Passive House - How to proceed?

For city authorities and municipalities it might be a novel and unusual thing to construct buildings to the Passive House Standard. What is important is to allow for the Passive House Standard early on in the design phase. Specifically, this means that the decision for the Passive House Standard should stand right at the start of the process. Either the Passive House Standard should be mandatory for the architectural competition, or if there is no competition, the design should be developed using the PHPP (Passive House Planning Package) from the outset. The entire potential for saving costs can be optimally exploited in this way so that the building is no more expensive or is only slightly more expensive than a conventional building project. In the long run, taking into account the energy costs saved and the reduced running costs, the overall cost of the project will even be lower as a whole.

In a Passive House, the alignment, proportion and distribution of the windows are extremely important for optimal capture of heat from the sun in winter and, with the appropriate shading elements, for providing a comfortable temperature inside the building in summer. A ventilation system provides for fresh air; in conjunction with the well-planned airtight building envelope and the thermal bridge free construction of the building, it ensures lasting structural integrity and a comfortable indoor climate. The most cost-effective way of constructing a building is for the architect to plan for a thermal bridge free design right from the start.