Passivhaus

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A passivhaus is any building designed to maintain a comfortable indoor air temperature with little to no active heating or cooling.

To stay warm in the winter, a passivhaus relies on sunlight and good insulation. The colder the winter, the more insulation is needed.

A passivhaus needs walls that have a low U-value (strong insulation / low thermal conductivity). The limit depends on which region of the world it's in.

Construction costs

[RESEARCH needed]

Passivehauses are more complex to build, requiring more labor & energy [QUANTIFICATION needed] and possibly rarer materials.

The increased environmental footprint of construction needs to be weighed against the energy saved on heating & cooling.

Same type of analysis also needs to be done for retrofitting existing buildings to be more passivhaus-like. [Case studies needed]

External links

  • Passipedia - a whole wiki dedicated to designing passivhauses