Multiple Institutional Dynamics of Sustainable Housing Concepts in DenmarkOn the Role of Passive Houses

One of the central challenges of sustainable transition is the changing of the buildings. This involves social, cultural,political, and regulatory dynamics. Critically using transition theory conceptualization of a world of dynamics, the paper reviews institutional theory and actor network approaches in an attempt to better account for contemporary developments in Europe, encompassing EU reforms as well as multiple competing concepts. The emergence of ＂passive houses＂ in Denmark is used as a case of transition dynamics. The concept was developed in Germany and imported into Denmark. It is a technological niche, encompassing technologies, players, improvisation, and early customers. Passive houses have entered into fierce competition with other future institutions such as LEED （Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design）, DGNB （German Sustainable Building Council）/green building council, and active houses. Passive houses were at the outset a well-developed upcoming institution with design principles, software, certification and numerous reference buildings, strong enough to be a challenger institution. They are promoted by a characteristic alliance of architects, consulting engineers, a few clients, and an architect school, whereas the other concepts exhibit their specific actor alliances. Yet passive houses experience barriers such as the reputation of being expensive and non-user friendly, and are currently surpassed by the other concepts.

Primary Exploration of the Feasibility of Passive Houses in Korea and China

The transferability of European experiences with design,planning,construction and service of Passive-Houses to the specific conditions in China and Korea is investigated by the adaptation of the PassiveHouse principle to typical Korean and Chinese residential building,by the use of locally available building materials,components and building practices as well as under consideration of specific and typical ways of living in the two countries and cultures. The starting basis for the research is the analysis and evaluation of specific climate conditions,architecture,building practice as well as specific comfort criteria. The additional effort for the construction and service of Passive-Houses in Korea and China compared with typical contemporary residential buildings is investigated on the basis of a comparison of designs for Passive-Houses and for common buildings,including issues like the heating and cooling energy demand,heat and cool load as well as the required materials and components. The research results show that the described modifications of typical contemporary residential building constructions in China and Korea are realizable with locally available materials and feasible effort. They can reduce the energy demand for the service of domestic housing significantly and are in the range of European Passive Houses.

The Economic Demands on the Method of Founding a Passive Brick House on Foamed Glass Granulate

The cost of acquisition of a passive house is a little higher than that of a conventional house.Proper design of a passive house should include not only thermal protection and stability of the construction,but it must also take into account the price demands on each of the proposed structures and solution of details.The paper deals with the financial comparison of the traditional method of a foundation on the foundation strips of plain concrete and the modern method of founding a passive house as brick construction on the reinforced concrete slab base with a compact subsoil layer of thermal insulation in the form of granules of foamed glass.

Climate adaptive thermal characteristics of envelope of residential passive house in China

Passive house has been constructed in China on a large-scale over the past couple years for its great energy saving potential.However,research indicates that there is a significant discrepancy in energy performance for heating and cooling between passive houses in different climate zones.Therefore,this research develops a comparative analysis on the energy saving potential of passive houses with the conventional around China.A sensitivity analysis of thermal characteristics of building envelope(insulation of exterior walls and windows,and airtightness)on energy consumption is further carried out to improve the climate adaptability of passive house.Moreover,the variation of energy consumption under different heat gain intensity is also compared,to evaluate the effects of envelope thermal characteristics comprehensively.Results suggest that the decrease of exterior wall insulation leads to the greatest increase in energy consumption,especially in severe cold zone in China.However,the optimal insulation may change with the internal heat gain intensity,for instance,the decrease of insulation(from 0.4 to 1.0 W/(m^(2)·K))could reduce the energy consumption by 4.65 kW·h/(m^(2)·a)when the heat gain increases to 20 W/m^(2)for buildings in Hot Summer and Cold Winter zone in China.

A Study of Passive Solar House Design

This paper deals with the investigation of the principles of passive solar house design, passive solar systems, and techniques for solar house design. It is expected that the research is to be of momentous significance to the design and construction of passive solar house, and may make contribution to the massive energy efficient housing construction in our country.

Verification of the Passive House Concept to the South of Brazil Climate

The high impact of the building＇s sector on energy consumption and on the environment has led to increased concerns on the performance of indoor thermal buildings, and led many countries to define stricter requirements for their building legislation. In 2010, the European Union has established that by the end of 2020 all new buildings must have energy consumption close to zero （NZEBs （nearly zero energy buildings））, increasing the pursue for more efficient building design. One way to achieve buildings with low energy consumption while maintaining a high thermal comfort is the passive house concept. The paper presents an architectural project designed to meet the Passive House requirements for the climate of southern Brazil. The energy balance was carried out using the energy balance toot-PHPP （passive house planning package）, that verified the compliance of the prerequisites required for certification, which are related to the primary energy consumption, heating, cooling demand and overheating rate of the building.

IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF FISH-FARMING HOUSES:A COMPARATIVE PASSIVE DESIGN STUDY IN SOUTH KOREA

Aquaculture in South Korea largely involves crudely-built plastic fishery houses that consume excessive electricity and produce carbon emissions.This study explores a potential method to make Korean aquaculture more sustainable by suggesting design alternatives that can save energy and costs.To this end,the authors compare the energy use and indoor environments of three different designs through field mockups.The three designs include(i)a triple-layered plastic screen house(Design 1),(ii)an insulated vault house(Design 2),and(iii)a passive-house design(Design 3),in addition to(iv)a single-layered plastic house(baseline).Our findings indicate that,compared to the baseline,operational electricity was reduced to 57.81% in Design 1,53.92% in Design 2,and 40.59% in Design 3.Moreover,Designs 2 and 3 were able to mitigate indoor temperature fluctuations in winter.Design 1 showed a relatively unstable temperature distribution during the night but offered better farming conditions than the baseline.Humidity often rose to 100% but did not affect the maintenance of a desirable fish and workplace environment.Even a high concentration of carbon dioxide of up to 3,000 ppm in Designs 1 and 2 was not expected to harm farmers’health.Cost analyses revealed that construction expenses increased to 20.9% in Design 1,135.8% in Design 2,and 73.9% in Design 3 due to large quantities of materials and labor.Considering trade-offs with energy saving,the payback period is 7.2 years for Design 1,35.5 years for Design 2,and 17.9 years for Design 3.Given that the lifetime expectancy of Designs 1 and 3 is over two years,the study’s results confirm that Designs 1 and 3 have a comparative advantage in producing sustainable fish-farming houses.

Lecablock, an Alternative Construction Material for the Exterior Walls of Passive House

In this paper it is attempted to investigate the Leca blocks as sustainable construction material for the exterior walls of passive house. The building physical properties of Leca design wall structure are studied along with the environmental impact and load-bearing capacity. To compare the results, a similar analysis is carried out considering the traditional wooden wall construction of passive houses. The results showed that Leca design wall structure can be an alternative sustainable solution to the traditional wooden wall structure of passive house, mainly due to its low U-value, its ability to handle moisture, and comparable structural load-bearing capacity. However, the wooden wall structure is more environmentally friendly than the Leca blocks due to its lower emissions to the environment and reduced energy use, especially during the manufacturing process.

MOVING TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE BELGIAN DWELLING STOCK:THE PASSIVE STANDARD AS THE NEXT STEP?

To efficiently move towards a more sustainable dwelling stock in Belgium,priorities need to be defined.Accordingly,it should be questioned if the new policy measure requiring the passive standard for newly built residential buildings from 2020 onwards is justified.This paper emphasises on the energy related aspects of the results of a PhD research.In the research residential buildings in the Belgian context were optimised from a life cycle environmental impact and cost perspective.The results proved that not for all dwelling types and layouts the passive standard is the optimal variant.A well-considered design,orientation and choice of dwelling type will be necessary to make the future requirement of the passive standard technically feasible and efficient.

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT CLIMATES ON A SHIPPING CONTAINER PASSIVE HOUSE IN CANADA

Passive House buildings with an annual energy demand of less than 15 kWh/m^(2)a(i.e.kWh/m^(2) per annum)can help Canada and other countries achieve thermal comfort with minimum energy use and carbon footprint through meticulous design and selection of highly efficient building envelope elements and appliances.Shipping con-tainer based passive houses can reduce the cost of passive house construction and also promote recycling.In this paper,a passive house built using shipping containers,orig-inally designed for Victoria,BC,Canada,is analyzed using Passive House Planning Package(PHPP)software in different climactic zones of Canada.The locations under consideration are:Halifax(Cool-Temperate),Toronto(Cold-Temperate),Edmonton(Cold),and Yellowknife(Arctic-Climate).This paper critically examines the energy demand changes in various climate zones and make necessary modifications to the design to achieve passive house energy performance requirements in selected climates.Results show that with modified designs shipping container passive houses can meet passive house requirements,except in the Arctic-Climate of Yellowknife.

APPLYING THE PASSIVE HOUSE STANDARD TO OFFICE BUILDINGS—HOW MUCH GLASS IS ADMISSIBLE?

Enjoying a pleasant interior temperature in both summer and winter without the necessity for additional heating or cooling—a level of comfort already offered by private homes built with an eye to energy effi ciency.What has become known as the passive house standard is now increasingly demanded in tenders and competitions revolving around offi ce buildings.Below,Dr Friedrich Sick,professor at the HTW Berlin,and Stefan Schade,a graduate in Environmental Engineering/Renewable Energies who explored this particular fi eld in his thesis[1],examine the conditions necessary for the implementation of this standard.

HAMMER&HAND’S CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND APPROACH TO THE GLASSWOOD COMMERCIAL PASSIVE HOUSE RETROFIT

As the first commercial Passive House retrofit in the United States,the Glasswood project demonstrates the potential for high performance,low-load buildings to transform the energy efficiency,occupant experience,and marketability of existing commercial spaces,all at an affordable cost.The owners of this historic building set out to create a restaurant on the ground floor and office space on the second floor that would offer super-efficient energy performance and superior comfort while preserving the structure’s historic character.Embedded in a walkable,transit-rich neighborhood,the project revolutionized the performance of the building while contributing to the vitality of its urban surroundings.Passive House design and construction was by Hammer&Hand,with architectural design by Scott|Edwards Architecture.

Consideration of Shape Characteristics for Apartments Incorporating Daylight and Energy Performance

The objective of this paper is to design units with well-lighted environment and low-energy consumption in the apartment building. Their daylight and energy performance can be determined by the building shape and orientation. The paper initially produced the results of illuminations and energy efficiency using the daylight and thermal simulations by Autodesk ＂ECOTECT＂. It then provided the comparison on simulation results of two type buildings： Flat-type and L-type apartment. The available options for the design incorporating the environmental performance have less flexibility in fiat-type apartments than in L-type ones. The best unit in the fiat apartment is fixed from -45 to 45 degrees rotation, however, that in the L-type one can change depending on rotating the building. Moreover, if the upper level units had the appropriate environment, the lower level could have larger window areas in order to meet those daylight performance needs. Results show that the facade design should have the different window areas depending on the location of each unit. It can assist in the comfort and low-energy consumption design by using simulation tools that achieve the more predictable understandings.

Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of an Installed Multiunit Seasonal Thermal Energy Store

The financial viability of a solar STES （seasonal thermal energy store） installed in a mixed commercial and residential multiunit development of low-energy buildings located in Lysekil, Sweden, a maritime Scandinavian Climate has been investigated. Using recorded figures for the installation costs and performance, a financial life cycle analysis has been undertaken to determine the cost effectiveness of the system. The time value of money is considered and an LCC （life cycle cost） analysis undertaken to identify the cost-effectiveness of the solution. It shows that while a direct heating and hot water system incorporating STES can be economically viable in a Swedish maritime climate in the long term, assistance such as that provided by government incentives is required to assist with the high capital cost of the initial investment.

SUSTAINABLE MICRO-VILLAGES AND THE CARWOOLA HOUSE PROJECT IN CANBERRA,AUSTRALIA

INTRODUCTION Our needs as social and familial beings change over the course of our lives;however,it has become common practice to build as though these needs remain static through time.The needs of a child,young adult,family,middle age and the elderly are dynamic between generations,and adding to these evolving life needs is the crisis of housing affordability. ree decades ago a house could cost 3-4 times an individual’s annual income,today that cost is closer to 10-12 times.In response to these chal-lenges,this article explores the concept of Sustainable Micro-Villages,providing insight into a new approach to energy-efficient housing with reference to our case-study project-Carwoola House.Sustainable Micro-Villages can be defined as a cluster of integrated dwellings,referred to here as Living Pods.Essentially a“single house”on a single site,these micro-villages can be comprised of two or more smaller buildings that provide private dwelling space for a single person,couples,couples with children,parents,elderly,friends and any combination of social groups.Living pods cluster around a natural garden setting,enhanced by waterharvesting,and are connected with covered,open or enclosed links depending on the climate of the site.The recent iterations of this type of dwelling also incorporate solar passive design,passive house and green-house technology.In Australia,new house designs are evaluated as part of an approvals process for their energy rating.1 e Australian Building Code requires a minimum 6-star rating,ranging up to 10 stars for any new home to be built.A 6-star rating provides a good level of insulation and energy performance if built correctly,while 10 stars represent the highest level of energy performance and refers to a dwelling that needs no heating or cooling.Sustainable Micro-Villages consistently achieve an 8 to 10-star rating by combining Solar Passive Design principles(good orientation,thermal mass and thermal performance)and Passive House Technology(high thermally performing building with low air leakage,no thermal bridging,high performance glazing and heat recovery ventilation)in various combinations to suit the climate,context and budget.

STATION POINTE GREENS-THE JOURNEY TO NET ZERO AFFORDABLE HOUSING

INTRODUCTION Station Pointe Greens,a proposed 219-unit residential and commercial development,promises to be one of the most leading edge Passive House Certified Developments in North America.However,an innovative project such as this requires much time and research,and this project being no exception,it is still in its research and design phase.Its story began in 2008 when the City of Edmonton issued a request for proposals from developers regarding improvement of a brownfield site in Belvedere.This was done as part of the City’s redevelopment initiative for an area which was in dire need of revitalization.The Communitas Group saw a huge opportunity to develop a large-scale multi-family project immediately adjacent to a light rail transit and bus hub.And so the vision of an affordable and sustainable housing project began to take shape.Communitas had already tested the‘green’construction waters on previous projects,most notably Grandin Green,a 15-storey high-rise which was the first Canadian project to qualify for the Federal CBIP grant(25%more energy efficient than required by the Model National Energy Code for Buildings).However,they had never attempted anything as bold and leading edge as Station Pointe Greens.Their goal from the outset was to build one of the greenest multi-family housing cooperative complexes in North America.And like most developers,Communitas wanted to build it with as little‘green’premium as possible.This was,after all,to be affordable housing.

PROPOSAL OF A NORWEGIAN ZEB DEFINITION:ASSESSING THE IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN

Conceptually a Zero Emission Building(ZEB)is a building with greatly reduced energy demand and able to generate electricity(or other carriers)from renewable sources in order to achieve a carbon neutral balance.However,a clear and agreed definition of Zero Emission Building(ZEB)is yet to be achieved,both internationally and in Norway.However,it is understood that both the definition and the surrounding energy supply system will affect significantly the way buildings are designed to achieve the ZEB goal.A formal definition of ZEB is characterized by a set of criteria that are:the system boundary,feeding-in possibilities,balance object,balancing period,credits,crediting method,energy performance and mismatch factors.For each criterion different options are available,and the choice of which options are more appropriate to define ZEBs may depend on the political targets laying behind the promotion of ZEBs,hence may vary from country to country.This paper focuses on two of these criteria:energy performance and credits used to measure the ZEB balance.For each criterion different options are considered and the implications they have on the building design are assessed.The case study is on a typical Norwegian single family house.It is shown that for certain choices on the two criteria options,a paradoxical situation could arise.When using off-site generation based on biomass/biofuels,achieving the ZEB balance may be easier for high energy consuming buildings than for efficient ones.This is the exact opposite of what ZEBs are meant to promote:design of energy efficient buildings with on-site generation options.Recommendations on how to avoid such a paradox are suggested.

Thermal energy performance of compressed earth building in two different cities in Moroccan semi-arid climate

The assessment of the thermal energy performance of earth-based buildings with respect to the semi-arid Mediter-ranean climate of Morocco is scarce,even if the country is historically known for its earthen dwellings.According to this need,this work aims to understand and evaluate the indoor thermal comfort and energy performances of passive building in two different locations.We have used EnergyPlus modeling tool and in addition,the moni-tored ten-day indoor temperatures in two different thermal zones in the test prototype to justify the empirical validation of Building Energy Model.The findings demonstrate,the use of compressed earth blocks coupled with passive design strategies provides better comfort and great sustainability.Thus,the summer discomfort hours are reduced about 12%for both cities compared to conventional building.However,the combination of semi-arid climate-responsive passive design has allowed to reach a thermal energy intensity reduction difference from 20 to 65 kWh.m^(-2).y^(-1).