The Hanse Haus Passive House

Launched in Germany last year - and the first of which has recently been built, in just 8 weeks, in the UK – the Hanse Haus Passive haus has outstanding energy-saving properties, which translate to minimal heating costs and maximum home comforts.

What is a Passive haus?
A Passive Haus is first and foremost a house which is virtually airtight, achieves outstanding thermal insulation and an extremely low space heating requirement of only 15 kWh per square metre of floor area per annum.  

But, how is this achieved? With detailed technical construction, particular attention is paid to the building envelope – the shell – to make sure it’s completely airtight, ensuring that no heat can leak out through joints or gaps.  Large, south-facing windows mean that natural solar radiation is used efficiently to heat the Passive haus.  But inside the house itself, heat is also produced by the occupants, from electrical appliances, cooking and lighting and utilised through a central ventilation system with heat recovery constantly changing the air in the living areas and recycling warmth contained in the exhaust air via a heat exchanger into the incoming fresh air.

“Where conventional heating methods are no longer required, the Passive Haus gives freedom from rising energy prices.  Hanse Haus estimate that for a 1800 sqft passive haus, the consumption cost for heating and hot water would be just £32 per month (based on 20p/KWH), on average”, says Technical Director, Bruno Kleinheinz.

On the few very cold days in winter when there’s no sunshine, heating would be provided by a micro heat pump.  In addition, high performance solar collectors on the roof would heat domestic hot water.  “Not only does the Passive haus make long-term economic sense but due to reduced CO2 emissions, it offers pro-active care for the environment”, adds Bruno.

And, whilst the Passive haus doesn’t cost the earth to run, it also doesn’t cost the earth to build.  “Although it always depends on the internal fit out and architectural design, the estimated cost of a turn-key Passive haus  is approximately £1400/sqmtr.  This price includes floor covering, tiles for bathrooms, oak stairs, internal/external doors, all plaster services finished, smoothed and covered, bathroom fixtures and taps, skirtings, internal window sills, electrical work, plumbing, and heating”, says Bruno.

With Hanse Haus, Passive haus, or Code 6 standards are not an elite ideal, but an affordable code of build, which can be applied to most designs to provide a superior, purer and even healthier environment to live in.  These standards can also be applied to social and affordable housing in the UK.

The whole construction process of the Passive haus and the individual structural elements, such as the walls, windows and roof are verified by the Passiv-haus-Institut in Darmstadt, Germany.  This passive house certification provides official confirmation that the building is built to the correct specification.