Do You Want A House With Guaranteed Thermal Performance?

This blog sums up a few facts about Passive House Construction and starts to question what we really value in a home.  This will differ with each of us, as our own lifestyles, priorities and expectations will naturally vary.  However, it certainly pays to have information up front to enable sound decisions to be made, realistic expectations set, and no regrets about choices. 

Hopefully, the blogs over the next few weeks will help inform and create some food for thought, not necessarily in going full passive house but certainly in incorporating the principals of health and comfort into your next build.

 

Thermal Performance in Passive Housing:

Passive House Construction is the only construction method where the thermal performance of a building is known.

This is as a result of its scientific basis.  The modelling completed for each home or building will tell the client exactly how their house will perform.  There is no measure of expectation of thermal performance in any other building type.

       

As it is scientific it is not overkill, just correct.  Nothing is over specified where the modelling shows no gain.

Passive House construction is a recognised international standard.  60 countries worldwide use and recognise Passive House construction.  Many now stipulate it as the minimum build code.

 

   

Images courtesy of eHaus and Passivhaus Trust UK

Contrary to some thinking it is not constructing the same buildings here that are built in Europe.  The reason this construction method works so well is that each house is modelled on its unique location and environment.  Even within New Zealand the same building would not work in both Auckland and in Otago, two completely different environments.  Each house design is modelled to ensure it will meet thermal expectations within its own unique setting.

In New Zealand there are 18 climate zones for passive house construction, and within each of these there are differing altitudinal zones.

 

The Value of Passive House is Year Round Comfort:

The value of a Passive House is in the level of comfort you want to experience in your home.  Don’t we all want a warm and healthy environment to come home to?

           

The expectations are that the entire house year-round maintains a constant comfortable temperature, no mould or spores floating around, a constant stream of fresh air, no unhealthy draughts, and little, if any, heating requirements.

Whilst there is an extra capital cost to build such a house, there are ongoing savings from limited, if any, heating and cooling requirements.  However, the real argument should be what are you prepared to compromise on for comfort, health and the use of 100% of your home (not just the living areas that we tend to heat and use).

In terms of health, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland have the highest levels of asthma in the developed world. This is thought to have some links to construction type.  The UK and Ireland are helping mitigate this health issue through reviews of their minimum building code, and guess what?……passive housing ticks all the boxes and is a major reason for some regions making this construction type the minimum building code.

 

The latter argument re use of your home, is also quite compelling.   Have a think about these questions!

Question 1:

How many New Zealanders in winter are holed up in living areas, scurrying to their bedrooms and bathrooms trying to minimise time spent in the colder parts of the house, and simply not enjoying it?

Question 2:

How many of us really need the house size we have?  Can we build more efficiently, with flexible spaces and simpler forms?

Question 3:

If we built a smaller home but could live and use the whole house year round (and have no mould/draughts and limit noise), would this be preferable to a larger house in which we limit use to the heated areas in colder months?

Question 4:

If, year round, we could have a healthy, warm, comfortable, but slightly smaller home for a similar price to a larger standard home with draughts, large temperature fluctuations, requirement for heating and cooling, potential for mould and higher noise levels – which would you choose?

 

The Tripod Explanation:

In simple terms the Passive House principal describes 3 main components, forming a tripod, to produce this controlled, comfortable and healthy living environment.  In other words, for the tripod to work, all 3 must be present.

Airtightness:

This allows the environment to be controlled.  In other words the air movement within the building envelope is controlled.

This includes the avoidance of materials where thermal bridging occurs.  Thermal bridging is simply another gateway for cold air to enter a building or warm air to escape through materials used in construction.

Insulation:

This maintains the air temperature within the envelope by reducing heat loss in colder months (and unwanted heat gain in warmer months).

Ventilation:

This system constantly replaces the stale air inside the building with fresh air from outside with heat recovery to return the heat (energy) to the inside of the building.

 

 

You can view a 90 second video on Passive House Construction (link at the of this blog!).  Its easy to understand and visual!

 

Is It Affordable?

So, whilst there is a reasonable increased capital cost for an equivalent identical house (dependent on climate extreme and size of house) the actual impact needs to be viewed in terms of the benefits of a much better quality of life versus purely a business case.  If quality of life, comfort and health are big considerations in other areas of life/investment (i.e car, furniture, education) why is it not in our biggest asset, with arguably the largest effect on our lives – our home?

Of course, that additional capital cost can be offset by reducing the building size and incorporating simpler forms, clever design and flexible spaces.  Certified Passive House Designers know the tricks of the trade to create a beautiful home, suitable for your lifestyle whilst providing you the warmth and comfort most of us crave.

 

Next Blog I will endeavour to explain, simply, why air tightness is essential in achieving a Passive House and how both insulations effectiveness, and moisture levels, can be controlled through airtightness.

 

The facts, backed up with, yes you’ve guessed, Science, make for very interesting reading so don’t miss out!

 

Grab Our Informative Brochure on creating a healthy, comfortable home!

In the meantime, if you would like to find out more about a variety of ways to produce a healthier, more comfortable and more energy efficient home, including full passive certification, please feel free to grab our informative free guide – just click here.   Happy Reading!

 

To view our 90 second video on Passive House Basics just click here.

Don’t forget to contact us afterwards if you would like some more information!  03 3130103 or info@chattertonbuilders.co.nz