Passivhaus or ‘Passive House’ is the fastest growing energy performance standard in the world.
Your home’s windows, walls, and floors can be designed to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design or climatic design. Unlike active solar heating systems, passive solar design doesn’t involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices, such as pumps, fans, or electrical controls to move the solar heat.
Passive solar homes range from those heated almost entirely by the sun to those with south-facing windows that provide some fraction of the heating load. The difference between a passive solar home and a conventional home is design. You can apply passive solar design techniques most easily when designing a new home. However, existing buildings can be adapted or “retrofitted” to passively collect and store solar heat.
Windows are an important element in passive solar home designs which can reduce heating, cooling, and lighting needs in a house.
