Recently we had the opportunity to visit a Passive House under construction in the suburb of Brunswick, Melbourne. We’ve heard so many good things about Passive House designs and construction techniques so it was an opportunity too good to miss.
The house under construction in a little back street in Brunswick initially looks no different to any other renovation, extension or new build. It’s only when you get inside and start to look at all the detail and construction techniques that you realise this is no ordinary build.
The attention to detail is astonishing, especially in this climate of ever increasing construction materials and costs. I am forever grateful to see houses are built to last rather than just built to the lowest cost possible.
What struck me most about the house were the vapour barriers on the inside of the walls, as well as the normal house rap on the outside and the serious insulation between then, everything had been sealed with tape to ensure no drafts or air leaks.
All the windows and doors were triple glazed shipped from Germany. They were made from timber so zero thermal transmission through the window. They had been beautifully finished in a matt varnish but on the outside of the windows they had an aluminium cladding which will significantly reduce maintenance in our climate. Finally, all windows and doors had a dual tilt turn and casement open mechanism. Very cool indeed. We immediately thought they looked very much like our ML Windows except our windows have aluminium frames with thermal break.
Other features included the ventilation system with a heat exchanger and overall the quality of the build was just exceptional.
I hope all houses will be built like this in Australia. In terms of cost, I’m sure it will be more than an average house built in Melbourne. To me, it is a lot more sensible to spend the extra money on the insulation and the structure of a house than the look of the interior which you may get bored with or can be changed easier later.
So what is Passive House design all about?
Passive House is fundamentally about design. It is best approached as an integrated design process with the whole design team involved. As a fabric-first construction standard summarised by 5 design principles and performance criteria, it ensures a design delivers very high performance and comfort for the lifetime of the building, plugging the “Performance Gap” often experienced in building operations.
It relies on building physics and carefully integrated, minimal building services and technology. By eliminating the need to bolt expensive additional technology onto a poorly performing building, it eliminates the risk of bolt-on green-bling compromising the architecture.
Passive house uses 90% less energy.
The key features of Passive House design are:
Proper insulation (Special windows, building shell with highly insulated exterior walls, roof an floor slab)
No air leakages
No thermal bridges
Proper windows – triple glazed with timber frames or metal thermally broken frames
The house is oriented properly (The sun can heat in the winter and shaded in the summer)
HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilation) - A ventilation system that consistently supplies fresh air without causing unpleasant drafts and a highly efficient heat recovery unit that allows heat contained in the exhaust air to be re-used.
Learn more about Passive house buildings at https://passivehouseaustralia.org
Learn more about ML Windows at https://www.mlwindows.com.au or contact us via email m@mlwindows.com.au
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