Passive House: Heat Your House by Watching TV
Passive House Design is a little bit like Vegas. Well, the slogan at least. Passive houses or buildings, are designed with an extremely air-tight-envelope. Nothing gets in or out without being allowed to. This makes it possible to harness the energy of seemingly small actions to eliminate your heating bills.
What Happens in Passive House, Stays in…
Imagine going about your normal, day-to-day activities, —watching TV, using your computer, and turning on the stove and all that energy is captured for use.
Microwaving your lunch at the office? Same deal. New office buildings can seriously benefit from passive house design. And did we mention body heat? The warmth you generate also contributes. It’s pretty amazing to think that those small actions provide all the energy required to heat a building. That’s one of the beautiful things about passive house.
It takes an extremely high level of architectural design to achieve a Passive Building. That’s why Passive House Certification is one of the most rigorous for architects. And guess what? LEAP’s very own Eric Davenport is Passive House Certified.
According to Eric, the qualifications and tests for his Passive House Certification were harder than his architecture exams, but totally worth it. “Sustainability and net-zero building is such a passion of mine, I wanted to offer this as a core service to my clients”.
Commercial and Residential Passive Buildings
Passive Building Design is applicable to both commercial and residential buildings. This is exciting because it means everything from skyscrapers to single family homes can be designed for sustainability. This includes office buildings and multi-family units. In all cases, passive building design is comprised of three main features:
- Proper Insulation
- Zero Air Leakages
- Zero Thermal Bridges
Particular consideration is also made for using triple pane windows, proper orientation to the sun, and heat recovery ventilation. What does this really mean? It means designing your building to work for you. Set it and forget it. Yes, you will spend a little more on high quality insulation, windows, and a heat exchanger, but it will literally insulate you from fluctuating oil and gas prices.
[box] Interested in reading more on Passive House and Building Design? We have a great article written by Eric Davenport, along with a “Passive House Explained in 90 Seconds” video. Check them out here. [/box]
LEAP is part of the Passive House Alliance. For more information about making Passive House Building mainstream, check out PHIUS. 
