FAQ’s
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you looking for answers to your new home build or home renovation questions? Our team of experts are here to help. We can provide you with the answers to all of your questions, from passive home building to custom home builders. We have the knowledge and experience to help you make the right decisions for your home renovation project.
Let’s cut to the chase, newly built or renovated Australian houses are only just reaching the bare minimum in energy efficiency standards, and that is if it’s built correctly! The BASIX certification that you have to comply with when entering a building project is a “guide” at best and is nowhere near the levels of comfort you get within a Passive House. Poorly insulated buildings, thermal bridges everywhere and single pane glazing do not allow for a comfortable indoor living environment, thus requiring active and over used cooling and heating systems. This proves very expensive over their lifetime for the consumer with the ever increasing energy prices we face, not only that, the fossil fuels required to run these systems are contributing significantly to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. Once you understand the details of how a Passive House performs, you will be left wondering why we have been continuing to build with such old methods and ideas for so long.
Potentially yes…..but it doesn’t have to be. Current estimations in Australia are saying 10-15%. Statistics from Europe are saying 3-8%, which is where they have more buildings and more data to go by. With the correct design and a minimalist approach, regular budgets could achieve it. It’s no different to conventional building projects, design according to your budget and have the right builder engaged to always keep the budget in check during the design stage. In any case, the potential for long term savings in energy costs will far outweigh any initial extra expense over the lifetime of the building. So you don’t really have to hold anything back if this is your forever home
Of course you can, who doesn’t want to open their windows and doors to the outside world on a beautiful day. Passive House just gives you the option not to have to and still enjoy fresh filtered air in your home. In fact, the air is fresher than what comes in through your windows naturally thanks to the MHRVS (Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation System).
We will always try to incorporate Australian products into our buildings. With the momentum that Passive House is gaining in Australia, there are a number of manufacturers of Passive House certified materials already and as demand grows, it will ever increase. During our collaborative pre-construction design and costing stages, we work extensively with our clients on choosing the right materials for the job, whilst keeping that budget in check.
We are a certified Passive House Builder and have completed the rigorous training. Together with our pre-construction team of certified Passive House designers and certifiers, your design gets put through the PHPP(Passive House Planning Package) which calculates whether the design will pass and meet standards. If it doesn’t, it gets tweaked and the necessary changes are made until it does, prior to any construction beginning. Once underway and on-site there is certainly no cutting corners as materials are checked to see if they meet the correct design and installation requirements. Several blower door tests will be taken at critical stages to be certain that the strict airtightness levels of the Passive House standard are met.
The heat recovery ventilation system allows for constant, fresh airflow throughout the house at a regulated temperature, whilst also extracting the stale, odorous air. By wrapping the building and making it airtight, we are preventing any unwanted moisture and regulating humidity. You will never encounter condensation and mould growth again.
No! The HRV system works both ways. It regulates a constant temperature of the building all year round, 24/7. So all your heating and cooling requirements are reduced dramatically with energy savings of up to 90%. A small split air conditioning system is always recommended to install, but it will be very rarely required. No more hot summer nights and not being able to sleep due to the heat, just comfortable living for the family.
In short, NO!! A passive house can still have that architectural design and be the head turner you want it to be, but it can also be a high performance too. A collaborative team of builder, designer and certifier is criticall in the pre-construction stage to give you the dream high performance house you want. Once you get your friends around to experience the inside comfort levels of a Passive House, you will be the envy of everybody.
You will not be able to achieve the full passive house certification due to thermal bridges still remaining within the existing structure, but all the passive house principles can be implemented into your renovation project. The Passive House Institute in Germany has developed a standard called “EnerPhit”, which is designed for renovations to meet, so you can still achieve this certification. This will still significantly reduce the energy consumption requirements of your home.
It refers to weak points in the building envelope where heat(energy) flows from inside to out, and vice versa. Changes of direction in the building, window openings and where materials change are common areas for a thermal bridge. Eliminating thermal bridges is critical to achieve the Passive House standard and why it is one of the 5 fundamental principles of construction in Passive House.
While building the structure itself is relatively similar to conventional building methods, building a Passive House to standard and achieving certification is a whole different ball game. Due to the rigorous planning and testing a Passive House goes through in design and construction, every single building component and detail needs to be sequenced and implemented correctly. If you are going all in for the holy grail of Passive House certification, there are no cutting corners which is why it makes it the NO1 building standard out there today.
Speaking from an Australian climate, the answer is no. It would raise the inside temperature dramatically and may reduce the efficiency of the MHRV system due to an air tightness issue. Aesthetically it might be nice to look at, but the performance of the building does not require it for any heat gain requirements. Plus Santa Claus knows how to get through the ventilation ducting system, so your children need not fear!
Not at all! More than anything, a Passive House utilises higher quality versions of typical building concepts and components. The heat recovery ventilation system, not common in conventional buildings, is user-friendly and easy to operate with fewer controls than a TV. Passive House technology is so simple, there’s no need to hire someone to maintain it, you can do it yourself.
The ventilation system in a Passive House is a fresh air supply system, not an air conditioning system that recirculates within your home. Bacterial growth is only a problem in poorly maintained recirculating air systems. The fan and valve noises resulting from the ventilation system are almost completely eliminated by sound control measures such as vibration isolation mounts, low airspeed and acoustic lining in ducts. Jet nozzles guide incoming air along the ceiling, where it uniformly diffuses throughout the room at rates that are barely noticeable.
No, Passive House is a very versatile building standard that can form the basis for the design of any type of building. Across the world there are a number of schools, banks, apartment and office buildings that have been built to the Passive House standard and with the ever increasing focus on climate change the numbers will grow and grow until it becomes the normal.