Qualitative risk assessment of passive house design and construction processes

Abstract

Global climate change and increasing energy costs as well as environmental concerns have led to increased worldwide interests in passive buildings, which have minimal energy consumption and reduced environmental impact. Passive houses design and construction processes are much more complex than it is in the case of buildings developed in the traditional standard and they are associated with many risks. In this work, the selected problems related to the design and construction of passive buildings were presented. The risks were divided into three categories: problems with the architectural and construction design, problems with the installation design, and problems at the building site. All in all, 30 risks in the design and construction of passive houses were identified. Their causes, consequences, and possibilities of detection were investigated. Qualitative risk assessment of passive houses design and construction applying Failure Mode and Effect Analysis was presented. That allowed it allowed to gather information for making decisions in the risk management process. The qualitative risk assessment results (the list of the most important risk factors, their causes, consequences, and detection possibilities) enhance avoiding undesirable problems and errors, as well as additional costs associated with the project failure and support meeting the deadline for the passive house investment. The qualitative risk assessment results are also the starting point for development of a comprehensive risk management model for the design and construction of a passive building.