Imagine the temperature inside your home is 22°C all the time. The air is clean, allergen free, your ventilation not reliant on windows being open. Welcome to your Passive House.
What exactly is “Passive House”?
An international building standard developed for low energy consumption using high performance building materials and techniques.
How did Passive House get your attention?
When I first arrived in Sydney from Canada, I couldn’t believe how cold the inside of the homes were. Having always been interested in different building techniques, I soon discovered Passive House, then learning how best to implement this approach for my residential, commercial, and heritage restoration projects.
Is there a formal Passive House Accreditation?
Yes, I gained my Certification from the PassivHaus Institut (PHI) in Germany – the organisation overseeing everything with PassivHaus globally. I’m also a member of the Australian PassivHaus Association. Continuing education is essential.
What are the core essentials to understand when thinking about a “Passive House”?
A Passive House is designed for your home’s unique local climate, which can vary from Seaforth to Brookvale to Terrey Hills to Avalon. Then at the core of the Passive House process is the belief that energy efficiency, environmental responsibility, and indoor comfort are paramount. To achieve this, the main principle to consider is, how airtight is your home? Passive House creates an airtight house so that you can control the quality and warmth of the air inside. This doesn’t mean you can never open a door or have big sliding doors to your backyard, it simply means at night or when you decide to close the doors and windows that you truly have control over the quality of air in your home.
How do you assess how airtight a home is?
By how many air changes per hour (ac/h) occur. For a certified Passive House, air changes per hour must be below 0.6. To put that in perspective, even brand-new homes built to meet current energy efficiency standards can have 10 air changes per hour, older homes over 20.
Does this matter?
Very much so. It leads to mould, condensation and other ‘sick building’ symptoms with pests moving freely in and out of your house. Eliminating this with an airtight Passive House reduces dust. Constant air circulation and filtered air improves air quality. Mould and condensation are prolific on the Beaches. Eliminating this has huge health upside. Sleep is greatly improved too.
How do you control the home’s air quality?
Instead of air conditioners which are expensive to run, Passive House technologies use a Heat Recovery Ventilation Unit (HRV) which heats and cools as required. With HRVs you can also control the amount of relative humidity in your house and even dial in your desired air comfort.
What are the financial benefits?
Through super-insulated envelopes (aka your home!), high-performance windows, and airtight construction, Passivhaus buildings can cut heating and cooling energy use by up to 90% compared to existing buildings, a dramatic reduction.
What challenges do you face when discussing the Passive House option with clients?
There can be an over-emphasis on how ‘Instagrammable’ a house is. There’s nothing wrong with wanting an exquisite marble countertop, but perhaps that money is better invested in high performance windows and your home having the most energy efficient overall structure. Instagram likes may or may not help you breathe easy and live better, but a Passive House will absolutely.
Visit metsabuilding.com.au to learn more or call Hendrik on 0426 894 565 and email hendo@metsabuilding.com.au