Combating Climate Change With Passive Housing

By Erin McClain, August 22, 2023

Passive housing merges the needs for comfortable surroundings and lower energy costs to create both functional and pleasant buildings.

Did you know that thirteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States comes from residential and commercial buildings? That number is mostly associated with the energy that comes from heating and cooling buildings for human comfort. Passive housing merges the needs for comfortable surroundings and lower energy costs to create both functional and pleasant buildings.

A Passive House is a residential building that is constructed with energy efficiency in mind, and must meet standards for airtightness, moisture, thermal, and radiation control. These standards are tied together to make a whole house that is better at retaining heat, eliminating drafts, reducing moisture issues, and using efficient windows to their best advantage for the climate. These aren’t rigid rules; each house varies to make the most of the local climate. For instance, in colder areas windows work to use the sun’s energy to help heat the house, but in warmer regions windows can minimize overheating.

Through these standards, defined in the United States by Phius, the Passive House Institute US, and the International Passive House Association, a building can reduce energy costs for heating and cooling, while also creating healthier indoor environments. The certification for a Passive House is part of a larger effort to combat climate change by making homes zero-energy buildings.

Today there are more than 30,000 homes in the world built to passive home standards. These standards began over thirty years ago with Dr. Wolfgang Feist, who created a passive housing complex for many families in terraced housing. After realizing that much of the energy used in homes was to heat or cool them, Feist wanted a way to make a more efficient home that would leave a smaller ecofootprint on the world. Feist said this in a 2016 interview,

“Viewed objectively, it was clear that another substitution strategy for fossil energy was needed. We therefore decided to tackle the problem at its roots. We analysed what these vast amounts of fuel being extracted from the ground were actually being used for. The result was shocking: the largest single share of modern energy consumption was being used for heating buildings, that’s over one third!”

Building more energy efficient buildings can pose challenges. Phius estimates an additional cost of 3-5% for new Passive Building construction as opposed to traditional building, but that cost is lowered as the size of the building increases. While it may be less costly to build new multi-family or apartment buildings to passive standards, adaptation of existing structures is more difficult. Without full renovation, homeowners may not be able to meet the same Passive House standards as a new build. However, while Passive House construction focuses on the building, efforts made to increase insulation, replacing older windows with more efficient ones, and even using Energy Star appliances are all considered ways to adapt existing buildings to retrofit Passive House standards. There are challenges for people adapting their houses to be more energy efficient, but gains for our homes, health, and environment by bringing our homes closer to Passive House standards.

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