Is the Passivhaus standard worth investing in?

Is the Passivhaus standard worth investing in?

If you’re planning on building a home soon, then the elements you pick and appliances you choose will often determine the quality of your home. However, they can also change how energy efficient your home will be in the future. When we think of things like insulation and indoor air quality, these will be determined by the both the materials your home is built with and the quality of those materials.

If you want to build a home that hits all of these points, it’s important to think more carefully about the materials that you use. Everything from air sealing, to home insulation and even energy savings can be determined by the materials you pick. This is what the Passivhaus standard helps you achieve.

What is the Passivhaus standard?

The Passivhaus standard (or passive house) was developed in Germany by professors Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist in the early 1990s. They devised a standard that could be applied to both residential and commercial properties that would help them achieve thermal comfort solely by the post-heating and post-cooling of fresh air. This also helped to achieve sufficient indoor air quality without the need to recirculate the air.

This essentially meana that, if you follow the standard, you won’t actually need a traditional heating or cooling system. By utilizing natural ventilation and the proper materials to support it, you create a home that has excellent thermal performance properties, airtightness and ventilation.

What are the advantages of the Passivhaus standard?

Here are some of the advantages that you can expect from building your home to the Passivhaus standard.

1. Lowered utility costs thanks to the lack of need for constant heating and cooling. Whether you’re in summer or winter, you’ll be able to save plenty of money that would otherwise have gone into either heating or cooling your home.
2. Help the environment by utilizing less fuel in your everyday life. People wrongly assume that using electricity is a good way to be energy efficient and friendly to the environment, but they forget that fuel must be burned and greenhouse gases released in order to generate that electricity. In contrast, Passivhaus homes don’t use much electricity or sometimes any fuels at all.
3. Superior indoor air quality thanks to controlled mechanical ventilation that replaces polluted indoor air with fresh outdoor air. This makes it far more comfortable for you to live in your home, you’ll experience fewer odours in your home, and your children may well be healthier.
4. Improved home construction quality. The Passivhaus standard requires homes to be built to the best possible modern standards, making them durable, well-built homes that are energy efficient and friendlier to the environment.
5. Reduced noise pollution. The Passivhaus standard relies on high-performance windows and insulated doors and walls in order to reduce sounds from outside. If you’re tired of living in a noisy neighbourhood due to your thin walls, then Passivhaus standards may interest you.
6. Increased comfort due to the even temperature spread throughout the home. There are fewer temperature variations from room to room, and you’ll generally feel the same temperature wherever you are in your home.
7. Not as reliant on power. While it’s not quite going off the grid, the Passivhaus standard home is far less reliant on natural gas, oil and coal because it consumes less energy overall. This means that you’ll be saving a lot of money over a longer period of time, and you can keep the temperature of your home at a stable and comfortable level.

These are all advantages that are relevant to us in society today. Whether it’s saving energy, having a smaller carbon footprint or just relying on your heating and cooling systems less, the Passivhaus standard comes with many advantages that shouldn’t be ignored.

Is a Passivhaus property worth investing in?

Absolutely!

Building a Passivhaus home is more cost-effective than other building methods. Although the upfront cost of building a home to the Passivhaus standard is more expensive due to the materials used and the construction methods, it can save you money in the long run, thanks to
reduced running costs and maintenance savings.

If you’re able to invest in a Passivhaus standard home, then you’ll get a long-lasting, durable and future-proofed home that will significantly cut the costs of your utility bills. Your home will will look amazing, you’ll be helping the environment and you’ll have superior air quality that will make your home far more comfortable to live in.