Passive house

Summary

Passive house (Passivhaus) is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, which reduces the building's ecological footprint. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling. A similar standard, MINERGIE-P, is used in Switzerland. The standard is not confined to residential properties; several office buildings, schools, kindergartens and a supermarket have also been constructed to the standard. The design is not an attachment or supplement to architectural design, but a design process that integrates with architectural design. Although it is generally applied to new buildings, it has also been used for refurbishments. In 2008, estimates of the number of passive house buildings around the world ranged from 15,000 to 20,000 structures. In 2016, there were approximately 60,000 such certified structures of all types worldwide. The vast majority of passive structures have been built in German-speaking countries and Scandinavia

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house

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This class offers an overview about comfort evaluations in architectural design and suggests passive and low-energy strategies suited to ensure the highest possible indoor environment quality for buildings.

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Le cours vise à familiariser les étudiants avec l'histoire de l'environnement et des paysages, et avec la façon dont les différentes préoccupations environnementales, qui vont affecter de plus en plus fortement la conception des villes et de l'architecture.

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Performance confrontation between parametric analysis and evolutionary algorithm to achieve passive houses in warm climates

Antonio Figueiredo

LESO-PB, EPFL2015

Addison-Wesley Publishing CompanyAdvanced Book Program/World Science Division1981

Passive House Optimization for Portugal: Overheating Evaluation and Energy Performance

Antonio Figueiredo, Jérôme Henri Kämpf

Improving common constructive solutions and substituting HVAC systems for more efficient ventilation systems leads to significant opportunities to decrease energy demand for heating and cooling and for improving occupant’s comfort. Passive House (PH) concept adapted to Mediterranean countries is regarded as a necessary strategy for reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at the building level. The present research, undertakes the Passive House concept optimization for the Portuguese climate, using a real building case, built according the national thermal code and classified as a plus building. The goal consists in complying with PH requirements through the definition of the external envelope solutions as well as the heating and cooling systems to be applied to new or refurbished buildings. The research starts for the Aveiro region climate (site built) and a broader analysis for different regions of Portugal mainland were performed. The building simulated is a detached house of contemporary architecture with the numerical model developed based on the original patented design solution and dynamic simulation realized with EnergyPlus® software. In a first approach and from the original model, sensitivity analysis and multi-objective optimization with an evolutionary algorithm were carried out in order to assess the reduction potential of the annual energy consumption. From the results long periods of thermal discomfort for the heating season (from 60 to 92%) were observed, as well as long periods of overheating during the summer (from 13 to 43%). Comparing one of the best solutions attained with the original case study, a reduction of 42% of the heating energy demand and the reduction of 64% of the cooling demand was achieved. Then, in a second approach the evolutionary algorithm was used to meet the compliant parameters defined by PH standards for different regions in Portugal mainland. The multi-objective optimization was developed to study the interaction between annual heating demand and summer thermal overheating rate objectives and assess their trade-offs. It was concluded that the Passive House concept is viable for the Portuguese climate; however it is essential to adapt and detail the technical and constructive solutions for different regions.

Elsevier2016

Passive House Optimization for Portugal: Overheating Evaluation and Energy Performance

Antonio Figueiredo, Jérôme Henri Kämpf

Elsevier2016