Should it be called 'Passive House'?

When you hear the phrase “passive house” what immediately comes to mind? Whatever it is, it’s probably a family home of some description with the vague notion of not-to-much-energy-use attached to it. And that’s only if you’ve already heard why it’s called “passive”. Otherwise you might be visualising a quiet house, or a house that’s lying down… Or how about a passive aggressive house?

Image Credit: Midlife Croesus

All jokes aside, there is a bit of a misconception out there that the term Passive House relates to detached housing, but it's so much more than that. The Passive House standard is in fact applicable to all building types. This includes semi-detached or multi-unit townhouses, apartments, offices, kindergartens, schools, universities, etc. Basically, any occupied building with natural light can be a Passive House!  

So why do we call it Passive House?

Well, this has to do with the original name given for the concept by its German inventors: Passivhaus. As a linguist I can tell you that sometimes when translating words from one language to another certain subtleties of meaning can be lost. Passiv is a somewhat staightforward crossover, as it still means in English that the building is able to take advantage of the sun's energy and often uses mechanical ventilation to keep itself cool in Summer and warm in Winter. In other words, since you don't have to actively intervene in heating or cooling the building very much, if at all, it is a "passive" building. That all makes sense, right? 

Now, while haus does mean 'house' in English, in the name Passivhaus it is mashed together as one word much the same as other German words like Backhaus -- 'bakery', Zuchthaus -- 'prison', or Krankenhaus -- hospital. None of those buildings are 'houses'! And neither does a Passivhaus have to be a house. 

This is clear enough in Germany, but elsewhere it can be a bit confusing not only to the general public but even to professionals. In fact, that was us prior to joining this journey! For this reason some architects and architectural designers around the world, though writing in English, still use the word Passivhaus. And while the name chosen for the official standards in Aotearoa New Zealand is ‘Passive House’, we like to think of it more as Passive Building. That would be a fairer reflection on the fact that it covers a wide range of building uses. 

Image Credit: Klinikum Frankfurt Höchst. This is the world’s first Passive standard hospital building.

Passive building for commercial projects

If we look at the challenges before us of reducing energy use and carbon emissions then, quite frankly, new detached houses are only a drop in the bucket of building work going on. Commercial buildings can be some of the most inefficient. For example;  

• Single glazed aluminium windows are currently compliant with the NZ building code for buildings over 300m2, only finally changing in November this year! We can have relatively efficient heating systems, but if there isn't enough insulation and the building is not airtight enough then energy (and money!) is leaking away!  

• Also consider the often bemoaned problem in offices of getting the temperature right for everyone – for some it's too hot, for others too cold!. This is often dependent on their location to external walls or windows due to heat loss or heat gain from outside.  

We definitely need to make changes across the board. And the paradoxical beauty of this is that the larger the building the easier it is to achieve the Passive House standard! Get your head around that! So, fundamentally commercial builds are excellent candidates to be Passive, and the potential energy savings could be huge!   

We do Passive!

Here at Reform Architecture we are experienced in commercial architecture and are a certified Passive House designer. We're therefore in a wonderful position to work the Passive magic beyond stand-alone homes. So, you know…

Image Credit: Giphy

… Who are we kidding! We'd love to collaborate with you on a Passive Building! If you're looking to develop, especially in the office or retail space, click the ‘Contact us’ button on this page to get in touch with us today.

Check out our services page to find out more. You can also see more content about high performance design here.