Low Energy & Passive House

Passive House

A Passive House is an energy-efficient building that has year-round comfort and good indoor climate without the use of active space heating or cooling systems. The space heating requirement is reduced by means of passive measures to the point that there is no longer any need for a conventional heating system.

Passive houses are usually light and bright due to large glazed areas designed to optimise solar gains, and are healthy to live and work in due to fresh air supplied by the ventilation system. They will also have high levels of insulation, minimal thermal bridges (? 0.01 W/mK) and low air infiltration.

How it works

Passive house relates to the way a building is heated:

• Conventional buildings need active heating by means of burning oil, gas, wood or coal, or by electricity, either directly or indirectly by heat pumps.
• Passive houses heat passively by means of energy conservation and by utilising internal heat sources and solar gains.

The Passive House standard is achieved by meeting targets for:

• Space heating demand ? 15 kWh/m²/year
• Maximum heating load of 10 W/m²
• Cooling demand ? 15 kWh/m²/year
• Primary energy use ? 120 kWh/m²/year (heating, lighting, domestic hot water, appliances)
• As-built air tightness ? 0.6 ach-1 @ 50Pa

Passive House services include:

• Assistance with initial design using the preferred construction method of your choice.
• Assist in sourcing and choosing passive house certified materials and components.
• Design the technical detailing of a Passive House.
• PHPP software.
• Planning applications.
• Air tightness testing during construction of passive house.

In Passive House buildings, the cost savings from dispensing with the conventional heating system can be used to fund the upgrade of the building envelope and the heat recovery ventilation system. It is estimated that passive houses use only 10% – 15% of the energy of a traditional house i.e. 85% – 90% reduction in energy bills

Passive House Downloads

SEAI New Build Passive House Guidelines
SEAI Retrofitted Passive Homes