Sustainability

Energy from renewable sources is not unlimited. An emphasis on the use of renewables to power our building sector can thus only be sustainable if we focus on reducing our energy use through energy efficiency first. Passive House does just that: the extreme levels of energy efficiency reached by Passive House buildings means that their minimal remaining energy demand can be covered, economically, by a wide variety of stable and sustainable renewable energy sources.

A Passive House requires as little as 10 percent of the energy used by typical central European buildings – meaning an energy savings of up to 90 percent! In terms of heating oil, Passive Houses use less than 1.5 litres per square meter. Vast savings have also been demonstrated in warm climates where buildings typically require active cooling throughout the summer. As energy savings equals emissions reductions, the Passive House is a sustainable alternative to conventional construction.

Passive Houses do not require heating and cooling systems on conventional scales, meaning that the money that would have gone towards larger heating and cooling systems can be spent instead on better windows, thicker insulation and a ventilation system – hallmarks of Passive House design.

Measurements taken from Germany’s first Passive House built in Darmstadt in 1991, show that even when daily highs have fallen to -14°C, the indoor temperatures consistently remained above 20°C without the use of a conventional heating system. The heating demand was shown to be so low, that two 75W light bulbs would have been enough to heat a 20m² room.

Add to this the long-term energy savings Passive Houses bring, particularly in light of the planet’s dwindling non-renewable energy resources, and it becomes clear that Passive Houses are a good investment: both for your wallet and our climate.