Craft Homes say that the quality deficit in our housing in New Zealand has dire health implications for our communities, and this is primarily due to cold, damp and mould within our homes. Unfortunately, this relates to both older style homes and modern, new builds. The current building code is partly to blame with much lower standards compared with other developed countries. The Passive House Standard has been offered as a solution to some of these issues.
A home built to this standard is a high performance, energy efficient home. The focus when building a Passive House is on delivering a comfortable and well-ventilated home that requires very little energy, as well as being very quiet.
The high standard of energy efficiency and comfort is achieved primarily due to a focus on a high-performance building envelope (or building shell), starting with air tightness.
The interior of the building is encased in an airtightness layer, which prevents the loss of heat and draughts, as well as preventing moisture damage to the building structure.
Secondly, high quality insulation will prevent heat loss and stabilise the internal temperature, when floors, walls and ceilings are thoroughly insulated. The level of insulation is determined directly by the climate zone that the home is being built in.
Similarly, to ensure thermal performance and air tightness, windows and doors must meet strict criteria. Double glazing is a minimum standard in Passive homes, whereas triple glazing may be specified in certain parts of the country.
In standard construction, thermal bridging occurs where the foundation meets the walls, the walls meet the ceiling, around window and door frames and where steel columns are used. This allows for heat to escape in colder months, or heat to penetrate in warmer months. Specific Passive House design details are used to prevent this effect.
A continuous mechanical ventilation system is used in Passive Homes. All incoming air is filtered of dust, pollen and pollution. A heat exchange system then recovers around 90% of the air before being removed from the home.
If you want to find out more about building a better home for your family, get in touch with the Craft Homes team today, and for more information on passive houses please go to https://www.crafthomes.co.nz .
