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What is Passive House
- Developed in Germany in 1988 by Dr. Wolfgang Feist
- Combines high levels of comfort with very low energy consumption
- Economic to build
- Designed to:
- Minimise heat loss
- Maximise internal gains
- No traditional central heating system required
- Can be applied to any building type
Passive House Characteristics
- Super Insulated
- Air-Tight
- High performance windows
- Comfortable
- MVHR
- Cold Bridge Free
- Orientated South
- High quality workmanship
How does Passive House work
- Heating makes up 75% of your energy bill
- Passive House aims to reduce this as much as possible
Based on simple building physics
- Heat losses through walls, floors, roofs, thermal bridges and windows are minimised
- Air tightness means no uncontrolled heat leaking to outside
- MVHR means that the fresh air coming into the house is preheated so no ventilation heat loss
- Windows to the south mean more solar gain
- Internal heat gains from people and appliances are retained in the house
Common Features in a Passive House
- Clean fresh air
- Little or no heating costs
- No Drafts
- Consistent comfortable temperatures no matter what the weather
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