Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers at Anti Essays

PASSIVE HOUSE
The passive house concept represents today's highest energy standard with the promise of slashing the heating energy consumption of buildings by an 90%.
The highlight of the 1980's was the low-energy building which was a legally required energy standard for new buildings in Sweden and Denmark. At that time, many elements necessary for reducing building energy consumption had been developer. From this basis, the "passive house" concept was developed in May 1988 by the author host professor Bo Adamson. Two years later the first passive house was built in Germany. At this time there are thousands of them, mainly in Western Europe.
A passive house is a very well-insulated, virtually air-tight building that is primarily heated by passive solar gain and by internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc. Energy losses are minimized. Any remaining heat demand is provided by an extremely small source. Avoidance of heat gain through shading and window orientation also helps to limit any cooling load, which is similarly minimized. An energy recovery ventilator provides a constant, balanced fresh air supply. The result is an impressive system that not only saves up to 90% of space heating costs, but also provides a uniquely terrific indoor air quality. Passive houses are very comfortable because even in a cold climate, interior surface temperatures remain high as a reset of very good thermal insulation.
Passive house is working with natural resources, free solar energy is captured and applied efficiently. High performance triple-glazed windows, super-insulation, an airtight building shell, limitation of thermal bridging and balanced energy recovery ventilation make possible extraordinary reductions in energy use and carbon emission.
Nowadays passive house is the world’s leading standard in energy efficient construction. The total energy demand for space heating and cooling can be max. 15 kWh/m² and the total primary...