By Nicky Gibbs nicky@riminiprojects.com
Nicky Gibbs, together with her husband Richard, created RIMINI Projects. They offer a bespoke project management service for property owners in the UK and across the Algarve.
The Passive House system represents the highest energy standard available today, with the promise of slashing the energy consumption of buildings by 60% to 70% and space heating by 90%.The claim is that a Passive House can be heated or cooled with the energy it takes to operate a hand-held hair dryer! The concept, Passivhaus to give it its formal name, was developed in Germany in the early 1990s.
After the first buildings were built using the system, the Passivhaus Institute was founded in 1996 to promote and control the standard. There are now an estimated 15,000 Passive Houses in Europe. A Passive House is a very well insulated, virtually air-tight building primarily heated by passive solar gain and internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc.
Energy losses are minimised, and any remaining heat demand is provided by an extremely small source. Special attention is given to eliminating thermal bridges. These are created when building materials that are poor insulators (e.g. electrical sockets, lintels, reinforced concrete pillars, window sills) create “bridges” that allow heat to leak.
Heat gain is avoided through shading and window orientation limiting cooling needs. A whole-house mechanical ventilation system allows the exhausted air to be used to heat, or cool fresh incoming air.
So, not only is energy consumption (and of course cost) dramatically reduced, but indoor air quality is high. Okay, so the description suggests more than a few gizmos are involved, and that the concept is complicated and technical.Well, yes, it is technical and can be complicated, but it really doesn’t involve gizmos.
The overall energy savings outlined above are done without applying expensive “active” technologies like photovoltaics or solar thermal hot water systems. However, many chose to combine the Passive House system with a solar hot water system (which is an active system), as domestic hot water is the second biggest consumer of energy in a home after heating/ cooling, offering further cost savings.
The solar hot water system can also be integrated to provide extra heating/ cooling where required. The heating/ cooling energy consumption of a Passive House is typically a tenth of that of the average home.
But, the system is not just for new homes. It can also be applied to existing ones too – even your 20 year-old Portuguese property.
It can, of course, be more difficult and more expensive to retro-fit the Passive House system.
You wouldn’t want to relocate windows but they can be replaced with triple-glazed, low-e ones. You might also be forgiven for thinking insulating a house after its built is pretty much impossible.
Again, there are systems that enable insulation to be applied either on the outside (as a cladding), or the inside of a property. This all sounds like a great idea – save money and the planet. But, I bet you’re thinking it sounds expensive and too big a project!.So I’ll leave you with this thought… In Portugal, it is estimated that over 50% of the energy used for heating during winter runs out through the external structure of the building. Areas that could have good thermal insulation such as the roof-space, external walls and windows. Maybe you can’t afford not to do it?
The claim is that a Passive House can be heated or cooled with the energy it takes to operate a hand-held hair dryer!
The concept, Passivhaus to give it its formal name, was developed in Germany in the early 1990s.
After the first buildings were built using the system, the Passivhaus Institut was founded in 1996 to promote and control the standard. There are now an estimated 15,000 Passive Houses in Europe.
A Passive House is a very well insulated, virtually air-tight building primarily heated by passive solar gain and internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc.
Energy losses are minimised, and any remaining heat demand is provided by an extremely small source.
Special attention is given to eliminating thermal bridges. These are created when building materials that are poor insulators (e.g. electrical sockets, lintels, reinforced concrete pillars, window sills) create “bridges” that allow heat to leak.
Heat gain is avoided through shading and window orientation limiting cooling needs. A whole-house mechanical ventilation system allows the exhausted air to be used to heat, or cool fresh incoming air.
So, not only is energy consumption (and of course cost) dramatically reduced, but indoor air quality is high.
Okay, so the description suggests more than a few gizmos are involved, and that the concept is complicated and technical.
Well, yes, it is technical and can be complicated, but it really doesn’t involve gizmos.
The overall energy savings outlined above are done without applying expensive “active” technologies like photovoltaics or solar thermal hot water systems.
However, many chose to combine the Passive House system with a solar hot water system (which is an active system), as domestic hot water is the second biggest consumer of energy in a home after heating/ cooling, offering further cost savings.
The solar hot water system can also be integrated to provide extra heating/ cooling where required.
The heating/ cooling energy consumption of a Passive House is typically a tenth of that of the average home.
But, the system is not just for new homes. It can also be applied to existing ones too – even your 20 year-old Portuguese property.
It can, of course, be more difficult and more expensive to retro-fit the Passive House system.
You wouldn’t want to relocate windows but they can be replaced with triple-glazed, low-e ones. You might also be forgiven for thinking insulating a house after its built is pretty much impossible.
Again, there are systems that enable insulation to be applied either on the outside (as a cladding), or the inside of a property.
This all sounds like a great idea – save money and the planet.
But, I bet you’re thinking it sounds expensive and too big a project!.So I’ll leave you with this thought..
In Portugal, it is estimated that over 50% of the energy used for heating during winter runs out through the external structure of the building.
Areas that could have good thermal insulation such as the roof-space, external walls and windows.
Maybe you can’t afford not to do it?
