Empowering the construction industry to build for the future through education & standardized Passive systems. #RunWildBuildPassive
A couple of weeks ago, we took part to the 2016 edition of the Passive House Window Talks. This year, the location was Riga, Latvia. The focus of the event is the importance of windows for comfort and energy efficiency of highly performing buidlings such as passive houses.
The construction system certification is possibly the least known certification offered by the Passivhaus Institut, and yet it can help spreading passive buildings all over the world. We worked on the first system certification for passive houses in a warm climate: we try and explain what it's all about.
At the 2015 International Passive House Conference in Leipzig, Germany, the Passivhaus Institut presented version 9 of PHPP, which includes many new features to design passive buildings. Many articles have been written about the new primary energy method and the certification classes. In our mind, however, PHPP 9 has more important new features: we explain what they are.
For new builds as well as energy retrofits, worldwide the construction industry is shifting more and more towards zero energy buildings and Passive Houses. With the thermal envelope becoming more and more advanced, the correct evaluation of thermal bridges becomes critical: with this article, we explain the PSI value.
We finally had the chance to test DesignPH, the SketchUp plug-in that allows you to carry out the preliminary design of passive buildings in 3D. Once the model is created, you can export the data to PHPP (the energy balance software for passive house design), to further the energy design in depth. Even though this plug-in has been available on the market for a couple of years, since version 8.5 of PHPP, our recent meetings with passive house professionals tell us that this tool is not yet very widespread. It is the case of Italy, as well as the impression we got from our recent trip to the USA.
A couple of weeks ago we went to Leipzig, Germany, to take part in the 19th International Passivhaus Conference, organized by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt. With approximately one thousand people attending from all over the world, this event marks the gathering of some of the AEC sector's greatest experts on energy efficiency. The following are our impressions from the event...
Last week Enrico took part in the 2015 Passive House Window Talks in Nova Lehota, Slovakia, a two-day event on the benefits of high-performance Passivhaus windows. It was organized by ProPassivhausFenster, a group of small European window manufacturers well known for their award-winning Smartwin windows, but it was far from the usual company-sponsored workshops designed to sell product. Architects and engineers gathered together to discuss and learn more about the technical specifications and the fundamental need for high-quality windows in everyday design.
