those of an average new home. “
For more details about the Passivhaus Institute see www.passiv.de.
The outlook in the UK for Passivhaus is enormous but it will require higher quality of design and construction than has ever been seen in the housing market. This standard is being set by the Government and its energy policy agencies. Social housing providers are already looking at Passivhaus developments. We at PDS are uniquely placed to offer a huge depth of experience from German practice together with expert knowledge of the requirements of the UK social housing sector to deliver the new solutions that will meet the lower energy dwellings needed now and beyond 2016.
According to the Passivhaus Institute, a passive house is:-
“a building in which a comfortable interior climate can be maintained without active heating and cooling systems (Adamson 1987 and Feist 1988). The house heats and cools itself, hence "passive". For European passive construction, prerequisite to this capability is an annual heating requirement that is less than 15 kWh/(m²a) (4755 Btu/ft²/yr), not to be attained at the cost of an increase in use of energy for other purposes (e.g., electricity). Furthermore, the combined primary energy consumption of living area of a European passive house may not exceed 120 kWh/(m²a) (38039 Btu/ft²/yr) for heat, hot water and household electricity. With this as a starting point, additional energy requirements may be completely covered using renewable energy sources. This means that the combined energy consumption of a passive house is less than the average new European home requires for household electricity and hot water alone. The combined end energy consumed by a passive house is therefore less than a quarter of the energy consumed by the average new construction that complies with applicable national energy regulations. A passive house is cost-effective when the combined capitalized costs (construction, including design and installed equipment, plus operating costs for 30 years) do not exceed those of an average new home. “
For more details about the Passivhaus Institute see www.passiv.de.
