Passive House Methods Help Build for the Future

Energy Modeling and Integrated Design are Keys to Getting the Most Out of a Home

The design team started by modeling potential building assemblies with a helpful software package called REM:Design, but then turned to the newly acquired Passive House A residential building construction standard requiring very low levels of air leakage, very high levels of insulation, and windows with a very low U-factor. Developed in the early 1990s by Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist, the standard is now promoted by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany. To meet the standard, a home must have an infiltration rate no greater than 0.60 AC/H @ 50 pascals, a maximum annual heating energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (4,755 Btu per square foot), a maximum annual cooling energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (1.39 kWh per square foot), and maximum source energy use for all purposes of 120 kWh per square meter (11.1 kWh per square foot). The standard recommends, but do...

Full article: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/homes/passive-house-m...