Is a Passive House a Sustainable Investment?

Passive house, despite being a term that first came about in the early 1990s, is not something commonly known among homeowners. It refers to a construction that provides a high standard of energy efficiency for your home, which in turn can have an effect on the temperature of your home.

Passive houses are designed to be innovative and creative in order to make your living space better than ever before. With the first passive house appearing in 1991, they are slowly becoming a more popular investment up and down the country.

How does a passive house work?

By combining various components that are all of passive house standard, you can create a whole project that transforms your home. Passive houses work by minimising heat loss, and optimising heat gain; regulating the temperature of the interior of your home.

The interactions between the distinct elements and how they work together helps to fulfil the criteria for having a highly energy efficient house, with heating and primary energy being below a particular level. Likewise, it also affects the pressure difference in your home, ensuring the air flow is less than 60% of the building’s volume. This all works towards a thermally efficient property for your benefit.

Benefits of a passive house

First and foremost, a passive house is an incredibly energy efficient one. The required heating energy for a passive house is only 10% of what is needed for a conventional home. Houses tend to lose up to 25% of their heat through its windows, so by investing in a passive house element such as windows can make a huge difference.

However, you are paying for much more than energy efficiency. Passive house windows actually increase the possibility of increasing heat gain thanks to their solar energy; using your home’s existing temperature as well as heat from various home appliances is enough. The construction of passive house windows includes insulated glazing and frames, along with a thermally optimised edge seal and complete with expert installation. These basic but effective principles ensure you can have a passive house that works to a high standard.

Quality of living

A passive home has controlled ventilation with mechanical heat recovery, which allows for hygienic air to pass through your home. At the same time, it removes humidity and even odours. Passive house windows have the ability to achieve this without losing any heat; normal windows would have to be opened in order to fix air quality and would therefore lose heat.

On top of this you are able to sit and relax in your home in a comfortable temperature without having to worry about heating or even air conditioning units. Due to its thermally insulated properties and a lower demand for energy, a passive house will drastically reduce your CO2 emissions and could even save money on your energy bills in the long run.

Investing in a passive house is an incredibly environmentally friendly decision, not to mention the sleek and innovative design of the windows. Whether you choose UPVC, UPVC and aluminium, or timber and aluminium, you can have an aesthetically pleasing property that performs to a high level.