When the first Passive House building was built in Germany 25 years ago, the certification system raised the bar for energy efficient buildings by introducing a rigorous performance-based standard. This summer, the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt, Germany, has raised the bar higher with its certification of a multi-unit residential complex in Innsbruck, Austria, and a single-family home in Ötigheim, Germany, under Passive House Plus—a new category that incorporates on-site renewable energy.
“The energy supply structure worldwide is transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable sources at an encouragingly rapid pace,” says Jessica Grove-Smith a Senior Scientist at the Passive House Institute. The new standard takes into account storage and transmission losses and balances energy demand and supply for renewable sources, explains Grove-Smith. The intent is to meet the European Union’s standards for Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB)—targets that all new buildings must meet by 2020.
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