The challenges and benefits of the passivhaus standard

James Rushton

Class 7J

The Copenhagen School of Design and Technology

Date of submission: 11th October 2013

The Challenges and Benefits of the PassivHaus Standard

James Rushton: The Challenges and Benefits of the PassivHaus Stan dard

Page | 1

Colophon

The report title is: The Challenges and Benefits of the PassivHaus standard.

The report was written at The Copenhagen School of Design and Technology in class 7J.

This report is written by James Rushton.

The specialised advisor is Shane O’Brien.

The text style is Helvetica, and the font size is 10.

The report contains 28 pages, and the body of the report contains 67,814 characters including spaces.

The report uses footnotes to show external references. References/quotes are labelled in the report by small numbers in chronological order. This is then cross referenced to the footnotes.

Images and graphs are labelled and referenced in the footnotes.

‘’I hereby confirm that I have carried out this specialisation report without any unrightful help’’ (referring to Order no.714 of 27 June 2012, chapter 5, s 18, section 6).

James Rushton Date signed: 11/10/2013


Page | 2

Table of Contents 1. Introduction & Summary ........................ ................................................................................. 2

1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 3

2. The PassivHaus Basics ......................... .................................................................................. 4

2.1 History of the PassivHaus ............................................................................................ 4

2.2 What is the PassivHaus ? ............................................................................................. 4

2.3 What are the PassivHaus requirements ? .................................................................... 6

2.4 What a PassivHaus looks like ....................................................................................... 7

3. Context ........................................ .............................................................................................. 8

3.1 Social ............................................................................................................................ 8

3.2 Economic ...................................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Ecological ................................................................................................................... 10

4. Quality Assurance .............................. .................................................................................... 12

4.1 Challenges of construction .......................................................................................... 12

4.2 Tradespeople .............................................................................................................. 14

4.3 Designer/Planner ........................................................................................................ 15

5. Construction Examples .......................... ............................................................................... 16

5.1 Germany ..................................................................................................................... 16

5.2 UK ............................................................................................................................... 17

5.3 Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery ...................................................................... 18

6. What the future holds .......................... .................................................................................. 20

6.1 Political targets UK/Germany ...................................................................................... 20

6.2 Continuity of the standard ........................................................................................... 21

6.3 The next step – RHW.2 high rise tower (Vienna, Austria) ......................................... 22

7. Conclusion ..................................... ......................................................................................... 24

7.1 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 24

8. Literature ..................................... ............................................................................................ 27


Page | 3

1. Introduction & Summary

1.1 Introduction

For my 7th semester specialisation report I intend to research and analyse the challenges and benefits of the PassivHaus standard. During my 5th and 6th semester I went overseas to Sydney, Australia, whilst there I lived in an area called Chippendale. This is a small area very close to the centre of the city. Sydney is undergoing a huge redevelopment programme at the moment, and many new sustainable buildings are being constructed around Chippendale. Whilst in Sydney I studied sustainable building design at Sydney TAFE, here I learnt about the methods of building in Australia and how they are implementing new green codes into their regulations. Most houses in Sydney have been built during colonial times; no knowledge about sustainability was present during those times, so most of the houses perform very badly to the weather elements.

I became interested with this throughout my stay. Studying a construction orientated course we are always told about sustainability and how important it is. I then started to think about the builds in Europe, and especially North/North Western Europe where we live. Leading me to compare how we have different design ethos but also have the same design needs. Many new builds in Australia are passive, trying to use the weather to help cool and heat the building plus provide ventilation. My mind wondered back to 2nd semester and when we were introduced to the German PassivHaus standard, after deliberating I took it upon myself to research further into this standard and how it is being implemented into Europe.

Whilst researching about the PassivHaus standard I came across much information and reading about zero-carbon emissions and how many governments around the world are trying to tackle this problem. The PassivHaus is one way in which the construction industry can tackle this problem head on and help reduce the carbon footprint.

My report will focus on the political, social, economic and environmental drives of this standard. The report will also examine the principles of the standard and how important it is to keep quality assurance in check so the standard can be obtained. I will use comparisons between Germany and the UK mainly due to the different quantities of PassivHaus constructions already built and how each nation has/had implemented it into the industry. The focus group of the report will be the general public who live in countries where the ‘zero carbon’ building drive is in effect, plus the many construction professionals who are working towards that goal.

Ultimately, I hope that all the research and analysis undertaken will allow me to answer the main report statement; ‘The challenges and benefits of the PassivHaus Standard’.


Page | 4

1.2 Summary

The PassivHaus philosophy primarily is to minimize the need for space cooling and heating. Thus, leading to low-energy consumption levels. For example, a PassivHaus building will have a space heating demand half that of a new build in the UK to current regulations. The PassivHaus - a brainchild between Wolfgang Feist of Germany and Bo Adamson of Sweden - is of high demand in Central and Northern Europe. It is particularly popular in Germany as it addresses many of the social, political and economic needs of the nation.

• Economic: The average PassivHaus build costs approx. 3-8% more than a build that follows the German regulations. The government also provides extra financial assistance to these projects to help encourage the development of these builds.

• Political: Many German cities have now set their own standard energy performance regulations. Failure to meet these regulations is an offence and fines are handed out.

• Social: The German population has a strong interest in environmental issues and has taken the initiative to contribute to change. The idea to own a low energy home is seen as a step in the right direction, but also a good investment for the future.1

With Germany setting the standard, many European countries are following suit. Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and the UK are just some of the countries taking this model and trying to apply it to their building regulations and standards. Most Southern European countries are yet to follow this method as the climate and humidity levels have provided difficult obstacles to overcome.

Building a PassivHaus is not straightforward. The high requirements for energy performance and quality assurance mean that there is a heavy burden upon the designer and builder. It has been argued that the PassivHaus is not a solution to for the high volume market, even though many high volume projects have been built. It is equally important that the designer and builder both understand the process and that they have all necessary qualifications and have undertaken all courses available to be able to complete a project, be it whether high volume or just a singular house.

Whilst designing and building a PassivHaus may have its difficulties, it is also significantly important to educate the occupants on how to operate the building properly. As PassivHaus is described as a ‘comfort standard’, it is there vital to explain how the ventilation system works. If the system is not used to its full potential, the likelihood of overheating during summer time will rise. Although this is not specifically a PassivHaus problem, the fact that the buildings will become more airtight means that mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems will most probably become the dominant form of ventilation in new builds. It is down to the occupant to learn this new change and that they get full use of the system.2

Many countries have taken on new laws to drive down their carbon usage, for example in the UK the government announced in 2006 that by 2016 all new build dwellings, and all non-domestic buildings by 2019 will have to be built with zero-carbon dioxide emissions3. This is a very tough target to meet, and many have been using the PassivHaus standard as a way of achieving this. It could be that the PassivHaus standard is the standard that could possibly lower carbon emissions and help contribute to less global warming.

1 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org




Page | 5

2. The PassivHaus Basics

2.1 History of the PassivHaus

The first PassivHaus was designed and built by two Professors in Darmstadt, Germany in 1991, Wolfgang Feist from Germany and Bo Adamson from Sweden together came up with the objective to provide a low energy home at a reasonably low cost for the German climate. The two men found that the house when built was a success and upon this went away and started to plan and improve their idea so that they could build another house but to a higher standard. In 1995 they built another PassivHaus in Gross-Umstadt, Germany. Again the house provided excellent levels of energy consumption whilst maintaining a good standard of indoor comfort. Once construction had ceased, Feist codified the design of both projects in Darmstadt and Gross-Umstadt creating the PassivHaus Standard. Feist himself came up with this definition of the PassivHaus ‘A passivHaus is a building, in which thermal comfort (ISO 7730) can be provided solely by post heating or post cooling of the fresh air flow which is required for good indoor air quality (DIN 1946) – without the additional use of re-circulated air.’

Since codifying the standard there have been over 37,000 projects built using the PassivHaus requirements, with most of these built in Germany and the rest built in other European countries including Austria, Sweden, Denmark Switzerland and the UK. In 1998 the PassivHaus was given a major boost when an EU Thermie4 funded CEPHEUS5 project which oversaw the development of 221 homes in four countries (Germany, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland) was constructed using the standard. Due to the popularity of the standard, the development of PassivHauses in Germany runs at several hundred units a year. As of 2010 the PassivHaus has a market share of over 20% in Germany.6

Dr.Feist has now gone on to operate the PassivHaus Institute, located in Darmstadt. The institute is the main headquarters for all PassivHaus operations and he oversees all PassivHaus developments in order for them to be accredited with the standard once complete.7

2.2 What is the PassivHaus?

As we know, the PassivHaus is a low energy performance standard for all building types. The main focus of the standard is to define the quality assurance process. Additionally, design is focused on minimizing the requirement for space heating and cooling, leading to a reduction in energy usage. The objective to make fossil fuel reliance redundant is an aim that the PassivHaus Institute has. The standard also aims to provide thermal comfort and good indoor air quality.

A standard PassivHaus has the same criteria as most modern day Passive Houses, making sure the building is insulated correctly, has correct solar orientation, is as airtight as can be. However, a PassivHaus is designed so that any MVHR8 installation need not be installed, however many PassivHaus buildings are installed with heating elements due to marketing/cultural reasons.

The PassivHaus standard was developed to respond to the colder climates in central and northern Europe. So far only a few PassivHaus standard builds has been developed in Southern Europe and

4 European Commission's Programme for the research, development, demonstration and promotion of non-nuclear energy

technologies 5 Cost Efficient Passive Houses as European Standards www.cepheus.de 6 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 7 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de 8 Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery


Page | 6

across the world. Although many Passive builds have been built around the world, it has to be reminded that PassivHaus is different to a Passive House.

If you look at image 1 (left) it shows the main fundamentals of the PassivHaus. It shows the main characteristics, vast quantities of insulation under the floors, roofs and walls providing a vastly insulated building envelope. Shading to prevent summer overheating. Triple glazed windows/doors. MVHR9 to provide a comfortable indoor environment. All of these principles together help form a solid build that will contribute to a PassivHaus certification.

Having a compact building with insulation that may exceed 300mm in places, will lead to a decrease in energy wastage. Cold bridges are excluded, air tightness is increased and the all-round efficiency of a home will have improved. If you look at the thermal image underneath, taken of a house in England that has had a PassivHaus refurbishment, you can clearly see the vast difference in temperatures between the dwelling in question and its neighbours. The façade and roof are letting out little wastage, the only major energy leaks are coming from the edges of the doors and windows. The building in average is approx. 2 degrees Celsius cooler than its neighbours. This picture is a stark indication of the energy wastage we produce through our poorly insulated homes. The PassivHaus here shows what we can achieve if the standard were to be introduced to all homes throughout the UK.

Image 1. PassivHaus section from www.archihaus.co.uk 9 Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery

Thermal image 1. from www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/what_is_passivhaus

Thermal image1. from a re-furbished PassivHaus, England

Image 1.PassivHaus Section


Page | 7

2.3 What are the PassivHaus Requirements?

The PassivHaus standard requires many criteria to be met in order to be accredited. The standard has 5 fundamental principles:

1. Highly insulated building envelopes 2. Thermal bridge free construction 3. Airtightness 4. Windows and solar gains 5. Ventilation with heat recovery10

The standard also includes many technical aspects to it. To keep to the standard the design has to take into account all of the following guidelines:

• If a MVHR11 system is used in the building it must be reduced to 15 kilowatt hours per square metre of floor area per annum (15 kWh/m2yr) or less to become accredited.

• If an active cooling system is installed, than the additional energy demand must also exceed no more than 15 kWh/m2yr.

• The airtightness has to be tested by a blower door pressure test. It has to read at no worse than 0.6 ach12 at a pressure differential of 50Pa13.

• The total energy demand of the PassivHaus building must not exceed 120 kWh/m2yr. The total energy demand covers space heating, space cooling, lighting, pumps, fans, domestic hot water, white goods and all appliances.

• U-Values of walls, floors and roofs to not exceed 0.15 W/m2K. • Triple pane glazing to be used on windows and doors, plus these have to have insulated

frames with U-Values of no more than 0.8 W/m2K. • Low energy lights and appliances used throughout the build.14

To compare these guidelines to that of the standard UK building regulation’s, each PassivHaus requirement is nearly half that of the UK’s current regulation’s. This shows you how efficient and effective the PassivHaus design can be but also how tight its requirements are.

If you look at image 2 to the left, you can see

the quantity and location of the insulation that is needed to fulfil the requirements of a PassivHaus. The overall insulation provides a compact building envelope plus providing an exceptionally low U-Value.

Each PassivHaus project also comes with a PassivHaus Planning Package (PHPP). This is a spread sheet based calculation programme that has been developed by the PassivHaus Institute in Germany so that they can model and certifying the performance of the proposed

PassivHaus building. The PHPP is the only approved method of certifying that the Institute uses. The PHPP is very detailed in its energy calculations, using the same calculations as most countries throughout Europe however including additional information such as household appliances and

10 Passive –On project www.passive-on.org 11 Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery 12 Air changes per hour 13 Unit Measurement to record pressure. Known as Pascal or Pa 14 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org Image 2. Insulation section taken from www.streif.co.uk

Image 2. Section showing insulation location


Page | 8

concentrating highly on details such as thermal bridging15.

The German version of the PHPP has been developed so that it has additional verification sheets that allows for it to be used as an official energy calculation tool for showing compliance with the energy requirements of the German national building regulations. As it stands, the other European countries, such as Sweden, Austria, Denmark and the UK do not have these extra verifications in their PHPP’s.16

2.4 What a PassivHaus looks like

With all these requirements, most will be wondering what a PassivHaus looks like. Well a PassivHaus with all these principles can aesthetically look like any other build. Below are a few examples of current PassivHaus’ in the UK.

If you look at Image 3 (right) you will see a new build PassivHaus that appeared on the acclaimed British TV show ‘Grand Designs17’. You can see that it is a very modern, clean looking building. The façade consists of large glass panels, timber cladding and brickwork. This shows that a PassivHaus does not have to be an unaesthetic building. From looking at this house it is clear to see that the design team must have been very knowledgeable about the PassivHaus standard to produce such a high standard house. Much work would have been undertaken to make sure that the house doesn’t over heat in the summer and that all requirements were met.18

To the left you can see Image 4. This is a semi-detached house in the UK. It is built from brick. If you look above the balcony, the solar panels act as shading for the first floor, a very clever solution to cutting out sun over-exposure. The back of the house is very open, with many doors and windows opening into the garden. This house shows that a PassivHaus can be a good solution for a family. The build is aesthetically pleasing, has good functions whilst also having the required technologies to be a PassivHaus.

15 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 16 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de 17 BBC Television Building Programme Image 3 from www.ecohausinternorm.com Image 4 from www.roeben.com 18 www.ecohausinternorm.com

Image 3. Detached PassivHaus, England

Image 4. Semi-detached PassivHaus, England


Page | 9

To the right you can see Image 5. This is a row of terraced homes built in Wales. Another example of how versatile the PassivHaus is. This shows a solution for affordable housing. The terraced homes look like any new terraced homes built today. Only better economically and ecological suited. These 3 examples provide evidence of how the Passivhaus can work. Be it for a luxury house, right down to low cost affordable housing.

3. Context

3.1 Social

One of the main stumbling blocks of the PassivHaus build so far is customer awareness. The standard has been around for over 20+ years now, but if you ask any member of the public about a PassivHaus most will not understand what you are talking about. This is a concern as it shows that most people do not understand how a PassivHaus can contribute to a better building standard. A recent survey in the UK also showed that many people are skeptical about the PassivHaus - many question why the finished projects don’t contain central heating, like the more traditional build. Most people don’t understand how they can possibly keep warm without central heating. This is where customer awareness has to be increased so the public are informed about the benefits of the standard.

A way to increase awareness of the standard could come with the ability to link the PassivHaus with people’s health. It is a need of all people in the world to live/work in a building that has high indoor air quality. The U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Science released a study in 2007 stating the need for good indoor air quality. The report links improvements in respiratory problems such as asthma and bronchitis when indoor air quality is improved. However, it also states that people’s behaviour patterns improve aswel. Concentration and productivity levels increase too. This is an interesting piece of research as it could support the sole definition of the PassivHaus; to provide indoor comfort to buildings.19

If we look into the social aspects of living demands, we shall use Germany as an example, the country has the lowest number of owner occupied homes in Western Europe. Compared to that of France and the UK who have two thirds of the population owning their homes, and in Ireland and Spain, owner occupancy at a rate of 80%. 47% of Germans live in rented accommodation, whilst 45% of the population owns their homes20. The government has seen this trend and this is why the PassivHaus has been such a success in Germany. The German government has seen that it is more beneficial to

Image 5 from www.brooksdevlin.com 19 Research from the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Science www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892115 20 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org

Image 5. Terraced PassivHaus’, Waless


Page | 10

own a home so they have brought in incentives to attract young people to buy a PassivHaus21. The owner occupied rate in German has increased slightly since 2009 and this is down to the incentives that have major economic benefits that will be explained in section 3.2.

The German population has in recent years taken a strong interest in environmental issues. If we compare this to other western countries they are more prone to take action over this22. This is linked to the increase of owner occupied homes in recent years, and the success of the PassivHaus in Germany. Many people see owning a PassivHaus as a sound investment; it is environmentally friendly whilst at the same time economically a better option than that of a traditional build. They are the benchmark that the rest of Europe should be aspiring to. If we compare the current renewable energy contribution to the national energy supplies from Germany and the UK, Germany contributes 20% whilst the UK contributes 4%.23 This shows that Germany is at the forefront of change and this is a clear indication of why the PassivHaus is so popular in Germany.

3.2 Economic

One of the major benefits of the PassivHaus standard is that the build not only costs significantly less to maintain and run once occupied, but also costs approximately the same to construct when compared with a regular build. I will compare the economic situations in both Germany and the UK in this section.

In Germany where the PassivHaus is established and has been for many years, many financial issues have been dealt with. In 2012, the PassivHaus Institute released figures saying that building a PassivHaus building is between 3-8% more expensive than building the traditional way. This is also helped by the fact that many building suppliers are PassivHaus certified and have readymade supplies/components available. Along with special financial helping from the German government, many Germans have gone on to build a PassivHaus24.

In Germany, the KfW Bank which is a public institution owned by the German federal Government provides loans of up 50,000 Euros for the cost of a new low energy home. Plus they loan up to 75,000 Euros towards any refurbishments that will lead to a low energy dwelling. The interest rate for these loans also is less than half of that from a regular high street loan. These interest rates at 2012 were 1.2% whilst the standard high street rate was 3% as of 2012.25 Plus on top of this a grant is also available depending on the energy efficiency level of the dwelling. The higher the efficiency rate the more the grant will be. To be eligible for this loan from the KfW Bank, the building must be assessed by an independent accredited energy assessor using the PHPP created by the PassivHaus Institute. The KfW Bank has already handed out over 10,400 loans as of 2012, at a rate of 1,500 loans each year. At the end of 2008 it was estimated that over 1.15 Billion Euros had been financed to the German population26.

Additional support is available from local, regional and state grant programmes for PassivHaus builds within Germany. The grants available range from 1000 to 13000 Euros. Once again depending on the type of build. The grant issued is usually used to cover construction costs.

In the UK, the situation is different. Due to the low level of PassivHaus projects completed, the PassivHaus is yet to make its mark on the market. So because of this it is hard to get an accurate figure for the construction costs for these builds. Many PassivHaus developments have been one-off

21

NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 22 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 23 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 24

NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 25 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 26

NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org


Page | 11

homes or small schemes. Unlike Germany, many suppliers are not PassivHaus certified and this means that many components and products have to be imported which leads to higher costs.

With the PassivHaus being a fairly new building form in the UK it is also important to understand that many designers and builders have a steep learning curve when working on these projects.Mistakes are bound to be made which will add to costs and possibly building delays. But this is what is to be expected when a new methodology is introduced. The Hastoe Group 27 have released preliminary data from 50 builds in the areas of Wimbish28 and Ditchingham29 saying that the construction costs they achieved for their PassivHaus builds range from £1500/m2 to £1700/m230. This figure shows that the costs are higher than traditional builds but also suggests that costs will be reduced once more experience is gained from building this way.

The UK like most Western European countries is behind Germany when it comes to financial assistance. The UK government is at the time of print looking into forming a Green Investment Bank which will lead to financial assistance for people looking to buy or build a low energy building. However, the Government does have a range of grants that are available; however, these grants are only available for refurbishment projects. The Ecological Building Society31 gives discounted loans for new PassivHaus homes built however; the incentives are not appealing enough for many people to take note and build a PassivHaus.

Whilst the construction costs maybe slightly higher than a regular build, the major incentive for a PassivHaus build, is the energy savings associated with running and operating the building. A PassivHaus only requires 15-25% of the energy required to heat a home compared to that of a traditional build home. So any large payments made upfront will in time be made with good measure due to the savings made over many years. It has been recorded in Germany that PassivHaus pay-back has been achieved in less than 4 years due to the low energy demands32. It is hard to refuse these financial benefits, but it should be stated that the PassivHaus is not only a good financial investment but most importantly a build that will provide exceptional living conditions.

3.3 Ecological

With fuel prices rising drastically every year, the amount of money spent by the general public every year in most western countries is getting to a point where many can’t afford to pay their bills33. The PassivHaus therefore could be part of the answer to future problems that are arising from this predicament. The majority of western homes get their energy from electricity and gas supplies, most of these powered by unsustainable fossil fuels. With the PassivHaus, the possibility to reduce the fuel consumption by up to 80% in most homes would be of huge financial benefit. In addition to the financial benefit, there is also a major contribution to solving environmental problems, helping reduce carbon emissions that could lead to a decrease in global warming.

27 Sustainable Housing Association, England. www.hastoe.com 28 Located in Essex, England 29 Located in Norfolk, England 30 Sustainable Housing Association, England. www.hastoe.com 31 A Building society dedicated to improving the environment by supporting and promoting ecological building practices and sustainable communities www.ecology.co.uk 32 Passive on project www.passive-on.org/CD/5.%20Long%20Description/Passive-On%20-%20Long%20Description%20-%20English 33 BBC website www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23957608


Page | 12

If for example we talk about the effects of fuel poverty, Graph 1 (Above) shows the situation in the UK. The graph shows us how many people in the UK are classed as being in ‘fuel poverty’, it is not just a small number, but a number that is in its millions and rising. Fuel poverty is classed as a household that cannot keep adequately warm at reasonable cost34. Most disturbingly though is the number of vulnerable

people mentioned. These people range from the elderly to single parents. The graph suggests that people need more fuel to run their homes, however if more PassivHaus’ were built in Britain the need for fuel in running a building would decrease drastically and therefore the number of people in fuel poverty would hopefully decrease to.

The fuel poverty graph can be linked to the rise in world population and energy demand growth graph (Graph 2) to the right. As the number of people living in the world increases critically so does the demand for energy, and most fuels used today are fossil fuels that we know are unsustainable and damaging for the environment. If we continue to use these fossil fuels, eventually they will run out, however, more importantly they damage the environment we live in today. As we are aware, the burning of these fuels has contributed to global warming35. The benefit of the PassivHaus in this situation just like the fuel poverty situation is that the need and demand for fuel to operate and heat a PassivHaus is so limited compared to that of traditional builds (the PassivHaus is designed to require no fuel demand at all36). This type of build can be used as an alternative way of reducing fuel needs and demands. The less fossil fuel we need and burn, the better the environment will be in the future.

Graph 1 from the BBC article www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8317020 34 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_poverty 35 The United States Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/ Graph 2 from www.pictorial-guide-to-energy.blogspot.dk/2011/03/world-population-and-energy-demand 36 PassivHaus Institue www.passiv.de

Graph 1.Fuel poverty in the UK

Graph 2. World population & energy demand growth


Page | 13

If we look at a modern day Scottish home, we can use Graph 3 to the left to see just how damaging fuel usage is. In this case the fuel damage is coming from the Carbon emissions of the house. This chart shows us each building component and service. To see that the walls, glazing, boiler and ventilation contribute to the most carbon emissions of a home is worrying to see. As an Architectural Technologist we are taught that with the correct building envelope

using the most efficient glazing, plus understanding how ventilation works in your home these emissions can be cut. If we look at the chart as a whole most of the emissions can be cut down if more efficient services/appliances were used. Cold bridges also lead to these leaks, take for example Thermal Image 1 (page 5) in the beginning of the report that shows the energy leakage/temperature of a refurbished terraced house in England. If a PassivHaus standard is used, Carbon emissions are decreased. It is down to the designer to design a house that is tightly compact and as efficient as possible.

Having these amounts of levels of Carbon emissions is not advisable for two main reasons. The graph suggests that people are consuming too much fuel to heat their homes which is financial expensive , and additionally from this fuel burning too much carbon is being pumped into the atmosphere and contributing further to global warming and the adverse effects that it has.

4. Quality Assurance

4.1 Challenges of construction

Along with any new build, quality assurance is one of the major compliances that must be fulfilled in order to produce a final product that is of a high standard. However, unlike normal builds, a PassivHaus build must adhere to much higher, sterner assurances37. But how is this achieved?

In order to achieve these assurances, the PassivHaus Institute has developed a quality assurance and certification process, which allows them to oversee the project and prevents false claims of the term ‘PassivHaus’. This process begins at the design stage of a project.

Design Phase

The design is checked to see whether it complies with the numerical requirements of the standard. The design team checks:

• U-Values

37 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de Graph 3 from www.scotland.gov.uk

Graph 3. Carbon Emissions from a Scottish Home


Page | 14

• Energy demands • That products/services meet PassivHaus requirements • Construction components/elements meet PassivHaus regulation38

Construction Phase

Quality assurance measures are provided throughout the construction phase. To achieve these measures there have to be many things taken into consideration:

• Multiple pressure tests must be taken during construction to measure the air tightness, • Strong on-site management must be installed, • Step-by-step photographic evidence taken of the as-built construction elements • Detailed documentation of the Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery commissioning

provided.39

Whilst all of these measures seem extreme, it is vital that they are all undertaken in order to meet the standard. The on-site management must take it upon themselves to make sure the construction process runs as smoothly as possible to avoid delays or mishaps that will lead to a downturn in quality.

The PassivHaus Institute also awards PassivHaus certification to products and individual components such as wall systems, windows and MVHR units.40 This certificate shows that these products have been tested to achieve the standard and therefore provides a strong incentive to use these products. By using these products, the builder/designer are also showing that they are keeping to the quality assurance measures set.

The main challenge of construction will be that of the tradespeople and the designers. It is vital that all people involved in the project are certified through the PassivHaus Institute and understand how to design/construct the build. If un-certified people are used, the building will not pass the test, and therefore not gain a PassivHaus standard rating.

For example, if you look at image 6 (left) we can see a standard detail for a PassivHaus rated window and wall. The challenge here with these components would be the installation of the window:

• It would be absolutely vital that the window is placed between the insulation to cut out the cold bridge.

• It would be critical for the tradespeople who are installing it to install it exactly to how the specification requires it to be.

• The tradespeople will have to make sure all care is taken to not place screws where they are not required as they could pierce insulation, vapour barriers etc. and could break the cold bridge.

This is why the PassivHaus Institue requires all tradespeople involved to undergo the examination to become certified so they understand the complex task at hand.

Another challenge that faces the construction of a PassivHaus build is that of the temperature and humidity of the country. If we take Germany and the UK for example, in Germany they have an

38 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 39 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 40 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de Image 6 .Window/wall Detail from www.building.co.uk

Image 6. PassivHaus window/wall detail


Page | 15

average relative humidity rate of 91%, whilst in the UK they have a relative humidity rate between 85-88%41.Although this may seem like a slight difference to us, in fact it is a major problem. The air in the UK holds more moisture than it does in Germany. It is important to know this as the standard is set to German weather constraints, so it would be dangerous to assume that the technologies used in a PassivHaus, such as the air source heat pump would work in the UK. It is the design team’s responsibility to establish the weather constraints and in the design phase work out whether the technologies used have the right attributes to work in the required country of build.42

4.2 Tradespeople

All tradespeople involved on a PassivHaus project must be certified through the Passive House Institute. All tradespeople must have already the relevant skills required for construction plus learn the following objectives to pass the PassivHaus Institute exam:

• PassivHaus Criteria • The 5 pillars of the PassivHaus principles • Ecology and comfort • The Passive House Planning Package and other planning principles • Economic efficiency • Basic principles: thermal bridge free construction • Basic principles: PassivHaus windows • Airtightness • Construction process and quality assurance • User information and support • Basic principles: Thermal insulation in the PassivHaus • Basic principles: Ventilation • Basic principles: Heat supply • PassivHaus Definition43

In addition to all these objectives, there are two specialist disciplines they have to learn - building envelope and building services. To obtain the specialist discipline for the building envelope one must have the required knowledge of the following:

• Thermal insulation in the PassivHaus • Thermal bridge free construction • Windows and other transparent exterior components • Summer comfort • Refurbishment of existing buildings using PassivHaus components44

For the specialist disciple Building services, the following knowledge must be obtained:

• PassivHaus ventilation • Heating in the PassivHaus45

41 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 42 Information obtained from www.edarchitecture.co.uk 43 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de 44 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de 45 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de


Page | 16

4.3 Designer/Planner

Just like the tradespeople involved with a PassivHaus project, all designers/planners and consultants have to undergo an examination to become PassivHaus Certified. This examination is once again controlled and set by the PassivHaus Institute. Unlike the tradespeople though, these professionals have two options to choose from, either they can take an exam set by the Institute or they can write a detailed project report properly documenting the construction of a certified PassivHaus Building they have worked on.46

If the examination is taken the designer/planner/consultant will have been given the required information from the PassivHaus Institute and take it upon themselves to research thoroughly in anticipation for the examination. Before the exam is taken though, each individual is set learning targets for their profession. The location, time and fee for the examination are set at this meeting too. The individual will be given the reading/learning material and it will contain the following information:

• Definition of a PassivHaus • PassivHaus Criteria • Thermal Insulation Basics • Airtight Envelopes Basics • Window U-Values according to EN 10077 • Heat gain through windows according to PHPP. • Impact on summer comfort • Why is ventilation essential? • Natural ventilation • Exhaust systems • Balanced supply and exhaust air systems with heat recovery • Principles of heating systems for PassivHaus • Summer comfort Basics • Electrical energy • Principles of energy balancing (PHPP) • Basics of economic efficiency calculation • Invitations to tender and allocation • Construction site management and quality assurance • Information and support for occupants • Refurbishment using PassivHaus components • Calculations, quantities, units • Non-residential buildings47

The test is very broad and as you can see from above the individual has many topics to cover. The test is a 3 hour sitting written test and monitored by the PassivHaus Institute.

46 www.passivehouse-international.org/index.php?page_id=221 47 PassivHaus Institute website www.passiv.de


Page | 17

5. Construction Examples

5.1 Germany

To understand the construction of a PassivHaus and all its technical energy ratings I will use the first PassivHaus built as an example. The first PassivHuas was built in Darmstadt, Germany, and was completed in October 1991. It was designed and built by Wolfgan Feist and Bo Adamson, once complete it set a new standard for low energy homes and thus set the benchmark for all to follow. In order to reach this standard the construction of the building components and services were as follows:

• Roof – The roof was a green roof that had grass covering, a non-woven filter and root protective membrane. The structure of the roof consisted of 50 mm formaldehyde-free chip board, wooden light-weight I-beams , counter lathing, sealing with polyethylene sheeting bonded without jointing, 12.5mm gypsum plasterboard, wood-chip wallpaper and emulsion paint coating. The entire cavity was 445mm thick and filled with blown-in mineral wool insulation. The U-Value of the roof was 0.1W/(m2K).

• External Wall – The external wall was constructed up from fabric reinforced mineral render, 275 mm of expanded polystyrene insulation (installed in two layers at that time, 150+125 mm), 175 mm sand-lime brick masonry, 15 mm continuous interior gypsum plastering, wood-chip wallpaper and emulsion paint coating. The U-Value of the wall was 0.14W/(m2K).

• Windows - Triple-pane low-e glazing with Krypton48 filling. The framework was handcrafted from wood and insulated with polyurethane foam. The windows had a U-Value of 0.7W/(m2K).

• Basement ceiling/Ground floor slab – Constructed from fibreglass fabric with a surface finish, 250 mm polystyrene insulation boards, 160 mm concrete, 40 mm polystyrene acoustic insulation, 50 mm cement floor finish, 8-15 mm of parquet and solvent-free adhesive sealing. It had a U-Value of 0.13W/(m2K).

• Heat recovery ventilation – the system used was a counter flow air-to-air heat exchanger that was located in the cellar (approx. 9°C in the winter). It was carefully sealed and thermally insulated. The system was also the first one to use electronically commutated DC49 fans. It had a heat recovery rate of approximately 80%.

• Hot Water - The hot water is heated using solar vacuum tube collectors on the roof (5.3 m² per household or 1.4 m² per person).50

In 2001, a quality measurement was taken to see how the building was performing 10 years on .A pressurisation test was undertaken to see how airtight the building was; a rate of under 0.6 ach was achieved showing that the building had maintained its standards. It was also found that no maintenance has been undertaken on the building and the roof, windows and façade all remain unchanged from the original build.

Image 7. from www.passipedia.org 48 A type of gas 49 Cooling fans using direct current (DC) electrical flows 50 www.passipedia.org/passipedia_en/examples/residential_buildings

Image 7.The first PassivHaus, Germany


Page | 18

Graph 4 to the left provides information on the energy consumption of the building. The chart shows that compared to the German national code, the PassivHaus performed almost 3 times more efficiently. This shows just how energy efficient the building really is. Further enhancing the fact that with a PassivHaus you can reduce energy usage in a building, which leads to lower energy bills

5.2 UK

The example above illustrates how Passivhaus’ in Germany are built, it has to be remembered that in Germany they have more knowledge and experience in building these type of buildings, so it is important to see how a country in its PassivHaus infancy such as the UK build their PassivHaus’.

I will use the PassivHaus at Denby Dale as an example of a PassivHuas in the UK. Unlike the German builds though it is very hard to find specific building component build ups however there is enough information available to understand the basics of the house.

The owners of this PassivHaus decided to cut costs by making the build as simple as possible. This meant trying to keep to traditional methods where possible, use locally sourced materials and cut down on the house aesthetics51. The owners had one main objective, to create an ultra-low energy performance house. The main features of the house building components and services are as follows:

• External Wall/Roof - The walls are constructed with a locally sourced stone outer skin, 300mm of wall insulation and an inner block work skin. This build up is not very typical of a Passivhaus but is similar to traditional builds that the builders were used to. The roof is pitched and has 500mm of insulation in it.

Graph 4. from www.passipedia.org/passipedia_en/examples/residential_buildings Image 8. from www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale/ 51 www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale/

Graph 4. First PassivHaus energy consumption

Image 8. PassivHaus at Denby Dale, England


Page | 19

• Economics – The building was built on a tight budget. The floor space measures at 104.5 m2, the cost was £140,000 (excluding land), working out at £1,340 m2. This house was built with a tight budget to emphasise that this type of build could work as a mainstream type of building in the UK. Material costs were low as supplies were bought from local builders’ merchants.

• Airtightness- the building having a blower door pressure test result of 0.33 ach52 at a pressure differential of 50Pa53.

• Heating – The building has high amounts of insulation, high thermal mass components plus a combination of warm air and radiator heating from solar thermal collectors. To cope with the variations in solar intensity, surplus heat is dumped into a 300 litre water storage accumulator that can be used when there is a lack of sunlight.54

After 2 years, a study was undertaken to see how well the building was functioning. From the research it found that the building was operating at approximately 9 kWh/m 2 per year which is what the standard demands. There were teething problems though; the occupants needed a better level of understanding of their building so they could optimise the comfort and performance level. This is why formal handovers with clear instructions (especially for MVHR) are essential so that this problem does not occur.55

5.3 Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery

The most important part of the PassivHaus is the ventilation system, to understand how this works I will use the mechanical ventilation heat recovery system from the first PassivHaus in Darmstadt to explain how the innovative system worked in the building. Additionally explaining how the MVHR56 system in Denby Dale worked too.

Darmstadt

It is important to know that a PassivHaus can only function with a controlled ventilation system with highly-efficient heat recovery. The reason for this being that the average annual ventilation heat losses are 35 kWh per m2 of the floor space. This result is more than twice the PassivHaus heating demand. This became known to Feist and Adamson during the investigations undertaken for the preparatory research project.57

In the project at Darmstadt a balanced supply of air and exhaust air ventilation system with a highly efficient counter flow air-to-air heat exchanger was used. However, it had to be specially adapted for this purpose, for the fans that were used had a very high electricity consumption rate. So in the project DC58 fans with electronic commutators59 were used for the first time (known as EC motors), and during operation, a heat recovery rate of over 80% was measured after optimisation of the flow geometry.60

The continuously operating ventilation system provided a constant supply of fresh air to each accommodation unit. At the lowest setting, 100 m³/h of fresh air was supplied to the living and sleeping areas in each unit. This means, that with a four person household, the specific quantity of

52 Air changes per hour 53 Unit Measurement to record pressure. Known as Pascal or Pa 54 www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale/ 55 www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale/ 56 Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery 57 Ventilation information taken from www.passipedia.de 58 Cooling fans using direct current (DC) electrical flows 59 Moving part of a rotary electrical switch that periodically reverses the current direction between the rotor and the external circuit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commutator_(electric) 60 Ventilation information taken from www.passipedia.de


Page | 20

fresh air would amount to 25 m³ per person per hour. Users can, however, manually change the setting if they choose. At the highest setting, between 160 and 185 m³/h of fresh air is supplied.61

Exhaust air is drawn away from the humid rooms like the kitchen and bathrooms in corresponding quantities. Image 9 to the right shows how the supply air is obtained from outside the building then distributed around the building, the exhaust air as mentioned can be viewed to, both supply air and exhaust air pass through the heat exchanger.

This high-efficiency ventilation system had not been available before, it was only in 1997 that development by the Research Group for Cost-efficient Passive Houses was so far advanced that several manufacturers started to produce serial units of this quality for the market. Today these units typically display the following characteristics; heat recovery efficiency of over 80% and electrical consumption of less than 0.4 Wh/m³ transferred air.62

Recently new ventilators have been developed for the PassivHaus to keep up with the growing demand of the standard. These ventilators are built by the same manufacturers and are often installed when routine maintenance work is required.63

Denby Dale

In the PassivHaus in Denby Dale the MVHR system is located in the garage. The system that the house uses recovers over 90% of the heat from the extract air. This is not a cheap set up though, costing around £4500. However, for what you pay in return you have amazing efficiency and very high air quality64.

On the picture to the right you can see the system in the garage. The top right-hand intake duct is for the cold outside air. It has a pre filter and a pre heater to prevent condensation in extremely cold weather. The two insulated flues on the left hand side of the unit extract stale air and introduce fresh air at the correct temperature that is just below 60ºc. This is done by a battery heater which sits within the flue. This heater is driven by the boiler.65

The house has one small central heating radiator in the lounge and heated towel rails in the bathrooms. According to the standard though, these radiators and rails may not be necessary.66

61 Ventilation information from www.passipedia.org Image 9. from www.passipedia.org 62 Ventilation information from www.passipedia.org 63 Ventilation information from www.passipedia.org Image 10. from www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale 64 www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale 65 Ventilation information from www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale

Image 9. How the Darmstadt PassivHaus MVHR system functioned

Image 10. The Denby Dale PassivHaus MVHR system


Page | 21

6. What the future holds

6.1 Political Targets UK /Germany

UK

In 2006 the UK government announced that a zero carbon target for new homes should be achieved by 2016. Non-domestic buildings to achieve this zero carbon target by 2019. The definition of zero carbon set by the government requires all new dwellings to address the following:

• Emissions created from space heating, hot water, fixed lighting and ventilation • Expected energy use from house appliances • Exports and imports from the development (and directly connected energy installations) to

and from centralised energy networks.67

The target though only takes into consideration the energy used by the building, it does not imply the construction of the building or the transporting of the construction materials. This is seen to many as not really being a total zero carbon policy due to this, however, the government is trying to make changes one step at a time, so the industry can evolve with the change. The government has stated that in the future a new policy will be set so that all aspects of the building process will be zero-carbon free.68

Much scepticism has been met with this target though. Roger Humber, the leading strategic policy advisor for the House Builders Association feels that the objective of the zero-carbon policy is ‘never remotely feasible’ flowing the recession and thus needs changing. He quotes ‘‘ The combined elements of this policy of fabric and carbon compliance and allowable solutions is going to put small house builders out of business because it’s too complex.’’ 69 It is clear to see that many people will be affected by this policy; it will be a financial burden on companies/individuals who will have to re-train and update their skill set so they understand the concepts of these new types of builds. As Mr.Humber said though many small companies will go out of business as they don’t have the time or resources available to make these changes in such a hard economic period of time.

A wider view has to be taken with this policy though. This is just one policy that has been created by the UK government to help them meet there target of cutting carbon emissions by 2050.70 Many industries will be affected; however the government has made a large pledge to cut the emissions that contribute to global warming. Companies have to see that the future can be cleaner and greener with their co-operation.

66

www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale 67 www.bsria.co.uk/news/article/clean-home 68 www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-energy-efficiency-of-buildings-and-using-planning-to-protect-the-environment 69 www.building.co.uk/government-to-cap-zero-carbon-cost-to-housebuilders 70 www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-the-uk-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-80-by-2050/supporting-pages/carbon- budgets


Page | 22

Germany

The German government along with its citizens have a strong interest in the environment. The Green party movement from 1998 lead to Germany meeting its Kyoto targets71 by 2007, this is 3 years earlier than expected. As of 2012, when the Kyoto agreement finished, Germany was ahead of their target once again. It had reduced its level of carbon emissions by 25.5% when compared to the base year that was set at 1990.72 This indicates a very stern approach to the protocol and that the government is taking matters very seriously.

The German national building regulations (known as EnEV) have been altered in recent years to comply with the EU Energy Performance of Building Directive73. This directive aims to have all new buildings ‘nearly zero energy’ by 2020. The EnEV has also included a proposal in reducing primary energy74 demand by 30%.75

Many cities in Germany have set their own goals. For instance, Nuremberg is aiming to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions between 2007 and 2020 by 40%. Several cities have made the commitment of making the PassivHaus standard the standard to which new buildings are built. One of these cities, Frankfurt, has required that from 2007 and onwards, every building built on land sold by the city has to be certified to the PassivHaus standard. New municipal buildings have to reach this certification to, the only exception to not building to the standard that the Frankfurt council allows, is that if the standard cannot be practically met. The council is also providing extra funding to housing associations that build with the PassivHaus standard.76

Hamburg has made an agreement with the main local housing associations that they have to build only to the PassivHaus standard, this became feasible from 2012. If the associations do not build to the standard they may not receive full funding from the council. The council is drafting up a bill to set standards for new public buildings, it is hoped that this bill will announce that the PassivHaus standard is to be used for all new constructions.77

Nuremberg, Cologne, Heidelberg, Wiesbaden and Freiburg are the other remaining cities in Germany that have set the PassivHaus as the standard for new public buildings, however, this has not been set yet to the housing sector.78

6.2 Continuity of the standard

The experiences from Germany show that designing and building to the PassivHaus standard is achievable. It helps that both the German government and German banks have supported the standard plus local authorities making it mandatory to build new housing projects to the PassivHaus way. A considerable amount of governments are now supporting the increase in PassivHaus builds79 exclusively using the experiences and knowledge that the Germans have acquired over the years to implement these projects into their countries.

71 The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets. www.unfccc.int/kyoto_protocal 72 www.renewablesinternational.net/germany-exceeds-kyoto-target-by-45-percentage-points 73 A measure designed to tackle climate change by reducing the amount of carbon produced by buildings www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-the-energy-efficiency-of-our-buildings 74 Fossil fuels, mineral fuels 75

NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 76 NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 77

NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 78

NHBC Foundation, Building Industry research and guidance www.nhbcfoundation.org 79 PassivHaus trust conference article www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/?nId=106#.UlXGxFCnrDU


Page | 23

However, many countries are taking the PassivHaus to the next step with bigger, ambitious developments. Austria for example, setting the goal high in developing new office towers and large housing settlements. Along with political targets set by these countries, PassivHaus builds do not show to be decreasing in numbers, but in fact increasing80. Many architect companies now specialise solely in PassivHaus design, thus showing how passionate many designers are now about building this type of build. Along with this, the more designers get involved with these projects, the more evolved the PassivHaus standard can become. Large scale developments may not be a pipe dream anymore. Many countries can benefit from large scale developments, especially in the housing sector. This positive could contribute to solving some of the issues surrounding low cost housing demands in the UK81.

If we use the Eastland Homes82 retro-fit project in Manchester for example, this project started in 2012 and is the first large scale PassivHaus retro-fit in the UK to date. The project is to refurbish 32 dwellings to the PassivHaus standard whilst the occupants continue to live in their properties. It is the most complex project that is part of a £180 million home programme set up by the Eastland Home association. Eastland hope to cut carbon emissions by 80%, and predict that energy bills will be reduced from £1,540 a year to £270 a year. The cost of refurbishing each property will be £40,000, estimated at over 4 times the amount of a normal refurbishment job for Eastland Homes.83 David Williams, deputy chief executive of Eastland Homes, said: ‘There is no getting away from the fact that it’s expensive. But the maisonettes are the poorest in our housing stock and we would have had to have done considerable work to get the homes up to decent homes standard anyway.’84 This development is a prime example of how people are considering the PassivHaus as a possible way of the future. The fact that many people are taking the initiative to use the standard to provide a better building, even when the costs are a lot higher than what is usually expected, show a high level of support and trust for the standard.

6.3 The next step – RHW.2 high rise tower (Vienna, Austria)

In July 2013 the first ground-breaking high rise tower in the world achieved a PassivHaus certification. This building has been built in Vienna and it is called the RHW.2 Tower.

The glass façade of the tower rises some 80meters above the ground, overlooking the Danube canal in the heart of the financial district in Vienna. Further proof, that with good design the standard can be

80 The Telegraph newspaper, England. www.telegraph.co.uk/property/greenproperty/9312157/Eco-living-the-rise-of-the-passivhaus 81 www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/key-issues-for-the-new-parliament/social-reform/housing-supply-and-demand/ 82 Not for profit housing association, Manchester, England www.eastlandshomes.co.uk Image 11. from www.insidehousing.co.uk/eco/landlord-plans-first-large-scale-passivhaus-retrofit 83 www.insidehousing.co.uk/eco/landlord-plans-first-large-scale-passivhaus-retrofit 84 www.insidehousing.co.uk/eco/landlord-plans-first-large-scale-passivhaus-retrofit

Image 11. Eastland Home PassivHaus Retrofit, England


Page | 24

achieved in any building form. “This building proves once again that the PassivHaus standard and good architecture are perfectly compatible”, Dr. Wolfgang Feist, director of the PassivHaus Institute.85

Not much information has been leaked about the building and how it made the standard, but the following information has been documented in telling how this building got certified. The building gets most of its energy from a photovoltaic system. This is combined with an on-site cooling, heating and power plant. The waste heat from its data centre is re-used in the building, and the water from the Danube canal is used to provide part cooling to the tower too. The building has a glass façade, this design though was the stumbling block of the project, and however using a radically efficient glass system they made the requirements. The building component connections are cold bridge free, the mechanical systems are state of the art and the interior appliances are all top green star rated. With shading equipment used on the facade, the heating and cooling demand of the building was reduced by 80% compared to conventional high-rise buildings.86

The project cost $111million to complete, and from this an extra $3.6million was allocated to make sure the tower made the certification. From this sum it has been expected that the tower will have a payback period of 14 years. 87

"The world's first Passive House office tower is proof that the fossil-fuel era is finally coming to an end," says engineer Günter Lang, the head of the Passive House Standard movement in Austria. "Even skyscrapers can now derive energy from renewable sources in situ. This project is a breakthrough."88

The designers and builders in Austria, and particularly Vienna are setting the new standard for PassivHaus builds. Along with the RHW.2 Tower, the city has developed an area called Eurogate, this area housing the largest PassivHaus settlement in the world. Currently under construction, the buildings will be complete by 2014. Housing over 7,000 occupants in over 1000 apartments89. This innovative project showing what can be achieved with the PassivHaus standard.

85 www.wilderutopia.com/sustainability/land/austria-energy-efficient-office-tower-rises-over-the-danube Image 12. from www.wilderutopia.com/sustainability/land/austria-energy-efficient-office-tower-rises-over-the-danube 86 www.wilderutopia.com/sustainability/land/austria-energy-efficient-office-tower-rises-over-the-danube 87 www.greensource.construction.com/green_building_projects/2013/1309-rhw2-office-tower 88 www.greensource.construction.com/green_building_projects/2013/1309-rhw2-office-tower Image 13.from www.wilderutopia.com/sustainability/land/austria-energy-efficient-office-tower-rises-over-the-danube 89 BAI Bautrager Austria Immobilien GmbH www.bai.at/index.php?id=211&L=1

Image 12. The RHW.2 Tower, Austria

Image 13. Eurogate Development, Austria


Page | 25

7. Conclusion

7.1 Conclusion

The report covers a large array of information about the PassivHaus standard. It was my intention to gather as much information possible so a solid all-round argument could be made of the standard. It is not for me to decide whether the PassivHaus standard can revolutionise the construction industry; it is up to the reader to decide. I hope that people will see how beneficial the standard can be but also how challenging this standard is to implement and achieve. I feel that many advantages and disadvantages of the standard have been expressed in the report, this allows for people to view how the standard is evolving and creating projects at exceptionally high standards. However, we can see how the standard has weaknesses; focus can be implemented on these areas so they can be worked and improved upon.

The report is important to present day proceedings as we are currently involved in governmental schemes that are trying to lower carbon emissions every year. The construction industry is one of the leading contributors to global carbon emissions. We should be setting the benchmark and looking for new methods and technologies that allow for us to cut these emissions. A PassivHaus is just one way of cutting emissions, however, a PassivHaus building, some of these that we have seen in the report, can be aesthetical whilst performing to low energy standards.

From delving further into the PasivHaus standard and analysing the information I have found out just how complex the PassivHaus standard is. Many people, including myself (before I wrote the report) think that a PassivHaus is just a building with lots of insulation in the roofs and walls whilst having highly efficient windows with extremely low U-Values. The research I have taken has led me to develop a new respect for the standard. The complexity of the design is so intricate, there is small room for error and every component, service and even fixing must be of the strictest specification. Take the mechanical ventilation heat recovery system for example; this is one of the main features of a PassivHaus, if it doesn’t work correctly or to requirements than the whole project will be in jeopardy. It is great credit that this standard has been implemented into the industry, and that many builders, designers, architects and developers have taken the risk to show us just what is possible with the standard and that we should not be afraid of using the standard too.

Competence from all the design and construction team show that the PassivHaus can be produced to reasonable costs. This eradicating the myth that low performance buildings are expensive to build. For roughly the same costs of building a traditional build, buildings are being built that are inexpensive to run, comfortable to live in and help contribute to environmental issues. The public should show more support for the PassivHaus, but maybe the PassivHaus needs to be marketed better than what it already is. Creating better customer awareness will allow the PassivHaus to increase in numbers across all countries, not just the UK. What will be interesting to see is the development of the PassivHaus in warmer countries. With the PassivHaus currently only having a few projects outside of Central/Northern/North Western Europe it will be interesting to see how for example a PassivHaus could be developed to suit the climates of countries such as Australia.

Using the comparison between the UK and Germany has helped show the difference in implications of the standard in each country. Although, the standard was developed and has been used in Germany for over 20 years, it is fascinating to see how it has grown and how the German government have taken to the standard. The level of support it receives is a glowing accolade to the standard, and the persistence of its creators. It has taken many years to reach the high regard and importance that it now has in Germany, finally it has all the support and financing backing that the creators dreamed of. Comparing this to the UK allows us to see how far we still have to go in implementing it into our own markets. Seeing how the UK is working to bring the standard into their market is a stark reminder of how difficult this actually is. Many construction professionals and tradespeople will have to re-train


Page | 26

themselves, learning new methods and techniques, contributing to a long learning curve for these people. But if you use Germany as a benchmark, the long term rewards of this learning curve will be great.

The PassivHaus standard, a standard that can help the social, economic and ecology situation of a nation. Not without its difficulties and challenges, could provide us with the build that changes the shape of how and why we build buildings. The future could bear great rewards. Hopefully 20 years from now we will look back on this moment of time, and see that the stance we took on the standard, helped implement the standard into our industry. Knowing that all the hard work we undertook was worth it all.

‘’I was working as a physicist. I read that the construction industry had experimented with adding insulation to new buildings and that energy consumption had failed to reduce. This offended me – it was counter to the basic laws of physics. I knew they must be doing something wrong. So I made it my mission to find out what, and to establish what was needed to do it right’’ Dr.Wolfgang Feist


Page | 27

8. Literature Books

Kibert, Charles J. Sustainable Construction; Green Building Design and Delivery. New Jersey: John Wiley&Sons. Published 2013

La Roche, Pablo. Carbon Neutral Architectural Design. Florida: Taylor&Francis. Published 2012

Mumovic, Dejan & Santamouris, Mat. The handbook of Sustainable Building Design & Engineering. London: Earthscan. Published 2009

Williams, Jo. Zero Carbon Homes. Oxon: Earthscan. Published 2012

Internet

www.archihaus.co.uk. Sustainable building developer

www.bai.at. BAI Bautrager Austria Immobilien GmbH. Construction Company.2008

www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8317020. October 2009 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23957608. September 2013

www.brooksdevlin.com. UK Environmental design practice

www.bsria.co.uk/news/article/clean-home. July 2009 www.building.co.uk/government-to-cap-zero-carbon-cost-to-housebuilders. Pitt, Vern. August 2013 www.cepheus.de. Cost Efficient Passive Houses as European Standards

www.eastlandshomes.co.uk. Not for profit housing association, Manchester, England. www.ecohausinternorm.com. UK window manufacturer

www.ecology. July 2012 www.edarchitecture.co.uk. Design Solutions.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commutator_(electric). August 2013

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_poverty. March 2013 www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/. September 2013

www.gov.uk. UK Government website

www.greensource.construction.com/green_building_projects/2013/1309-rhw2-office-tower. Meyer, Ulf. September 2013 www.hastoe.com. Sustainable Housing Association, England. www.insidehousing.co.uk/eco/landlord-plans-first-large-scale-passivhaus-retrofit. Duxbury, Nick. July 2012 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov . The U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Science

www.nhbcfoundation.org. NHBC Foundation – Housing research.

www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/key-issues-for-the-new-parliament/social-reform/housing-supply-and-demand. The UK parliament website www.passipedia.org. Online Passive House resource website.

www.passiv.de. PassivHaus Institute website


Page | 28

www.passivehouse-international.org/index.php?page_id=221. September 2012

www.passive-on.org/CD/5.%20Long%20Description/Passive-On%20-%20Long%20Description%20-%20English www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/?nId=106#.UlXGxFCnrDU. May 2012

www.pictorial-guide-to-energy.blogspot.dk/2011/03/world-population-and-energy-demand. March 2011

www.renewablesinternational.net/germany-exceeds-kyoto-target-by-45-percentage-points. February 2013

www.roeben.com. German Construction Company

www.scotland.gov.uk. Scottish Government website

www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/passivhaus-at-denby-dale. 2013 www.streif.co.uk. Sustainable building systems manufacturer

www.telegraph.co.uk/property/greenproperty/9312157/Eco-living-the-rise-of-the-passivhaus. Lonsdale, Sarah. June 2012 www.unfccc.in. United Nations Framework convention on climate change website

www.wilderutopia.com/sustainability/land/austria-energy-efficient-office-tower-rises-over-the-danube. Eidt, Jack. July 2013

The challenges and benefits of the passivhaus standard

Documents

Transcript of The challenges and benefits of the passivhaus standard