Passive House Design
Benefits of Passive House. There are many benefits to Passive House design. Shelter for the occupants from rising energy costs is provided by a building envelope that requires a fraction of the heating and cooling energy consumed by a typical new building. Thermal comfort is maximized by eliminating drafts and temperature differentials throughout the building. The super insulated structure also helps with noise attenuation by mitigating any surrounding outdoor noise pollution. Additionally, a smaller investment in mechanical systems is required than in most buildings. Overall, the carbon footprint is greatly reduced when compared to a typical building. And finally, the reduced utility costs can benefit the building owner or occupants.
Designing your next home to the Passive House standard maximizes comfort, healthy indoor air, durability, and energy efficiency, while minimizing your carbon footprint.
Passive House level energy performance is the result of:
Thoughtful design
A super-insulated building envelope
High efficiency systems
Renewable energy, prioritized in that order, and all working together as a system.
Thoughtful design addresses the home's siting, orientation, form, layout, and glazing design. These high level design decisions are the first passive steps to improve performance.
Heating is the largest form of energy consumption in a typical New England home. The building envelope can be used as a passive strategy to reduce the heating energy required. The walls and roof can be designed to avoid thermal bridging and include continuous insulation. An air barrier minimizes air leakage. High performance, triple-glazed windows round out the super-insulated building envelope.
Mechanical systems can then be smaller and all electric. High efficiency heating, cooling, and energy recovery ventilation ensure that the house stays warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and receives a constant supply of fresh, clean air throughout the year.
Renewables such as solar panels can then produce as much or more than enough energy each year to offset consumption in the all-electric house. Finally, an energy monitoring system can allow owners to track and better understand their consumption and production.
A Passive House or net positive energy home is not only a sustainable addition to a taxed environment, it also increases building durability, provides superior thermal comfort, and, with an adequate solar electric system, can even yield enough energy to support electric cars.
This South End rowhome in Boston, Massachusetts has been super-insulated and uses efficient all-electric systems.
Passive House Design as a Specialty
For the last 15 years, ZeroEnergy Design (ZED) has been creating modern green homes that meet exceptional energy performance standards. Whether seeking certification or general alignment, targeting Passive House level performance as a default allows for focus to be put on the homeowner’s needs and the site, while always prioritizing comfort, healthy indoor air, durability and energy efficiency.
ZED’s staff includes five Certified Passive House Consultants, ensuring that the Passive House principles are an integral component of the firm’s architectural design process. “We incorporate the Passive House design principles in all projects we work on, regardless of whether or not our clients are seeking passive house certification,” says ZED’s Engineering Principal Jordan Goldman. “This has allowed us to streamline our design process without the need for external consultants.”
