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In the world of sustainable building design, the Passive House standard offers an efficient and responsible approach to construction. Although often seen as an aspiration, at Swegon we want to make Passive House certifications an achievable goal for your project. In this blog, we explore the benefits of selecting certified products to create more energy-efficient and environmentally conscious buildings.
What is Passive House?
Passive House is a building standard that represents a fundamental shift in construction practices by prioritising on energy efficiency, comfort, and indoor air quality without additional costs to building owners.
Certified Passive House buildings achieve a 90% reduction in energy consumption compared to traditional structures, improving the credentials of building projects.
These translate into tangible benefits across every stage of your project:
1. Financial savings: With reduced energy consumption, your project will see lower running costs and increased property value, making it a sound economic investment.
2. Enhanced wellbeing: Optimal humidity levels, pollutant-free air and a consistently comfortable temperature contributes to a healthier, happier living and working environment.
3. Environmental responsibility: By minimising energy use, Passive House buildings significantly reduce their carbon footprint, leading the change towards a greener tomorrow.
It’s rarely a one size fits all solution…
The Passive House standard can be applied to all building types. For example, let’s consider a multiuse building including offices, apartments and shops – how do you cater to diverse needs of each space within the building, while maintaining Passive House efficiency throughout? Each space will have its own unique challenges which leaves the consultant making a choice between a central or decentralised plant system.
For expansive commercial complexes, central systems like the GOLD RX product series have undeniable advantages. Meanwhile, smaller buildings or those with distinct ventilation requirements in isolated areas might find a better match with decentralised solutions like the CASA range.
So, what factors need to play into your decision making?
- Building size and complexity: Larger buildings often benefit from central systems, while smaller, compartmentalised structures might favour decentralised solutions.
- Ventilation requirements: If individual areas have unique ventilation needs, decentralised units provide greater flexibility.
- Budget and maintenance capabilities: Central systems can be more cost-effective initially, but decentralised systems often lend itself to individual tenants running or budgeting for their own maintenance regime.
- Project timeline: Central systems are often easier to plan, while decentralised units often necessitate additional coordination with tenants/suppliers.
- Project requirements: Some projects need to comply with specific regulations or client requirements may stipulate that residents should have their own plant equipment, which would subsequently affect the system design.
In any instance, working with a Passive House certified product, gives a system designer reassurance that their specification meets the demands of the certification. Our expert team can help you navigate these considerations, calculate and select the most effective equipment choice for your specific Passive House project.
Swegon – a Passive House Partner
We pride ourselves on leading the way with a number of sustainability initiatives (for more information read our page on our RE:3 sustainability drive), so it’s only natural for us to offer Passive House certified products, a testament to our dedication to ensuring our ventilation units have superb energy efficiency and optimal performance.
This certification isn't simply a marketing effort; it represents rigorous testing and adherence to stringent criteria, ensuring you receive products proven to deliver within Passive House guidelines.
We believe in the power of Passive House to transform the way we build, and we're here to share our expertise to help you make it a reality.
If you would like to find out more about the Passive House building certification, join our webinar taking place on the 19th September 2024. For more information and to register, head here.
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