A couple of months ago, we wrote a blog post about Improved energy efficiency in Australian homes. It was prompted by the results of a CSIRO study which found that new homes were up to 50 per cent more airtight than those they had tested in 2015.
Writing that made us think back to a blog post we wrote nearly seven years ago, Why aren’t we building to save energy?, which explained the Passivhaus concept, established in Germany in the early 1990s.
It was widely embraced in the colder climates of Europe where the savings on heating costs, in particular, made it a logical approach to building more energy-efficient homes and public buildings with a clear economic benefit.
Not to mention that there was already a tradition of – and appetite for – much more solid, airtight, soundproof, and weatherproof buildings in countries that see a lot of snow.
What is Passivhaus all about?
For a building to receive Passivhaus certification, it has to be airtight and use minimal conventional powered heating.
Thanks to excellent thermal insulation, a major part of the building’s heating demand is met through ‘passive’ sources such as solar radiation (which means the orientation is important to make the most of the winter sun) and the waste heat from occupants and technical appliances.
The meticulous construction methods and specifically designed materials mean Passivhaus buildings consume about 90 per cent less heating energy than equivalent conventional buildings and 75 per cent less energy overall than a more traditional new construction.
Is the Passivhaus concept applicable to Australian conditions?
Australia’s climate is, of course, quite varied. It can get pretty chilly in the winter months in Tasmania, the south of Victoria, and the ACT – although nothing like the many degrees below zero some places endure for days and nights on end in the northern hemisphere.
Then there are our northern regions where it stays warm year-round but gets truly tropical in summer, meaning that keeping cool is as high a priority as keeping warm is for our Tassie friends in the depths of winter.
As a result, it’s taken some additional testing and proving of the concept for Passivhaus to become more widely accepted in Australia.
However, it’s important to understand that it’s not only the savings on heating and cooling costs that make Passivhaus building an attractive and desirable proposition.
With the advances in building materials and techniques, along with renewable-energy technology, the Passivhaus method has become more clearly recognised as a way to construct energy-efficient, sustainable, comfortable, and healthy buildings.
They’re healthier because the indoor air quality is measurably better in a Passivhaus as the infiltration of outside pollutants is minimised and there is a significant reduction in moisture, too.
Increased confidence hand-in-hand with growing interest
Since the Australian Passivhaus Association (APA) was established over 10 years ago, around 70 buildings, most private residential homes, have been certified.
However, APA chief executive officer Alexia Lidas told The Fifth Estate earlier this year that there are almost 200 more in the certification pipeline, leading to four new certifiers being appointed.
Lidas also notes that some of the newer projects are in different sectors, including hospitality, education, multi-residential, social housing, and community.
One thing about Passivhaus certification is that it doesn’t apply only to new builds, with several of the larger projects underway being retrofits of existing buildings.
There are now so many options that when the APA organised and ran the 2023 International Passivhaus Open Days, they involved more than 50 tours across 19 sites around Australia. About 1300 people took the opportunity to check out these projects.
Australia’s experience mirrors the international one
In much the same way as it’s grown in other countries, the Passivhaus ‘movement’ in Australia started slowly with a handful of single-dwelling residential projects in select locations. Meanwhile, homes of this type were regarded as exclusive and out of reach of most home builders.
Over time, the costs and requirements have become more accessible, encouraging more people with different sorts of projects to investigate whether building this way would be a viable and attractive option for them.
It appears that Australia has entered the next phase of adoption, with a wider variety of sectors now taking the Passivhaus concept very seriously, including government bodies and financial institutions.
From a business perspective, Passivhaus buildings offer a strong return on investment for commercial asset owners. High quality is generally more attractive to long-term tenants, while the maintenance and operation costs are lower than non-Passivhaus buildings.
Some interesting examples are springing up
If you’re interested in seeing what a Passivhaus building might look like – and how it might work outside a residential home – here are a handful of examples of recent builds in Australia:
Torrens Early Learning Centre is a daycare and kindergarten facility in Canberra and is the only privately owned Passivhaus educational facility in the world.
Glenroy Community Hub houses community health providers, a library and childcare services. It’s the first community hub in Australia to achieve Passive House certification.
The vertical campus at Clifton Hill Primary School is the first Passivhaus facility undertaken by the Victorian School Building Authority.
Homes Victoria and Baptcare Affordable Housing have built 20 new sustainable homes in Sunshine, eight of which were built to the Passivhaus standards (this comprehensive case study that offers a lot of good information).
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Hotel opposite the Queen Victoria Market is an eight-level building behind the fully-restored heritage facade of the Central Club Hotel.
If you’d like to see some of the more impressive and innovative residential projects that have been completed, check out the Projects Register on the Australian Passivhaus Association website.
All new buildings should be held to a minimum standard
It certainly feels like the Passivhaus movement is gaining momentum here in Australia.
Of course, you don’t have to build to Passivhaus certification standards to build sustainably and for energy efficiency, but if you are going to make an effort, perhaps going that extra bit will be well worth it. Not to mention, it will likely become easier and more affordable the more it’s done.
All new buildings should be held to a reasonably high standard of insulation, airtightness, use of materials, and construction, regardless, so that they have the lowest possible energy needs.
If you’d like to find out more about building a Passivhaus, the Frequently Asked Questions on the APA website is a great place to start.
Any push to make all new buildings – residential, commercial, community, and government – as energy efficient as possible is something we can get behind.
By the way, there are two higher certification levels, Passivhaus Plus and Passivhaus Premium, which assess the use of renewable energy generation and the capacity of the building to collect more energy than it uses and feed some of it back to the grid.
That really does sound like the future of building.