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The Gold Standard of Energy Efficiency
As Kiwis become increasingly aware of our environmental footprint, we’re moving toward building high performing, healthy and energy efficient buildings. The gold standard of this movement is the Passive House Model.
Far from a new concept, the idea of Passive Homes or Passivhaus, originated in Germany in the late 1980s when Physicist Dr Wolfgang Feist developed a building model that optimised insulation and the airtightness, to stabilise the internal temperature of a building.
The first official Passive House was constructed in 1990. 40 years later, over 70,000 certified Passive Homes have been built across Europe, America, England and Canada.
THE 5 PRINCIPLES OF PASSIVE HOME BUILDING
The Passive House model is an internationally recognised building standard delivering homes that require significantly reduced energy for heating or cooling. Incredibly, Passive Homes consume between 75%-90% less heating energy than a conventional house.
The Passive House methodology is underpinned by five key principles:
Designing a Passive Home requires thorough understanding of energy flows in buildings. Designers use The Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) to assess the impact of design changes accurately and instantaneously.
STEPPING INSIDE A PASSIVE HOME
Helping to drive the Passive Home movement in New Zealand is Chatterton Builders, Canterbury-based specialists in energy efficient building. Chatterton Builders offer a full Passive Home design and build service - delivering stunning, high performance, healthy and energy efficient Passive Homes across the region.
Owners Brent and Claire Chatterton believe so firmly in the benefits of this model that in 2020, they built their own Passive Home in Rangiora.
Take one step inside Brent and Claire’s family home and you’ll discover incredible fresh indoor air quality, stable temperature, and an amazingly quiet, calm environment.
Claire comments, “The air is so clean, there’s hardly any dust and the humidity is controlled. The temperature is comfortable right across the house, without any additional heating or cooling. And one of the big comments we get from visitors is how quiet it is, there’s a certain calmness about our home.”
Brent and Claire open their family home up by appointment, so potential clients can experience a living, breathing Passive Home, operating under the energy demands of normal family life.
A WELL-PLANNED ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION IS VITAL
Chatterton Builders engage Vibe Systems for the electrical design, planning and installation across all of their Passive Homes.
Not surprisingly, the electrical installation of a Passive Home is as unique as the design itself.
Founder of Vibe Systems, Ben Anderson explains, “Construction in these houses is completely different. You don’t get a chance to do anything later – any penetration has to be sealed so it doesn’t compromise the airtightness of the structure. You need to have your planning down from the beginning, really working with the customer to finalise exactly what they want, and where they want it. That also includes discussions around future-proofing, there’s no going back later down the track.”
THE ROLE OF LEGRAND’S SCS AUTOMATION IN ENHANCING ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Legrand’s purpose is to improve lives by transforming spaces where people live, work and meet with electrical and digital infrastructures, and connected solutions that are simple, innovative and sustainable.
The concept of improving lives echoes the ideals and objectives of the Passive House model, so it’s not surprising to find Legrand solutions feature throughout these homes.
To achieve total full-home control, Ben opts for Legrand’s SCS Automation solution. Delivering high performance functionality and world-class smart home technology, it integrates easily with Legrand’s Arteor switch gear for a stylish finish.
Ben comments, “In these Passive Homes, there’s two aspects to automation. The first is the convenience and aesthetic for the customer. Having one simple touch screen controlling all electrical functionality of the house and the ability to create multiple scenarios to support and enhance the way the customer lives, is really valuable”.
Ben continues, “And the other is having useful information to work with. With Legrand’s SCS Automation we’re able to really drill down into where energy is being used, and we can make adjustments accordingly to achieve even better energy efficiency – it takes the guess work out of it by telling you what’s really going on in your building”.
Legrand’s energy efficient LED lighting is also used throughout Chatterton Builders’ passive home builds, as well as Legrand’s LCS3 data cabling system. On top of aiming for energy savings, the ability for Vibe Systems to offer the customer time and money savings is vital.
Ben explains, “We use LCS3 in these homes because of how much time it saves on installation. The toolless data jack is absolutely brilliant – makes the installation process so quick, it’s amazing.”
THE FUTURE IS PASSIVE
The energy we use in our homes is a massive contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. With the global push to reduce emissions, it’s likely that we will eventually see a drastic overhaul in new building regulation energy conservation standards. Claire comments, “Already in several Counties across England, the Passive Home Standards have been adopted as minimum building code standards”.
As well as being exceptionally eco-friendly, Passive Homes are versatile - warm air remains inside in cooler climates, and properly ventilates in warmer ones, and with the air being constantly filtered, a Passive Home is virtually free of pollens and allergens. Add to this the low energy bills, and it’s not surprising that the interest in this model of construction is gaining real momentum in New Zealand.
Together with Chatterton Builders and Vibe Systems, Legrand is committed to delivering high- performing, energy efficient buildings. We’re proud to have Legrand products feature throughout these innovative Passive Homes - and to be a part of the movement towards healthier, more sustainable buildings in New Zealand.
