Planning a passive house

For the passive-house standard to be implemented satisfactorily within a reasonable budget, good planning is indispensable. This necessarily involves putting together the right planning team.

For complex construction projects a larger team is necessary, consisting (say) of an architect, a physics-of-buildings expert, and specialized planners for energy, statics, soundproofing, fire protection, building services (heating, plumbing, ventilation, electricals), open space, etc. This approach is known as integral planning.

For an ordinary detached house, it will in most cases not be necessary to put a large planning team together.

At least three things should be considered in the selection of the team:

that all the relevant special skills are available
that the number of participants is as small as possible
that the structure for working together is clearly defined.

The team planning a passive house must take the following criteria into account:


Planning criterion	Key aspects
Orientation of site and building	South-facing site and orientation towards south, avoid shading
Compactness	Best possible S/V ratio, favourable building geometry, appropriate building depth
Orientation of windows	Solar gains, protection against overheating in summer
Room layout	Room depth, use of daylight, soundproofing
Solar shading	Natural/structural/active solar shading
Structure of building elements	Excellent U values, freedom from thermal bridging
Air seal	Simple solutions for junctions, as few transitions between building elements as possible, careful planning of details

Overview of planning criteria for passive houses