Passive House at the crossroads: The past and the present of a voluntary standard that managed to bridge the energy efficiency gap

Abstract

Improving energy efficiency in dwellings is generally seen as the low-hanging fruit of climate change mitigation. In particular decreased heat loss through better insulation is suggested as one of the most cost-effective means to achieve the ambitious national and international goals of climate gas reduction. However, the literature shows that a profitable technological solution is not sufficient to reach the energy goals. Aspects such as a lack of information, unobserved costs, and heterogeneity among users can compromise the success of technical innovation. Still, there are successful concepts that drive the technological development in the construction sector. The Passive House is an example for such innovations that manage to bridge the energy efficiency gap. This paper addresses the Passive House concept and standard as a success story of technological innovation. With Bruno Latour's Science in Action (1987) as a starting point, we describe the conditions under which the standard was created, the role of the network built around the Passive House Institute, and the consequences of exporting the standard. We identify success factors that have supported the diffusion of the Passive House standard and concept and discuss its possible development in the current situation which is characterized by its wide-spread adoption.

A simplified framework to assess the feasibility of zero-energy at the neighbourhood/community scale

“…Another major trend commonly proposed to reduce the energy consumption of the existing building stock is the improvement of the thermal performance of the envelope of existing buildings (sometimes in combination with more efficient heating/ventilation systems) [1,3]. As a result, new construction and renovation standards ((very) low-energy standards, passive house standards) [5][6][7] have been developed to drastically minimise the energy consumption of new and retrofitted buildings and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. During the last few years, "zero-energy buildings" have aroused increasing interest internationally in the scientific literature (e.g., [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]), policies aiming at a more sustainable built environment and even concrete applications.…”

Designing a ‘green’ building: expanding ambitions through social learning

“…Current policy is mostly concerned with climate issues, prioritising energy efficiency and providing some economic incentives to increase the level of energy efficiency beyond the requirements of the building codes. Thus, green design has been given some attention in Norway (Kongsli et al, 2008;Hojem &Lagesen, 2011), andMüller &Berker (2013) note an increasing interest in low energy buildings.…”

Comparison of Two Ventilation Control Strategies in the First Passive House Standard Norwegian School

“…A simplified heating system can then be used to cover the remaining heating demand. While some countries have kept the characteristics of the German standard, others have adapted the PH standard to the local climate and constraints (Müller 2013). It is the case of Norway, where a country-specific PH standard for residential buildings was released in 2010 (NS 3700, Standard Norway), according to which this school has been built.…”

“…The school is 6500 m 2 , and is located in Drammen, a city in southern Norway situated in a humid continental climate zone. The PH concept, initially developed in Germany (Feist 1999), has been adapted to the local climate and constraints of Norway (Müller 2013). A country-specific PH standard for residential buildings was released in 2010 (NS 3700 Standard Norway), according to which the Marienlyst school was built.…”