Comfort or Low Energy Standard?

Passive House is a low energy standard, right? Not necessarily.

We don’t choose to make buildings well insulated and airtight for the sake of the building but for the occupants. The Passive House Standard starts with the users of a space and their needs: to have thermal comfort with no draughts, good indoor air quality and no nuisance noise.

To achieve this means high insulation values, triple-glazing and a well detailed airtightness envelope. It also requires greater scrutiny of work on site, so it could equally be labelled as a construction quality standard. The use of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) delivers heat to the interior using electricity (grid and/or renewables), ensuring the fans and ductwork are whisper quiet.

Once heated, the building stays warm but is constantly replenished with fresh (not cold!) air. The minimal energy demand to maintain these temperatures makes it very cost effective to run. This is the ‘passive’ bit. Some PH buildings require no additional heating at all. Goodbye gas boiler, goodbye radiators.

So, it’s not wrong to call Passive House a low energy standard that saves money on annual energy bills, but these are almost a by-product of making people comfortable within their homes and buildings.