Passivhaus: Just for Energy Geeks and Treehuggers. Isn’t it?

This is a guest post by Architect, Elrond Burrell, where he shares why Passivhaus is so important to the construction industry and beyond.

Passivhaus is known as the worlds leading energy efficiency standard for buildings. It drives building energy consumption down as much as 90%. This means paying very close attention to how a building is designed, detailed and constructed to ensure energy is used efficiently and not wasted. It means undertaking very detailed energy and performance modeling during the design process. This can all seem a bit complicated and geeky, so why not leave it to the geeks who love this kind of thing? And only Treehuggers are so into saving energy aren’t they?

Actually, no. Here are three reasons why you should care about Passivhaus: Climate Change, EU legislation, and because you can make a difference.

1. Climate change

Looking at the big picture, climate change is the major issue that we have to contend with across the board. There’s no denying now that rising CO2 levels and climate change and everything else that comes with it are all happening. What we do today to respond to this is critical. And this includes the built environment and building design.

Buildings play a significant role globally with around 40% of our CO2 emissions coming from constructing and operating buildings. This means that in the design & construction industry we have a fantastic opportunity to make a meaningful and positive impact. Passivhaus can reduce energy consumption of buildings by 70-90%. This in turn radically cuts CO2 emissions.

The problem and the opportunities are simply too big to leave to the Treehuggers and Energy Geeks, we’ve all got to get involved.

2. EU Legislation

Climate change can be just too overwhelming though. So bringing the focus a bit closer to home, the EU is committed to limiting climate change to a global increase in temperature of 2°C. Recognising that buildings contribute 40% of the CO2 emissions, the EU has drawn up the “Energy Performance of Buildings Directive”. This legislation sets out how buildings across the whole of the EU (including the UK) need to perform in the very near future.

The critical bit to know about is the requirement that all public buildings (owned by central or local government) must be “near Zero Energy Buildings” (‘nZEB’) after 2018 and all buildings are to be “near zero energy” after 2020. So what is an ‘nZEB’? The directive says an ‘nZEB’ is:

…a building that has a very high energy performance. The nearly zero or very low amount of energy required should be covered to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources, including energy from renewable sources produced on-site or nearby.

The target of “Zero Carbon Homes” by 2016 is the approach taken in the UK to meet the directive’s ‘nZEB’ requirements for houses. Unfortunately, as we are all aware, the definition of a “zero carbon home” is a moving feast that has taken a long time to develop and even now it isn’t entirely clear. Nor is it clear how well a “zero carbon home” will actually perform in use and how the performance will be measured. Added to this confusion the government seems to have changed its mind about which developments are actually required to deliver “Zero Carbon Homes”, so there is a loophole!

And of course there are also all the other building types, particularly those owned and operated by public bodies that are on the tighter deadline to be nZEBs.

This is where the Passivhaus standard comes in and many EU regions are adopting it as the standard to achieve nZEBs. 

3. You can make a difference: Passivhaus delivers

Circling back to climate change, as I mentioned above, the issue is big, often too big to come to terms with in any meaningful way. The easiest reaction is to ignore it and carry on as usual. Or perhaps we make a few minor adjustments to our lifestyle to ease our guilt and concerns. So we need something tangible that we can do and that we know will make a difference. This is what passivhaus offers.

Passivhaus has a 20+ years track record now of delivering buildings that radically reduce energy consumption. It is a standard that works, that can meet the nZEB requirements, and that we can trust. With passivhaus we know we can deliver nZEBs, today.

Certainly designing and constructing passivhaus buildings takes more effort and more attention. It is a very simple performance standard but with a rigorous methodology, so you do have to do the work. However, it’s not just any work, it is meaningful work. You can bring your passion and enthusiasm to your work knowing you are making a difference. Knowing that what you do counts.

With passivhaus you can reliably deliver buildings that consume as much as 90% less energy than comparable building regulation compliant buildings. You can be sure that you are making a very tangible positive impact on the built environment, and in turn on the wider environment. You are helping safeguarding the climate and world we live in, the world our children and grandchildren are inheriting.

And building owners and users love buildings that perform as predicted, or better, and are incredibly comfortable all year round – everyone wins.

Start now

Climate change is a massive issue. In the construction industry we have a fantastic opportunity to positively impact climate change. Passivhaus enables us to act on this opportunity, right now.

Legislation will soon force us to build much more energy efficient buildings. We need leadership before this happens. Now is the time to change the way you procure, design, specify or construct buildings. Now is the time for Passivhaus buildings. (Oh and it’s not just for houses in case you wondered about that.)

Passivhaus gives you the tools to make a tangible difference. There is no need to be an Energy Geek or Treehugger. You can do meaningful work, in the construction industry, knowing it has a direct positive impact on the world today and for the future. You can bring your passion and enthusiasm into your work knowing you are making a genuine difference to climate change. You can take pride in making a difference through your work.

And the time to start is now.

Start by educating yourself so you can take action. Here are some resources to get stuck into today:

• Passive House Institute
• Passipedia (Online passivhaus ‘encyclopedia’)
• International Passive House Association (iPHA)
• UK Passivhaus Trust – packed full of resources and links to training
• The annual UK Passivhaus Conference (This year: Thursday 16th October 2014)
• AECB Carbonlite Programme
• The BRE
• Passivhaus in Plain English where I personally blog twice a month.

I want us, construction industry professionals, to change the world for the better, by changing architecture. Please join me in this mission.

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Elrond Burrell is an Architect, Writer & Speaker with over 15 years experience in designing and delivering excellent buildings. His areas of expertise are Sustainable Design, Passivhaus, Timber construction, and Building Information Modeling (BIM). He is a passionate advocate of these subjects and loves writing and speaking about them, as he often does in the UK and around the world. He is an active member of the UK and Global BIM community and well known on social media for promoting BIM and Sustainable Design.

Elrond is an Associate at Architype Ltd, however, this blog is written in a personal capacity and represents his personal opinions, not those of his employer.

You can also connect with Elrond on Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

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