What Is a Passive House?
A Passive House requires the least energy to heat or cool your house, making it one of the smartest ways to design a home in the 21st century. With global warming heating our planet at such an alarming rate, the ability of Passive Houses to provide a cool environment during the record heat waves of the future, makes them critical to designing for human survival in the 21st century.
Passive House is a set of principles that lead to the highest possible energy efficiency in a building. Ideas such as harvesting heat from the sun when it is cold, and shading or deflecting heat when it is hot, minimizing the flow of heat through a building’s envelope, and providing an adequate supply of fresh and clean air. Passive House is not a brand name, but a construction concept. It is a way of approaching sustainable building design that utilizes knowledge of the natural world, physics and thermodynamics, all to minimize energy and maximize occupant comfort. It is a standard that is truly energy efficient, comfortable, affordable, and ecological at the same time.
Ok so lets break it down…
“A passive house is designed to be energy efficient, allowing for heating and cooling related savings of up to 90%. “.
Why Build a Passive House?
“Buildings consume up to 40% of global energy use and contribute up to 30% of annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to Passive house Canada and are a key piece of the puzzle towards a low carbon future. A passive house is designed to be energy efficient, allowing for heating and cooling related savings of over 90%. With this design you can control your indoor air quality and temperature with simple systems making your space comfortable throughout the changing seasons.
Is Building a Passive House More Expensive?
“Buildings consume up to 40% of global energy use and contribute up to 30% of annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to Passive house Canada and are a key piece of the puzzle towards a low carbon future. A passive house is designed to be energy efficient, allowing for heating and cooling related savings of over 90%. With this design you can control your indoor air quality and temperature with simple systems making your space comfortable throughout the changing seasons.
A net-zero building generates as much energy as it consumes. In order to keep the overall consumption as low as possible, it starts with an energy-efficient building envelope (walls, roof,
foundation), high-quality windows, and high-efficiency heating and ventilation systems. Renewable energy sources like rooftop solar panels provide enough power to operate it. They can store energy or sell it to the grid when they produce more than needed.
What Makes a Passive House Net Zero?
Reduced Energy Loss
An energy efficient net zero home utilizes extra thick insulation in the roof, walls, and floors. Choosing healthy materials, as well as those with low embodied carbon is incredibly important. Spray foam is a petrochemical derived insulation product which contains harmful chemicals and can cause irritation to lungs, eyes, and throat. At GNAR Inc we try to use healthy plant based materials wherever possible. Materials such as timber and cellulose are both excellent insulation materials, very affordable, and being plant based, they sucked carbon out of the atmosphere as the plants grew.
“A net zero building
generates as
much energy as
it consumes”
Lots of Natural Light
In Passive Houses, solar heating is used to warm the building during winter, this is why they are often southern-facing, so they can capture as much sunlight as possible. In summer, overhangs are used to shade the building to keep it cool. Because Passive House designers are so focused on maximizing the solar gains in the winter, these home designs tend to have significantly more natural light than homes designed by those who are unaware of these concepts.
Reduced Energy Consumption
Passive houses can reduce energy consumption by over 90 percent. The thick walls, airtight construction, high-efficiency mechanical systems, and compact building shape and orientation capture the sun’s heat when it’s needed. It uses an energy recovery ventilator to exchange the interior air with fresh air from outside, which is easy to operate, maintains temperatures more efficiently, and can save over 90 percent in heating and cooling costs.
Airtight Construction
Which allows for year round comfort and consistent temperatures by eliminating drafts. Airtight construction is key to a passive house, because without a draft free envelope, you will not achieve the desired outcome.
High Performance Windows
Windows are essential in our homes as they allow in natural light, ventilate your home and offer an alternative way to heat your home through solar heating. In a net zero home, triple pane windows and glazing are used to reduce energy loss because after all a window is a hole in the wall structure and weakens the thermal envelope so you need to make sure they are the right window for the job.
Heat Recovery
Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) delivers a consistent flow of fresh air while dramatically reducing heat loss using natural ventilation systems. It does this by securely transferring the thermal energy from exhaust air to fresh incoming air. The system allows fresh air to be distributed through the house. A properly installed, operated and maintained HRV exhausts indoor air pollutants and excess humidity to the outdoors while distributing fresh air throughout the house.
In Conclusion
Why wouldn’t you build a Passive House?? They are better for the environment and your families health and well being. They can save over 90% of the energy bills and perform better than a standard house in so many other ways. A Passive House is considered to exceed the Step 5 build according to the BC Energy Step Code. If we are going to slow down global warming the building industry needs to start building only Step 5+ homes. The fact they are net zero means they have no major impact on emissions, making them the smart choice moving forward.
At GNAR Inc we are passionate about creating sustainable homes, let us know how we can help you bring your dream house to life. Call us at 604.962.1611 or email admin@gnarinc.com for more information.
