what is passivhaus?

what is passivhaus?

it's a low energy standard

it's a low energy standard

PassivHaus is a voluntary building standard developed in Germany and now commonly used all over northern Europe. There are six main rules to building a PassivHaus. These rules ensure the building has very low energy and heating requirements, 90% lower than an average house.

  • Super Insulation - ensuring excellent heat retention within the building
  • Excellent draught proofing - the house has so few gaps and holes that almost no air can enter the building other than through the carefully controlled heat recovery ventilation system
  • Passive solar gain - carefully placed windows mean the sun will warm the building naturally
  • Ventilation with heat recovery - this allows you to capture all the heat usually lost from uncontrolled air leakage
  • Low energy appliances - the most energy efficient appliances can dramatically help you reduce your energy consumption
  • Renewable energy sources - using solar PV and thermal, wind or other renewable sources allows you to be even more energy independent

Visit our ecohome blog to find out more about one of our passivhaus retrofits.

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It isn’t sunny enough for solar panels to work in the UK.

Truth: The UK receives between 1200... read more

It isn’t sunny enough for solar panels to work in the UK.

Truth: The UK receives between 1200 and 700 kWh of solar energy per metre squared. This might not mean much to you, but every meter squared of your house receives enough energy to meet a quarter of your electricity demand. PV panels are then able to convert between 12% and 18% of that into electricity for your home. The town of Freiberg in southern Germany is home to the largest solar PV plant in Europe and across the entire town solar PV provides 35% of electricity demand. Despite having a total installed capacity of 3,200 kW, Freiberg receives less solar radiation per square metre than southern UK.