Monitoring And Modelling The First Passivehouse In Scotland

Abstract

The drive to reduce carbon emissions and energy utilisation directly associated with dwellings suggests that the energy efficiency of dwellings will have an increasingly prioritised role in the built environment. Created by the Passive House Institute, Passive House is a low-energy building standard that can reduce the energy use of a building. Passive Houses have been built in many parts of the world; with the first Passive House in Scotland completed recently. The term Passive House, from the German PassivHaus, refers to a standard used to define highly insulated energy efficient buildings. Passive House standard can be achieved by both domestic and commercial buildings; this study will focus upon a Passive House in a domestic context. To be termed a Passive House, the building must meet a set of core fundamentals as descibed in Table 1, Passive House Criteria. Table 1 – Passive House Criteria CRITERIA AREA MEASUREMENT Monitoring and modelling advances in building design and technology can be useful to improve future constructions and technology applications. This paper describes the monitoring and modelling of a Passive House in Dunoon, Scotland. Monitoring results suggest that the Passive House approach is applicable in a Scottish climate and could be valuable to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency in dwellings. Modelling results suggest that simulation can be used to influence the design process; especially in low energy buildings as dynamic simulation can offer a quicker and cheaper alternative to experimental field trails.