Winter Performance of Certified Passive Houses in a Temperate Maritime Climate: nZEB Compliant?

Abstract

The low-energy Passive House (PH) standard is over 25 years old and has a wealth of peer-reviewed academic publications relating to its performance in continental Europe. However, relatively little has been written about it's recorded performance in the Temperate Maritime Climate (TMC), such as that prevailing in Great Britain and Ireland. With the requirement to build to the near Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) standard throughout EU member states by 2020, the PH standard offers a well proven methodology of building the required low energy dwellings. This paper reviews the recorded performance of certified passive houses and compares it with the recorded performance of contemporaneous houses built to the minimum building regulations in Northern Ireland. It then and considers their suitability for achieving the nZEB standard. The metrics being recorded at five-minute intervals for the houses include: