Passive Houses in Germany Conceptions, Design, Best Practice

Georg W. Zielke, Architekt, Architekturbro Zielke Darmstadt, Germany Dr. Berthold Kaufmann, Passive House Institute, Darmstadt, Germany

How to bring new buildings to the energy level of Passive Houses

Passive Comfort Houses: - basic conception - technical solutions / components - functional requirements (energy balance) - costs ...

Georg W. Zielke Architect, Expert in Passive Houses Architekturbro Zielke

Herta-Mansbacher-Strae 86 - D- 64289 Darmstadt Phone 0049 (0)6151-981098 0 Fax 0049 (0)6151-981098 3 Mail architekt@buero-zielke.de www.buero-zielke.de d.o.b. 15th August 1961 p.o.b. D- Wiesenbach / Heidelberg

I am a qualified architect with considerable experience in ecological and economical planning and costeffective building for the residential market. Since 2002, I have specialised in building, planning and information to Passive House standards. I work closely with the Institute for Passive Housing and take part in national and international guided tours to promote Passive Housing through out the world.

the basic principles

all biologic life faces limited resources! preserve the warmth ... as nature shows

Passive House Qualities five basics

thermal insulation: U 0,15 W/(mK) Uw 0,8 W/(mK) mech. ventilation system with heat recovery 75% outside air waste air avoid thermal bridge effects a 0.01 W/(mK)

air tight envelope: n50 0,6 /h exhaust air supply air 3-pane glazings: Ug 0,8 W/(mK) g-value 50 - 55 %

heat energy demand 15 kWh/(ma) air tight envelope n50 0,6 /h maximum heating load 10 W/m frequency of overheating 10 %

air tightness is a 3D design task

design one airtight layer all around the building
use the rule of drawing pencil to imagine the air tight plane one airtight envelope must cover the whole heated or cooled building volume.

air-tightness
n50 < 0,6 AC/h is a precondition for efficient ventilation with heat recovery
- no noise - no draft - minimal electric consumption

Mechanical ventilation system is essential

mould uncomfortable humid Relative humidity (%)

dust mites comfortable less comfortable uncomfortable dry Respiratory tract infections

Ecological Passive House Zielke-Vriesen,

Darmstadt 2002 / 03, Architect: Zielke

Active System requirement: 4,16 kWp PV system validated approximately 110% of the totally used electric energy of the house final results of the PHPP calculations for the Residence Passive House Zielke-Vriesen: specific heating energy requirement: 13.9 kWhm2a (4.4 kBtu/ft2/yr) specific primary energy requirement: 66,7 kWh/m2a (21,2 kBtu/ft2/yr) airtightness: 0.45 ACH50 surface area-to-volume ratio (A/V): 0,68 Recyclable building materials Rainwater usage (stands for aprox. 45% less fresh water)

architectural example: Terraced housing

`Aktiv-Passiv` row houses, Darmstadt, Germany Architect: Georg W. Zielke, Darmstadt

wooden construction (Architect Georg W. Zielke)

`Aktiv-Passiv` row houses, Darmstadt, principle section

detail wooden construction (Arch. Zielke)

section roof and window

wooden construction ... on the building site

prefabricated framework (arch. Zielke, Sep. 2007)

nine row houses, Darmstadt, Arch. Zielke

in completion, Nov. 2008

building envelope: passive house

international Competition in 2007, Washington USA

www.solardecathlon.de winning as a high-tech solution

Example for reinstatement works

With passive house components as: Windows Thermal insulation from the ground to the top Ventilation system ... after renovation before ...

Architect: Georg W. Zielke, Darmstadt

passive houses in hot / humid climates

good experience with passive cooling strategies minimum active cooling and dehumidification necessary

thermal insulation

window ventilation
(during night if possible)

activate thermal capacity

reduce internal gains!

limit solar gains by shading or double facade!

Passiv Haus Institut

Passive House Institute highly efficient use of energy in buildings

research + consulting scientific evaluation of building projects (CEPHEUS) development of components quality assurence training and further education of experts www.passivhouse.com

passive houses worldwide

analyse climatic conditions carefully check the energy balance in detail setup a 'passive' building conception take care on costs so that anybody will be able to afford it

Hunter and Amory Lovins The Rocky Mountains Institute, RMI, 1970ies 'solar' building for a 'solar' climate region: the Rocky Mountains cold winter but plenty of solar radiation available

experimental passive house prototype construction 1991

conception: Bo Adamson & Wolfgang Feist

Architects: Bott, Ridder, Westermayer

check function & consumption in reality!

measured consumption of ph prototype (end energy) [kWh/ma],

90% energy conservation for space heating

multi family housing in Frankfurt, Germany

contractor: architekts: Foto:

ABG Frankfurt Holding P. Grenz, F. Rasch, faktor10, Darmstadt Fotostudio Michels, Darmstadt.

multi family housing in Frankfurt, Germany

five buildings 160 dwellings architects and contractor: ABG Frankfurt Holding foto: Axel Stefan Fotodesign

before...

Heating energy demand: 290 kWh/(ma)

Heating energy demand: < 20 kWh/(ma)

Renovation Project Tevesstrae FF/M Contractor: ABG Frankfurt Holding Architects: faktor10, Darmstadt Scientific Monitoring: Passivhaus Institut, Darmstadt Monitoring funded by Hessisches Ministerium fr Wirtschaft, Verkehr und Landesentwicklung, Wiesbaden, Germany

...optimaler Wrmeschutz ...after renovation

calculate the energy balance in detail

specific energy flow kWh/ma

losses gains standard building

losses gains passive building

built PH projects in the US

Smith Passive House 2003 Urbana, Illinois, Single-family residence Latitude: 40.12N Longitude: 88.24W Elevation: 738 ft Cold climate Finished floor area 111 m Heat energy demand: 8 kWh/ma Peak heating load: 13.1 W/m

Active System requirement to become plus energy / carbon neutral: 5 kW photovoltaic system (not installed but wired in)
(1,200 sq feet) (2.5 kBtu/ft/yr) (4.2 Btu/h/ft)

Contact:

Passive House Institute US

Katrin Klingenberg

www.passivehouse.us

built PH projects in the US

BioHaus School, Bemidji MN 2006 School Building Latitude: 47.5N Longitude: 94.8W Elevation: 1350 ft very cold climate Finished floor area 401 m Heat energy demand: 13.8 kWh/ma
Owner: Concordia Language Village Architect: Stephan Tanner, AIA

(4320 sqare feet) (4.35 kBtu/ft2/yr)

Active System requirement to become plus energy / carbon neutral: 10.8 kW photovoltaic system (not installed but wired in)
Katrin Klingenberg www.passivehouse.us

Contact:

Passive House Institute US

built PH projects in the US

Cleveland Farm 2007 - 2008, West Tisbury, Massachusetts Latitude: 41.3N Longitude: 704.8W Elevation: 89 ft cold climate Finished floor area 422 m (4544 sqare feet) Heat energy demand: 14.9 kWh/ma (4.7 kBtu/ft/yr) Peak heating load: 12.6 W/m (3.9 Btu/h/ft)
Architect: Craig Buttner, Arch P.C. Builder: Clancy Construction

Active System requirement to become plus energy / carbon neutral: 5 kW wind turbine
Katrin Klingenberg www.passivehouse.us

Contact:

Passive House Institute US

and what about costs? you may not 'make' fast money, but ... passive house & sustainable design will give long term return on investment

why emphasize on building envelope?

the quality approach: the service for the customer is comfortable temperature comfortable indoor climate the service is NOT energy we can serve for best comfort combined with lowest energy consumption do the best you can afford now

why emphasize on building envelope?

the economic approach: lifetime of envelope components is high 30 ... 50 ... 100 years renovation intervalls are therefore long and so innovation cycles are long the investor will be fixed to any desicion made now for many years do the best you can afford now

passive house step by step

energy related extra costs per construction area: opaque 90 /m (25...40 cm) th.bridges:10 /m windows: +153 /m airtight: 5 /m vent: 6000 /unit in total: 260 /m (floor area)

0.034 /kWh

gesamt: 0.053 /kWh

0.065 /kWh

0.032 /kWh

0.21 /kWh

old house

+ thermal insulation

+ triple glazed windows

+ airtightness

+ ventilation heat recovery

total

passive houses in hot / humid climates

good experience with passive cooling strategies minimum active cooling and dehumidification necessary

thermal insulation

window ventilation
(during night if possible)

activate thermal capacity

reduce internal gains!

limit solar gains by shading or double facade!

Passive Houses in the Mediterranean Simplification by Energy-Efficiency

A detailed study by thermal simulation Jrgen Schnieders, PHI, Darmstadt

Dynamics with active cooling

Seville (arid climate): Existing building very high cooling power needed

Dynamics with active cooling

Seville (arid climate): Passive House only low cooling power necessary no electricity peak power problem

A.S.S.A. office building in Santa Croce, provincia di Pisa, Italy

Architect: Silvia Mazzetti building physics: Gnther Gantioler

hot & humide climate (moderate)

available standard PH components heating & cooling & dehumidification with small multi-split-device (AC)

A.S.S.A. building conception

PH components: Uopaque: 0.12 - 0.22 W/(mK) Uwindow: 0.85 W/(mK) Air-tight building envelope Ventilation with heat recovery Heating & cooling with small multi-split-device

A.S.S.A. building experiences

almost no heating energy consumption cooling devices only needed for dehumidification total (not extra!) cost for PH window, thermal insulation, ventilation ~ 10% of construction costs

extra investment in building envelope...

... provides locally added value (no fuel importation) ... makes renewables a realistic possibility energy-efficient provides independence building design long term return: of fuel delivery

noticable extra benefit for the customer financial yield & old age provision

Passive Houses building today for a sustainable future

13th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PASSIVE HOUSES

Frankfurt/Main Congress Center 2009 April 17th / 18th with exhibition and guided tours to passive houses in the Frankfurt area.

www.passivhaustagung.de