Ventilation in low energy housing retrofits

Ventilation in low energy housing retrofits

Mlecnik, E.

OTB Research Institute

2008-12-31

According to the definition, passive houses in Europe meet a target energy demand for heating of less than 15 kWh per square meter and per year. This low level for the heating demand is based on heating by a small post-heater in the hygienic ventilation system at 52 °C maximum, while the ventilation system can be dimensioned purely for ventilation purposes. In theory thus the installed heating power is less than approximately 10 Watts/m2. But what happens in practice in renovations? Example projects of low energy housing retrofits and their indoor climate systems in winter and in summer were examined. The study includes inspection of technical details and interviews with occupants of some renovation projects. It is shown that the practical realization of very low energy houses can be different from the original passive house definition, but also that the passive house standard is feasible in difficult conditions. The results illustrate the concerns of occupants considering winter and summer comfort and health, and the difficulties of choosing adequate ventilation and backup heating when the passive house standard is not reached. Also, a good realization of (passive) cooling and solar shading is a very important issue. The research further illustrates tendencies in innovation considering design of ventilation systems for renovation purposes, including possibilities of space reduction, prefabrication, decentral heat recovery and improved user friendliness of indoor climate systems for passive houses.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bcb8475a-b590-4e34-8cb0-c62ee9a046ee

Passiefhuis-Platform vzw

2010-03-15

978-90-811182-0-0

Passive House 2008, 131-140. (2008)

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2008 Mlecnik, E.