Blog

By Teo M Muntean
CEO Austrocasa

The Passive House is the world’s leading standard in energy efficient building. Energy saved on heating is 80% compared to conventional standards of new buildings. Depending on climate, the energy requirement for heating is lower than 10 to 20 kWh/(m²a), adding up to a low cost of 15 to 25 € per month.Very efficient components and a high-tech ventilation system, achieve these giant savings without compromising comfort, but rather increasing it.

Steps

1 Solar Orientation – The layout of the site and the position of the house will ultimately determine the amount of energy a passive home receives.
2 House Design – How passive home reacts to the environment and how it harnesses the solar energy around it is the true nature of a solar passive house. House design determines the layout of the rooms, the windows and focuses on receiving the maximum solar energy possible.
3 House Structure – The composition of the walls and roof are vital. In order to achieve passive status all cold bridges must be sealed and the house ventilated and heating requirements should not exceed 15watts per sqm.
4 Technology – Renewable energy then allows a passive house to become self sufficient. A passive house requires low amount of heating therefore less energy is required, therefore the correct combination of technologies should heat your every year for generations.
5 In conclusion, to begin a passive house building project, the following steps should be taken. 1. Planning and design2. House structure and composition3. Insulating walls and foundations4. Passive home building5. Finishing6. Applying renewable energy

Tips

Planning determines the speed and costs of any project. If your project is correctly planned then all targets will be met. Planning meetings will be held to discuss the following four elements:
Design is a wide scope to discuss but entails, house layout, site layout & solar orientation, house specification. The time spent on the design stage will pay huge dividends during actual construction. Scheduling decides the timescale of the project. It is important that our clients feel comfortable that both deadlines and budgets will be met, therefore specific targets will be set on quoting, ordering,
Contruction start date and stage completions.
Budgeting The price for every project will be broken down to specific stages and each stage is guaranteed to be within stated costs.
Renewable Energy is the final part of the planning process, and there is not better way than using free renewable resources.

Insulated Foundations – In order to build a passive house we must first think about the ground on which the house will stand. Most heat loss from any home leaves through the floor and foundations, therefore this is the first place to begin insulating. Floors need to be insulated using 2 layers of 100mm EPS insulation. The second layer must cover the gaps in the first layer and all gaps should be sealed using expanding foam. The internal edges should also be sealed. Insulating the floor well is still not sufficient as the foundations themselves will lose heat from the house therefore these need to be sealed.
House Composition – The composition of the walls and roof of your home determines the level of passiveness or safety your home has. Thermal blocks allow the home to be warm in the winter and cooler in the summer. The timber is spruce, the strongest timber available. The external finish is comprised of an initial mesh then a first coat.
Renewable Energy is the final part of the planning process. As you have built a highly engineered passive house you now need to power it and there is not better way than naturally. The wind and the sun proves enough energy to heat and power your home all year round but to maximise the energy efficiency we need to calculate the requirements and and fulfill them. The savings over 25 years (ie the period of a standard mortgage) is emnormous and cannot be ignored as the savings could excees $100,000.

Renewable energy can be harnessed using the following ways:
* Solar Water heaters provide 70% of utility hot water needs.
* Solar PV panels will provide electrical power.* Wind Turbines will produce excellent power for your home.* Internal effective efficient low cost heating radiators maybe needed for areas with very low winter temperatures (minus 25 Celsius degrees).
* Heat Recovery Systems can ventilate and maintain heated air.

Austrocasa offers consulting services to avoid customers making mistakes in planning and budgeting the passive house project.

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