ᐅ Passive House as a Logical Choice? Are There Any Counterarguments?
Created on: 20 Feb 2015 19:54
V
Vogtländer
Hello everyone,
we are a family planning to build a house. So we have tried to gather as much information as possible. In the process, we have come across the passive house concept.
Do you know that feeling when you think you understand something and then wonder why everyone isn’t doing it that way? That’s exactly how we feel about the passive house right now. Are we missing something, or are there any arguments against building a passive house? I really can’t think of any.
Of course, it is somewhat more expensive, but if I recover the costs soon and then save money for life, I don’t understand, for example, why I would build a KfW 70 house instead...
So please either correct me or agree with me, but my conviction about the passive house feels a bit unsettling.
Thanks for your thoughts.
we are a family planning to build a house. So we have tried to gather as much information as possible. In the process, we have come across the passive house concept.
Do you know that feeling when you think you understand something and then wonder why everyone isn’t doing it that way? That’s exactly how we feel about the passive house right now. Are we missing something, or are there any arguments against building a passive house? I really can’t think of any.
Of course, it is somewhat more expensive, but if I recover the costs soon and then save money for life, I don’t understand, for example, why I would build a KfW 70 house instead...
So please either correct me or agree with me, but my conviction about the passive house feels a bit unsettling.
Thanks for your thoughts.
KfW40. A Passive House certification would mainly involve a different calculation method, certification process, and a guarantee that the blower door n50 value is below 0.6. Based on experiences shared in construction blogs, almost all houses from our builder already achieve an n50 value of at least below 0.7. Therefore, the differences were marginal, and I didn’t even inquire about the price anymore.
Vogtländer22 Feb 2015 23:22So, we are getting the energy-plus house for a fixed price of €210,000 (€1,750/m² (≈ $163/sq ft)) (the energy-saving regulation reference house offer would be €160,000, so about 30% less).
Basic details: 120 m² (1,292 sq ft), timber frame construction, 10 kWp photovoltaic system, @EveundGerd – NO polystyrene on the walls, no heating system but a fireplace instead, no heat pump, central controlled ventilation with heat recovery and geothermal exchanger, box windows, ...
When all the subsidies come in, I expect to reduce the monthly payment by about €100, and since I also save roughly €100 on electricity and €50–80 on gas/oil per month, I have around €300 more each month to put towards the loan repayment. With an interest rate of 1.5%, that means we can borrow an additional €80,000, and the "warm rent" costs will be the same as for an Energy-Saving Regulation 2014 reference house.
In our case, this means I have an initial extra investment of about 30% (€60,000) but actually have a slightly lower monthly burden thanks to the lower interest rate and savings on running costs.
What’s not yet included is the income from feeding electricity back into the grid, as I certainly will not consume 9,000 kWh per year, and energy prices are expected to rise.
Basic details: 120 m² (1,292 sq ft), timber frame construction, 10 kWp photovoltaic system, @EveundGerd – NO polystyrene on the walls, no heating system but a fireplace instead, no heat pump, central controlled ventilation with heat recovery and geothermal exchanger, box windows, ...
When all the subsidies come in, I expect to reduce the monthly payment by about €100, and since I also save roughly €100 on electricity and €50–80 on gas/oil per month, I have around €300 more each month to put towards the loan repayment. With an interest rate of 1.5%, that means we can borrow an additional €80,000, and the "warm rent" costs will be the same as for an Energy-Saving Regulation 2014 reference house.
In our case, this means I have an initial extra investment of about 30% (€60,000) but actually have a slightly lower monthly burden thanks to the lower interest rate and savings on running costs.
What’s not yet included is the income from feeding electricity back into the grid, as I certainly will not consume 9,000 kWh per year, and energy prices are expected to rise.
Vogtländer22 Feb 2015 23:35Yes, no heating, floor/walls/roof all have a U-value of 0.10.
Box windows U-value 0.5...
... a passive house with photovoltaic panels and battery, making it a plus-energy house.
Box windows U-value 0.5...
... a passive house with photovoltaic panels and battery, making it a plus-energy house.
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