Passive House

The term passive house refers to a specific construction standard for residential buildings with good comfort conditions during winter and summer, without traditional heating systems and without active cooling. Typically this includes very good insulation levels, very good airtightness of the building, whilst a good indoor air quality is guaranteed by a mechanical ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery. Thereby the design heat load is limited to the load that can be transported by the minimum required ventilation air. However space heating does not have to be carried through the ventilation system. For 40° - 60° Northern latitudes, under conditions specified in the PHPP calculation model:

• the total energy demand for space heating and cooling is limited to 15 kWh/m² treated floor area;
• the total primary energy use for all appliances, domestic hot water and space heating and cooling is limited to 120 kWh/m²

A passive house has a high level of insulation with minimal thermal bridges, low infiltration and utililizes passive solar gains and heat recovery to accomplish these characteristics. Consequently renewable energy sources can be used to meet the resulting energy demand.