Passive Design

Prof. Liam OBrien

1
 What is passive?
Many definitions
Here were defining passive as systems and strategies
that require in mechanical or electrical input
Passive is: envelope, natural ventilation, daylighting,
thermal mass
Passive is not: HVAC, lighting, renewable energy systems
But some people count HRVs/ERVs and renewables as
passive.

2
 Contents
1. Passive House
2. Passive solar
3. Fixed shading system design
4. Natural Ventilation
5. Daylighting and lighting

3
 Objective
Use natural free forces
to reduce energy use and
improve occupant
comfort.
Not rely heavily on
occupants to make a
building function properly.
Resilience (e.g., power
outages)
Geometry, geometry,
geometry.and materials.

4
 The optimal mix: passive and active
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency Measures PV
measures provide
diminishing returns
At some point, its
cheaper to move
forward with
mechanical and
electrical systems
(based on additional
$/kWh)
BEOpt: a house life- Economically
cycle cost Optimal
optimization tool
 Passiv Haus (Passive House)
Movement
A voluntary standard
(not just for houses)
About 25,000 built to
date
Emphasis on
conservation and not
on renewables
Canadian Passive
House Institute
(CanPHI)
6
Another Passiv Haus

Probably the
first
PassivHaus

7
 Ottawa Passive House

Slab R-31
Floor area: 3536 SF Walls R-51
Heating: 14.72 kWh/m2 Basement walls R-32
Peak heating: 12.5 kW Roof R-71
Cooling: 7.7 kWh/m2 HRV: 78% effectiveness
Primary energy consumptions: 90 Windows: SHGC-0.61, USI-1.08
kWh/m2 Ground-source heat pum
Air tightness: 0.57 ach @ 50 Pa Electric water heater
8
3 kW PV
Passiv Haus Performance

9
http://www.passiv.de/English/PassiveH.HTM
Passiv Haus Required Performance
Maximum of 15
kWh/m2/year for heating
and 15 kWh/m2/year for
cooling.
Maximum of 10 W/m2 peak
heating or cooling load
(recommended).
Total primary energy use for
HVAC and DHW of 120
kWh/m2/year.
(Apparently hard to achieve
in N. America because of
our lifestyles!)
<0.6 ach infiltration @50 Pa
10
 Passiv Haus Strategies
Compact form and good insulation: USI-value < 0.15 W/m2K
How thick would continuous insulation (of k = 0.03 mK/W) to
achieve this?
Southern orientation for passive solar gains
Very high performance windows: whole window USI-value
< 0.8 W/m2K
Use of HRV to distribute heating (no separate forced-
air/hydronic heating system)
HRVs with effectiveness > 0.8
Energy efficient appliances and lighting
Solar domestic hot water systems (technically, active)

11
HDDs in Europe

12
 How much insulation?
Space Heating vs. Wall Insulation

5800
5700
Heating Energy (kWh)

5600
5500
5400
5300
5200
5100
5000
4900
4800
6 8 10
Wall (RSI)

Note that benefit in going from 6 to 8 RSI is

twice that of going from 8 to 10 RSI
Diminishing returns
HVAC and super-insulation

14
Passiv Haus wall sections

15
Passiv Haus wall sections

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Passiv Haus wall sections

17
 Primary Energy vs. Secondary Energy
Primary energy is the energy in the fuel (or
potential energy) fed to power plants.
Secondary energy is the energy (e.g.,
electricity) delivered to customers (e.g., your
home). Secondary
Energy
Primary
Energy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gc
sebitesize/science/images/ph_en 18
ergyfuel.gif
 Why specify primary energy and not
secondary?
It indicates utility of
resources.
Electricity is a much
higher form of
energy than
thermal energy or
fuel energy.
Primary energy use
is usually more
indicative of GHG
emissions.

19
Electricity Grid Emissions Factors

Circa 2010

20
 Ontarios grid emissions

Source: https://morecoldair.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/346_paper.pdf 21
 Case Study of Houses
Ground source
heat pumps
actually release
MORE GHG
emissions than
natural gas in
Calgary.
This is why
primary energy
factors are
important.
22
 Primary to Secondary Energy
Conversion
Each region has a unique primary to secondary
energy conversion factor, based on its electricity
supply mix.
Europeans are obsessed with it; we havent
quite caught up over here.

23
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy07osti/38617.pdf
 Grid mix
In reality, emissions factors
and primary to secondary
factors fluctuate on daily
and annual bases.
Ontarios grid uses gas for
peaking and hydro and
nuclear for base loads.
Now gas is often used to
fill the values for
renewables (wind and
solar)
More information here:
http://www.ieso.ca/
24
In closing: Making $ in Passiv Haus Design
Just 3 Passiv Haus certified consultants in
Ottawa.
PHPP is the main software to verify
performance
http://www.passivehouse.ca/

25
The EcoTerra House A near Net-Zero Energy Building

2.84 kW (peak)
Building-
integrated
photovoltaic-
thermal system

Passive solar
design:
Optimized triple
glazed windows
and mass

Ground-source
heat pump

One of 15 winners of the CMHC Equilibrium Housing program

Passive Solar Design: EcoTerra House
Example
Performance

Temperature
Swing
Lag

Source: Chen, Y. et al (2010)

 HOT 2000 Preliminary analysis
Space Heating vs. Window Area

9200 86

8200 Solar gains 85.8

Heating Energy (kWh)

7200 85.6
EGH
6200 85.4

EGH rating
5200 85.2
Heating - Gas
4200 85

3200 84.8
Heating - GSHP
2200 84.6

1200 84.4
9.0 11.0 13.0 15.0 17.0 19.0 21.0 23.0 25.0
Window Area as % of Floor Area

Solar Heat Gain Space Heating Load Heating Load w/ GSHP EGH Score

EGH score is with gas furnace (condensing)

 Model Details (EnergyPlus)

Ground boundary conditions applied.

EnergyPlus does not calculate solar gains
for windows below z=0.

For early stage design, grouping windows is appropriate;

however they were explicitly modeled since the house is
designed.
 Discretionary loads
Aux HP
Controls
Heater
2.2%
1.0%
Lighting,
Aux Garage Appliances,
Heater Plug Load
7.3% 34.5%
EcoTerra basement
BIPV/T Fan &
Pump
1.4%
HRV/Air
Cleaner
7.2%
Fan, Misc
Equip
DHW 13.2%
11.7%

Heat Pump
21.3%

Avg. existing
EcoTerra house
Canadian house
Passive Solar

32
Passive solar houses

33
Passive solar houses

34
Sun Path Chart

35
 Window Heat Balance
Instantaneous net heat gain is:
= [() ]

Annual net thermal energy gain is:

= [() ]

(to estimate net thermal energy gain for a period of

time, youd have to sum each moment during the
period)
36
 Window Heat Balance by orientation

600000
Total incident solar radiation on

Heating Season
500000
surface (Wh/season)

400000
300000
Cooling Season
200000
100000
0
North N30W N60W West S60W S30W South S30E S60E East N60E N30E

Window orientation is key to successful passive solar. We

want to maximize solar gains in the heating season and
minimize them in the cooling season.
37
 Window Heat Balance by Window Type
1
(south facing)
0 0
0 20 0
40 10

SGCL--
0.9
0
30 00
0.8 -1

CL R
AI
DG LA
C
DG
0.7
CL AR
AR
TG LE
DG

0 SG
AR

0.6 0
20 0 C
LE

10 00 L-
TG

-2 -
SHGC

AR

D D
LE

0.5 G G
C C 00
G

D LA LA
00
Q

TG G R I -1
LE LE -3
0.4 AR G AR
T
C
Q LA
G R
0.3 LE
A
0 R Contour lines are net heat gain (kWh/m2/season)
0.2 00 Heat loss through RSI-8.8 wall
-2 00
Heat loss through RSI-4.4-4wall
00 Whole window with wood frame
0.1 -1 00
-3 Glazing alone 00
-5
0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
U-value (W/mK) 38
 Direct Gain vs. Indirect

http://greenarchitecturenotes.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2011/12/Jacobs-II-passive-solar-Interior.jpg
http://www.sunspacedesign.com/green-house/sunroom-1.jpg

Direct gain
Sunspace
Trombe wall
Advantages/Disadvantages? 39
http://www.eebt.org/Trombe_wall.jpg
 Effect of Thermal Mass

http://www.acca.it/euleb/data/glossary/images/image_6.png
40
Floor Temperature

41
Thermal Mass is Practice

42
 Thermal Mass in Buildings
Thermal mass heat capacity indicates how much
energy a material can store. Higher values means less
temperature increase for a given amount of energy.
MATERIAL THERMAL MASS
(volumetric heat capacity, KJ/m.k)
Water 4186
Concrete 2060
Sandstone 1800
Compressed earth blocks 1740
Rammed earth 1673
FC sheet (compressed) 1530
Brick 1360
Earth wall (adobe) 1300
AAC 550 43
More thermal mass examples

44
Thermal mass

45
Covered mass: it doesnt work well

46
 Why isnt thermal mass always good?
It makes a building much less responsive.
So if we want conditions to change rapidly, it
takes a lot of energy to achieve that change.

47
Is passive solar appropriate for
commercial buildings?

48
 Envelope vs. Internal load-dominated
buildings
Passive solar works well for
envelope load-dominated buildings
because a lot of heat is necessary
to compensate for the heat losses
through the envelope.
For internal load-dominated
buildings, solar gains may merely
increase cooling loads because the
lights, equipment and people are
already providing ample heat gains.
Thats where simulation comes in.
You also have to be careful about
glare from large windows. 49
 Passive Solar Fraction
Definition: the fraction of purchased heating
that is covered by passive solar gains.

50
 52

Simulation Approaches: Design Days

Glazing and thermal mass added

40 12 40 12

Solar Gain or Heating Load (kW)

Solar Gain or Heating Load (kW)

35 South Zone Temp
35
Solar Gain 10 10
Cold Sunny Day

30 30
Heating Load
Temperature (C)

Temperature (C)
8 8
25 25

20 6 20 6
15 15
4 4
10 10
2 2
5 5
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

02 0
04 0
06 0
08 0
10 0
12 0
14 0
16 0
18 0
20 0
22 0
0
h3 h3 h3 h3 h3 h3 h3 h3 h3 h3 h3 h3

h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
h3
00 02 04 06 08 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

00
tim e time

Peak Indoor Temperature: Peak Indoor Temperature:

25.6C 25.6C

Daily Purchased Heating: Daily Purchased Heating:

64.24 kWh 38.0 kWh

Annual Purchased Heating: Annual Purchased Heating:

12,441 kWh 9,804 kWh
 Passive Solar Rules of Thumb
Note: rules of thumb are a
good starting point, but might
fail for new climates,
strategies, technologies.
Best information source is
Tap the Sun

53
 Passive Solar Rules of Thumb
Orient long axis in East-West direction
Use an aspect ratio (width to length ratio) of
about 1.2 1.4
Ensure south-facing windows are fully solar
exposed from 9:00 to 15:00 in the heating
season.
Length
South
Width 54
 Passive Solar Rules of Thumb
Use about 4 6 (10 - 15cm) of thermal mass
on the floor or wall
Have about 150 pounds of thermal mass for
every square foot of south-facing window
Thermal mass should have 9 times as much
area as south-facing glazing
Thermal mass should be a medium dark
colour

55
 Passive Solar Rules of Thumb
Avoid having a south
facing window shaded
by external shading in
the winter.
Use an overhang to, at
least, partially shade
south-facing windows in
the summer.

56
 Rules of Thumb vs. Simulation
Rules of thumb:
Good starting point
The thermal mass
Usually limited to relating
should be 9 times the
only 1-2 variables
area of south-facing
Limited to pre-conceived glass.
configurations/technologies
Do not exceed 6 in
Only predicts good design thickness for thermal
characteristics; not mass materials
performance

57
 When Rules of Thumb Fail
Trees (opaque)
Solar obstructions PV Array

Advanced technologies
Non-standard controls
Non-standard use of Trees (50%
transmittance)
space Trees (opaque)

58
 Fixed Shading Design
Three types that well
look at:
Overhangs
Sidefins
Fixed louvers/slats
Where (orientation)
should these be applied?
What are their
limitations?

59
60
61
62
63
 Site/Shading Analysis
Overhang Design
No window shading
during winter solstice
(required by CMHC).
Majority of south-
facing windows
shaded by fixed
overhang on summer
solstice; but not in
shoulder seasons.
Overheating can occur in shoulder seasons when outdoor
temperature is warm but sun is low.
o Retractable awnings are used on upper floor to minimize
unwanted gains. (only on upper windows because of lack of
thermal mass here)
o Interior shades are less effective because not all solar gains are
rejected; but also offer privacy.

64
 65

Site/Shading Analysis

EnerPos building,
Reunion Island
 Site/Shading Analysis
80 25
70 20
Solar Altitude at noon (deg.)

Mean Temperautre (C)

60
15
50
10
40
1-2 month lag 5
30
0
20
Solar Altitude
10 -5
Mean Temperature
0 -10
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

66
Solar geometry refresher

67
 New solar geometry variable: solar
profile angle ()
Projection of the solar altitude onto a vertical
plane that is perpendicular to the surface of
interest (e.g., window)

68
 Solar Profile Angle ()
tan = [tan()/cos()]
= solar altitude
= surface-solar azimuth

= when = 0

69
SH=PH TAN()
PH: width of enclosing side of
horizontal projection
SH: height of shadow below
horizontal projection

70
 Overhang Design
1. Determine when (time of day or month of
year) you want the window to be shaded.
2. Determine when the sun will be incident on
the window.
3. Use a sun path chart to determine how big
(deep) the overhang has to be.

71
Overhang Design

72
Overhang Design: Sun Path Chart

73
 Critical Angle Analysis
Critical angles define solar aperture height
(SAH)

SAH

S
 Overhang Design Exercise
Design an overhang to shade a
2 m wide by 1.5 m high south-
facing window so that the it
completely shaded at noon on
June 21 and completely
unshaded on Dec. 21.
South
What are the critical angles?
How deep, wide, and high
should it be?

75
 Sidefins
Sidefins can help control
solar gains when the sun
is lower in the sky and
not directly in front of a
window.

76
77
 Sidefin Design Exercise
Design a sidefin for a West-facing 1 m by 1 m
window, such that the window never sees
the sun before 3pm. The sidefin is
immediately adjacent to the window.
What is the critical angle?

South
78
 Sizing Horizontal Projections
Use the summer solstice profile angle (S) to
determine spacing of vertical louvers

H
S

Spacing (S)= H/TAN(S)

If H=12, then S=12/TAN(S)=3.55 say 3

Note: method does not include louver thickness

 Sizing Horizontal Projections
Use the summer solstice profile angle (S) to
determine spacing of reverse inclined louvers

H
S

S 2S

Spacing (S)= H/TAN(S)

If H=12, then S=12/TAN(S)=3.55 say 3

Note: method does not include louver thickness

 Louver Design Exercise
Design (south-facing) louvers so that there is
no direct solar penetration between April 20
and August 20 between 10am and 2pm. What
is the maximum spacing?

20

20 cm

81
 Lateral Penetration
Mar 21 at 10 AM solar time
 Lateral Penetration Solutions
Extend projection bilaterally
 Lateral Penetration Solutions
Install vertical component bilaterally
Shading Mask Technique

85
 Tools for shading device design
Sustainable by Design
Climate Consultant
SketchUp

87
 Natural Ventilation: 2 techniques; 2
purposes
Cross ventilation
Stack ventilation

Increase supply/fresh air with no mechanical

energy use
Improve cooling sensation with greater airflow

88
 Natural Ventilation

3/13/2016 http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/carbon- 89
aia/case/global/images/650/section-perspective.jpg
 Why natural ventilation?

Three energy benefits:

1. Improve IAQ without
using fans (still need
them installed!)
2. Introduce cooler
outdoor air (offset
cooling loads)
3. Use air movement to
make the air feel
cooler
3/13/2016 90
 Why not natural ventilation?
If outdoor air is more
contaminated than
indoor air
If outdoors is noisy, its
hard to control sound
transmission
If outdoor air is too
humid (raining at the
extreme)
If outdoor air is too
cold or too hot
3/13/2016 91
 Cross Ventilation Design Guidelines
Orient to catch predominant wind
direction; especially when cooling is
needed
Long/narrow floor plate is better than
square. Narrow direction should be
less than 15m.
Have operable windows on opposite
sides of the building; short-circuiting
can happen for natural ventilation too
(like for mechanical ventilation)
To take advantage of stack effect, you
can maximize difference in height of
windows.
3/13/2016 92
Taking cues from climate data

93
 Natural Ventilation: Path of least
resistance

3/13/2016 94
http://www.resourcesmart.vic.gov.au/documents/Natural_Ventilation_Systems.pdf
 Cross ventilation: depth of floor plate
Effective natural ventilation is limited to cases where the window-
to-window distance is less than 20% of the floor-to-ceiling height.
Why?

http://www.resourcesmart.vic.gov.au/docume
3/13/2016 95
nts/Natural_Ventilation_Systems.pdf
 Natural Ventilation

3/13/2016 96
Stack Effect and Natural Ventilation

3/13/2016 97
 Stack effect
In winter, warmer
indoor air rises and
exerts an outward
pressure at the top of
the building; a negative
pressure acts at the
bottom.
The opposite occurs in
summer (if outdoor is
warmer than indoor)
98
A very simple tool to assess the thermal comfort :
the Givonis comfort zones

99
 ENERPOS Building La Reunion
Net floor area : 830 m (7 classrooms + offices)
2 buildings / two floors
BIPV roofs : 49 kWp/370 m
Completion : July 2008
Building Cost : US$ 2,265/m (gross floor area)
Architect : T Faessel-Bohe
Energy consultants : IMAGEEN (La Reunion)
Sustainable design consultants : TRIBU (Paris)

100
 Passive techniques

101
Change in operative temperature in an
office during a typical year (results from
Energy+/Design Builder)
Transition natural ventilation /air fans : Ta > 28C and V=0,5 m.s-1
Transition air fans/air-conditioning : Ta > 30C and V=1 m.s-1
Change in resultant temperature in an office

Air conditioning period

34
Ceiling fan period
32
Natural ventilation only
30
Tres office (C)
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
Jan Feb March April May June July Aug. Sept Oct Nov Dc

102
NREL RSF

103
Manitoba Hydro HQ

104
 Magical airflow arrows

3/13/2016 105
 Nighttime ventilation strategy
If outdoor temperatures
fluctuate between above
and below indoor
temperatures diurnally
with an amplitude of at
least 5C, it may be
beneficial to pre-cool a
building at night
The pre-cooling capacity
depends on air change
rate, T, and exposed
mass quantity.

3/13/2016 106
 Single-sided natural ventilation
Single-sided
natural ventilation
is not nearly as
effective, because T = Ti - To
it mainly relies on
a vertical
temperature
gradient within
the height of the
window.
3/13/2016 107
Natural Ventilation and Window Types

108
What time of year is this
photo from?

109