Tag: PHPP

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Passivhaus seems to be in the industry news every week. More and more projects are appearing all across the world.

It is often stated that the International Passivhaus Standard is the fastest growing building energy performance standard in the world. The first Passivhaus building was completed in 1991 and only 25 years later it is estimated there are now 50,000 Passivhaus buildings. This is exponential growth!

And yet Passivhaus can still be a divisive subject. There are still many excuses given for not doing Passivhaus – by architects and designers, by builders and by clients.

It is true; there are real reasons for not doing Passivhaus in some circumstances. However, in most cases the reasons are based on misunderstandings, myths and mindsets.

This post looks at 5 excuses and why they simply don’t hold water. Or rather, why they aren’t airtight!

5 Excuses for not doing Passivhaus
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This is a Passivhaus Basics blog post that gives an overview of a specific aspect of the Passivhaus Standard.

Thermal bridges (sometimes referred to as “cold bridges”) in the building envelope have a measurable impact on energy efficiency and thermal comfort. The impact can be relatively low on buildings that are not very well insulated. However, with buildings that are well insulated and energy efficient, the relative impact of thermal bridging is significant.

Building regulations and codes are now starting to recognise this and in some places, it is required or recommended that thermal bridging be minimised.

The Passivhaus Standard recognises the importance of thermal bridges and the significant impact they can have on the high-performance Passivhaus building envelope. The Passivhaus Standard requires a continuous thermal envelope: this means thermal bridge free construction.

This blog post answers the following questions:

  • What is a thermal bridge?
  • What are the different types of thermal bridges?
  • Why are thermal bridges a problem?
  • What is thermal bridge free construction?

The Passivhaus Standard requires thermal bridge free construction to ensure a robust high-quality building envelope that delivers radical energy efficiency and exceptional comfort.

What is Thermal Bridge Free Construction
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This is a Passivhaus Basics blog post that gives an overview of a specific aspect of the Passivhaus Standard.

In passivhaus design and construction, there are frequent references to the “building envelope” and the “thermal envelope.” Neither are exclusive to the Passivhaus Standard, but both are important aspects of the standard.

A building envelope is the physical separators between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building including the resistance to air, water, heat, light, and noise transfer. The three basic elements of a building envelope area weather barrier, air barrier, and thermal barrier. [Wikipedia]

In simple terms, this means that the building envelope is made up of the walls, floors, roofs (or ceilings), windows and doors that separate the inside from the outside. The passivhaus building envelope is also made up of these elements, but there are some key aspects that make the passivhaus building envelope distinct.

The passivhaus building envelope requires a high-performance thermal envelope, it must be continuous and it is key to the fabric first approach.

028 What is the Passivhaus Building Envelope
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This is a Passivhaus Basics blog post that gives an overview of the Passivhaus Standard. Want to watch a 2-minute overview first? Jump to the video at the bottom

The Passivhaus Standard is often referred to as “the world‘s leading standard in energy efficient design.” And usually a description of the standard includes details of the specific technical requirements. (If you are curious about the technical requirements, I cover the key elements in this post.)

The Passivhaus Standard is indeed an international, rigorous, scientific, performance standard for the design and construction of energy efficient buildings. It applies to all kinds of buildings, not just houses. However, the Passivhaus Standard is not just about the technical requirements of energy efficient design, it encompasses:

  • Comfort
  • Energy Efficiency, and
  • Quality Assurance

It is the combination of these three key aspects that make the Passivhaus Standard what it is.

What do Comfort, Energy Efficiency and Quality Assurance mean in practical terms for a house that is certified to the Passivhaus Standard?

026 What is the Passivhaus Standard
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Architecture is often described as the combination of art and science. The role of art in architecture is understandably subjective and open to debate. However, what about the role of science in architecture?

Clearly buildings do obey the laws of science, as they must. And specifically, the structure and services of a building are calculated and designed using physics. Understandably, it is most often these areas of science that get expressed in architecture. We can see this, for example, in the structural expressionism of Santiago Calatrava or in the romanticised high-tech style of Richard Rogers.

Aside from structure and building services, however, does science inform architecture in any other ways? Perhaps not as often as it should! As I wrote about previously, design is central to passivhaus. And science is central to passivhaus design – at the macro level of form and orientation, and at the micro level of airtightness and thermal bridging.

Science is a reason to Love Passivhaus!

020 Love Passivhaus Science
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