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Tips for Building passive house

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Published: 21Mar2010
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The concept of passive house is getting popularity as more and more people are trying to reduce energy consumption of their house as far as possible. Energy consumption of a room can be slashed down to almost 90% in a passive house, which is something that very few people can afford to ignore. Compared to traditional houses, passive house does not consume huge amount of energy for keeping the temperature of a room stable. You can maximize energy efficiency and minimize energy consumption by transforming your house into a passive house. Previously the technique of passive house was mainly applied to residential buildings, but with the growing consciousness over energy conservation, this technique is now widely implemented in different types of properties such as kindergartens, schools, buildings etc. Besides new buildings, old buildings are also adopting this technique to reduce their monthly electricity bills as much as possible. The demand of energy efficient house is spiraling up continuously as the source of traditional source of energy is fast depleting and as the cost of the traditional source of energy such as gas, oil etc is increasing rapidly. This trend has forced many people to opt for viable alternative. Though the concept of energy efficient house is nothing new, the development of new and sophisticated technology has perfected and refined the concept to some extent. Now, the term passive house does not simply refer to an energy efficient room rather it also encompasses other aspects such as eco-friendly etc.

Not every energy efficient house can be a passive home. Houses should fulfill the following requirements before being touted as passive homes. 120 kWh/m² per year is the maximum limit of energy consumption in passive homes. Annual heating demand of a passive home should not be more than 15 kWh/m² per year and annual cooling demand should not be more than 4746 btu/ft² per year. As technology is slowing making inroads in making homes energy efficient, the cost of building passive homes has decreased to some extent, but still passive homes are a bit expansive than traditional buildings. But given its long term benefits, you can easily overlook this flipside of passive homes. But thanks to new design and the stiff competition in the market, the cost of building passive homes has reduced significantly from the past. Passive homes have a unique advantage over convention buildings. Because of their energy efficiency, passive homes are a big hit among prospective customers in the real estate industry. And therefore, it means if you can get good return from your passive home in time of urgency. Now what's more do you want from your home?

Passive windows play significant roll in controlling or adjusting the temperature of a room. Passive windows minimize solar gain when it is not required and maximize solar gain when it is required and thereby maintaining an ideal condition in rooms. Passive windows should be made of those materials that meet the requirements of Passive House. Passive windows should be placed in a passive room in such a way that can ensure maximum passive solar gain. By ensuring maximum passive solar gain, passive windows help to reduce energy consumption to a bare minimum. However, when it comes to energy consumption, solar gain stands second to its other advantages. Passive windows are usually manufactured with high R-values that help them to meet the requirements of the Passivhaus standard. Warm edge, low-emissivity coatings, solar heat-gain coefficient etc are some of its unique features that are unlikely to be found in any other types of windows.

Intrinsic heat from internal sources is used extensively in passive house, which is alternatively known as eco home. Heats from electrical appliances, devices, human bodies etc are trapped in for reducing the need of energy consumption as far as possible. Conventional central heating system will not be needed if comprehensive energy conservation measures can be implemented rigorously in your rooms. Heating and cooling elements are integrated with the air duct of the ventilation system of a passive house for making the temperature as comfortable as possible. For ventilation purpose, normal low air volume should be able to transport all the heat of a room. It is an important aspect of the fundamental concept of passive house design standard. Direct solar thermal energy, heat pump, natural gas or oil burner can be used for heating up air-heating elements. However, in some other cases, additional heat is extracted from the exhaust ventilation air by using a micro-heat pump, which is used later to heat up water storage tank or incoming air. Alternatively, small wood-burning stoves can be used for heating up the water tank, however you must make sure that it does not get overheated at any cost. As the heating energy and heating capacity of eco homes are comparatively lower than traditional buildings, you would not have to bear the brunt of ever-increasing electricity cost. Renewable energy sources can be integrated easily to an eco home for slashing down energy consumption as far as possible.

Installation of solar panels in your passive homes should be done with meticulous care. By installing solar panels, you will be able to reduce electricity bill of your house to a nominal level, which is all the more beneficial for your home in the long run. Solar panels should be installed in a place where they can get direct light of the sun as long as possible because it will help them to generate more solar energy that can be utilized later in myriads of ways. Make sure that the roof of your house is strong enough to give support to the weight of solar panels. If you are not certain about it, it is better to consult with an expert installer before proceeding further with your plan. By installing solar panels in your house, you can help to reduce carbon footprint to some extent. Solar panels do not emit any harmful gas in air and that is why it is extremely environment friendly compared to other alternative sources of energy. Though the initial setup cost of solar panels are extremely high, it can prove extremely cost effective. Another vital benefit of solar panel is that you can store solar power for a rainy day, which is almost impossible in case of traditional source of energy. Maintenance cost of solar panels is minimal. You need to keep them out of harms way as far as possible and they will keep generating power for a long period of time. However, solar panels should be cleaned on periodical basis because if their upper surfaces were not cleaned properly, you would not be able to get their best performance.

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