Building a passive house is financially worthwhile
A passive house less expensive than a conventional or low-energy house?
It is possible! demonstration...
Passive houses have a comfortable interior climate in summer and in winter without requiring a conventional heating system. Passive houses tend to combine both: comfort and energy efficiency.
New legislation decrees that heating consumption in "Passive Houses" must not exceed 15 Kw/m²/per year. These regulations are an essential requirement for being granted existing subsidies, and as a result are strictly monitored. Consequently, you can be surethat by building a passive house, you will never go over this rate.
This new legislation also decrees that in conventional and low-energy buildings, maximum heating consumption should amount to 45 Kw/m²/per year and 35 Kw/m²/per year respectively. However, in practice that's far from being the case, given that subsidies for these types of buildings are granted on the basis of theoretical rates, without any checking after the event as is the case with passive houses.
A statistical study was conducted to assess actual consumption by dwelling type. Here are the results obtained from this study:
From this study, it would appear that the heating consumption of "low energy" buildings is in the region of 60 Kw/m²/per year, and that of "conventional" buildings is in the region of 120 Kw/m²/per year. We can therefore see that actual consumption of these two types of dwelling is well above the theoretical forecast rates !
So this study is clear proof of thehuge advantages that passive building represents. Apart from the well-known ecological and energy-saving motives, there is also the money-saving aspect: An HMS passive house is less expensive !
Why will you make money by building an HMS passive house?
To give you an exact idea of thefinancial advantages which passive building represents, we will start off with an example of a 150m² passive building.
Additional costs connected with the building of a passive house:
- The first requirement of a passive house isthat the walls must be airtight. HMS walls are completely airtight: Walls must be made airtight just at the joins, unlike other building systems which require a film to be placed over the entire surface (its resistance over time is not known). The cost of making a house with a living area of 150 m² airtight: only 1,014 €
- Another essential element is theabsence of thermal bridges: with HMS walls, there aren't any thermal bridges because ducts are provided in the manufacture of the middle layer, so there aren't any breaks through to the outside.
- Passive houses require highly efficient insulation: We studied the problem and chose suitable insulation priced at 18 Euro/m². Additional costs for this item, compared to a conventional house: 3,600 Euros; Additional costs compared to a low-energy house: 1,800 Euros.
- Good ventilation is essential: we offer a new hyper-effective VMC turbofan. Additional costs for this item, compared to a conventional house: 8,500 Euros; Additional costs compared to a low-energy house: 4,000 Euros.
- Thanks to an agreement we have with our frame manufacturer, we have the advantage of offering you passive triple glazing for the same price as double glazing: 400 to 420 Euros/m² including casing, splay, air-sealing trim and installation. So there is no additional cost for this item with "passive" building.
- To benefit from the subsidies and tax exemption awarded to passive buildings, tests must be carried out:for air tightness and thermal imaging: 600 Euros x 2 = 1.200 Euros
Savings over 10 years connected with the building of a passive house:
- No need for a heating system: saving for a 150 m² house: 7,500 Euros compared to a conventional building, and 3,750 Euros compared to a low-energy house.
- Consumption of a passive house is, according to the new legislation, 15 Kw/m²/per year as opposed to 60 Kw/m²/per year for low-energy buildings and 120 Kw/m²/per year for conventional buildings. So after a period of 10 years, this represents, a saving of 23,625 Euros compared to a conventional building and 10,125 Euros compared to a low-energy building.
- Subsidies awarded for passive buildings: 6,500 Euros
- Subsidies awarded for carrying out thermography audit: 200 Euros and 250 Euros for the air tightness test
- Tax exemption: 830 Euros per year for 10 years = 8,300 Euros
Other benefits:
- No connection fees for gas
- No gas meter
- Large property appreciation
- The resale value of a passive building is higher than that of a conventional building
- There will be nofuture need to bring the building up to standards seeing as it is already passive
In conclusion:
| compared to CONVENTIONAL |
compared to LOW-ENERGY |
|
|---|---|---|
| Additional costs connected to the building of a 150 m² passive house. | ||
Air sealing the walls |
1.014 € | 1.014 € |
Insulating the walls |
3.600 € | 1.800 € |
Inside surface ventilation |
8.500 € | 4.000 € |
air tightness tests and thermal imaging in order to benefit from subsidies and tax exemption |
1.200 € | 1.200 € |
Additional costs: |
14.314 € | 8.014 € |
| Additional costs connected to the building of a 150 m² passive house. | ||
savings on the purchase of a heating system |
7.500 € | 3.750 € |
savings on heating consumption on a 10 year basis passive house: 15Kw/m²/per year conventional house: 120Kw/m²/per year low-energy house: 60Kw/m²/per year |
23.625 € | 10.125 € |
subsidies for passive building |
6.500 € | 6.500 € |
subsidies for low-energy building 1,500 Euros for K35 and E80 + 75 Euros per Ew point less, aid has an upper limit of 5,000 Euros |
-1.500 € |
|
subsidies awarded for carrying out thermal imaging audit and air tightness test |
450 € | 450 € |
tax exemption for 10 years |
8.300 € |
8.300 € |
Savings: |
46.375 € | 27.625 € |
| TOTAL Savings: | +32.061 € | +19.611 € |
How do you create a passive house?
A passive house doesn't just happen; its concept brings together a series of technical decisions which require great expertise:
-
Bioclimatism and thermal inertia:
A passive house requires special attention as regards its position and the choice of materials, but the sun isn't the only element which heats the house: human bodies, lights and electrical appliances are also sources of heat which it channels, retains and releases over time.
-
Air tightness:
To store heat in the best possible way and protect the interior from moisture, the walls and the roof must be extremely airtight. HMS walls deliver this principle perfectly. By nature, they are airtight and unlike other building systems, their large size reduces the number of joins down to the minimum.
The principle behind HMS walls and their system of manufacture reduces the number of thermal bridges down to nothing and all the ducts are pre-drilled into the middle layer of wood in the factory.
-
Insulation:
Insulation is another crucial element. The most suitable type of insulation must be chosen from amongst the huge range that exists and the appropriate thickness. It also has to be correctly installed so as to maximise its efficiency.
-
Windows:
Although windows act as energy sensors, they are also the cause of significant heat loss. So it is absolutely essential to choose "passive" triple glazing frames.
-
Ventilation:
As warm in winter as it is cool in summer, a passive house would nevertheless not be practicable without an extremely efficient ventilation system: CMV (controlled mechanical ventilation) turbofan.
Why should you choose HMS for building your passive house?
- Because, as described above, our building system has the most efficient technical features on the market for carrying out passive building.
- Because a passive house must be built by a specialist who has immense in-depth knowledge of the passive house concept.
- BECAUSE HMS IS CHEAPER!
Here are some completed projects demonstrating our innovative passive building method:
-
Building project of 14 passive flats in HANNUT, with the TECHNO-CONSTRUCT company
-
Building project of a passive house in Ottignies, with the architect Mr. Frederic MAGER
