Passive house design stands out as a crucial aspect of eco-friendly home building, providing a forward-thinking approach for those aiming to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.
At its heart, a passive house is a building standard based on five key design principles that meet a stringent set of requirements. Essentially, it's a recognised certification that can only be achieved by adhering to multiple conditions, many of which are integrated into the home's design. The outcome? Certified passive house suppliers optimise solar energy use, prevent air leakage and reduce the necessity for heating and cooling systems, leading to immediate reductions in energy costs.
So, should you consider investing in a passive house? As certified passive house constructors, the experts possess the know-how and skills to assist you in designing and constructing a passive house.
Here are some of the primary advantages:
Enhanced Comfort
According to passive house suppliers, a fundamental feature of a passive house is the creation of an airtight building envelope that blocks any heat from escaping or cold air from entering. This involves insulating the exterior walls, doors, windows, roof and subfloor. Consequently, this eliminates thermal bridges, which are weak areas in a building that allow heat to pass through the walls.
Thermal bridge-free construction ensures your home is free from hot or cold spots, maintaining consistent temperatures from the floor to the ceiling. This means your home remains comfortable throughout the year, no matter the outdoor temperature.
Improved Air Quality
One of the five design principles of a passive house is mechanical ventilation heat recovery. This concept involves the installation of a mechanical ventilation system that continuously provides fresh air without the need to open windows (and thus, lose heat). This same system also removes stale air, recycles heat and filters any incoming air. This leads to a reduction in pollutants and a decreased risk of condensation inside the home. You can still enjoy fresh air by opening your windows, but you won't depend on them as heavily.
Reduced Noise Pollution
As per passive house suppliers, the superior insulation, high-performance windows and meticulous sealing of a passive house not only prevent unwanted heat or cool air from entering but also block excess noise from the street. This acoustic separation ensures a peaceful environment, minimising the impact of noisy neighbours.
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The 68-unit, 8 story HANAC Corona Senior Residence was constructed in Corona, N.Y. for providing safe and affordable housing system through cutting edge sustainable building design to low-income seniors.
The project aimed at achieving 75% - 90% energy savings compared to the existing buildings, which is a prerequisite for obtaining the Passive House Institute (PHI) certificate.PHI developed the Passive House certification system, a high performance building standard, in 1990 which focuses on building’s passive measures like insulation, air tightness and heat recovery for providing superior indoor air quality, while reducing the energy bills to the highest possible extent.In October 2020, HANAC Corona Senior Residence was fully approved as a Passive House certified building with the help of New York Engineers, a NY based MEP engineering firm.
This made HANAC as the 1st affordable housing project in NYC that meets the PHI standards.
NY Engineers provided mechanical, electrical, plumping and fire protection designs for achieving superior energy efficiency and indoor air quality.Requirements For a building to get the Passive House certification, it must meet several performance requirements.
The following table represents the building quality requirements and the associated performance levels of each.
Building QualityHANAC Senior ResidencePassive House CriteriaHeating Demand (kWh/m2a)13≤ 15Heating Load (W/m2)15-Cooling + Dehumidification (kWh/m2a)13≤ 19Cooling Load (W/m2)14-Frequency of Excessively High Humidity6≤ 10Air Tightness0.4≤ 0.6Primary Energy Use115≤ 120 HANAC achieved this performance level with a combination of architectural and MEP design features by New York Engineers for minimizing energy consumption that led to HANAC Senior Residence getting the PHI certificate.
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