Did you know that passive housing can help you to save 90% of the energy that you’d use in a conventional home? Or that a building must use no more than 15 kilowatt hours of electricity per square metre in a year for it to obtain passive house status?
A passive house is one where a constant, moderate temperature is maintained, thus eliminating the quandary of one room being substantially warmer or colder than the next.
To qualify as a passive house, a building must meet the exacting standards set out by the Passivhaus Institut in Germany, a country renowned as one of the most proactive in terms of energy conservation.
Passive houses are characterised by their heavy insulation around the building’s envelope, the elimination of thermal bridges that allow heat to seep through structural gaps, and efficient ventilation which exchanges moist indoor air for fresh outside air.
This fresh exterior air will heat or cool the interior of a passive house as appropriate.
Passive housing is well worth considering for several reasons.
Aside from enabling significant savings on utility bills and being environmentally friendly, it is better for your health as fresh air replaces the toxins that might have existed in moist, polluted indoor air.
Also, the increased efficiency of its insulation helps to reduce noise pollution, as does the smoother operation of vents and fans.
This infographic from EZ Living Interiors provides a well-summarised introductory guide to passive housing, explaining why it is so beneficial to homeowners who avail of this contemporary housing option.
It looks likely that demand for passive housing will increase and it’s not difficult to see why, so we invite you to take a few moments to read through the infographic below.
