Some people say that a passive house is like ‘living in a plastic bag?’
Have you ever had a window that doesn’t let In the cold air and just lets out the stale humid air, and yet you ever feel a breeze from it that chills you, lets in the right amount of air so that your whole house is ventilated but not overcooled or overheated, and doesn’t let in pollens, fumes, insects, flies, the noise of the next door neighbour’s lawnmower??windows that do not encourage condensation and mould , and only let in the warmth you need at the time of year that you need it, and in the summer are shaded perfectly so that there is very little chance of getting overheated?
Is it possible that a window/ventilation system can do ALL THAT?
It is not only possible but part of the quality design that ensures the above occurs.
The windows are able to be opened, anytime, as per a ‘standard minimum building code’ house, but the thing is, you don’t need to open the windows in order to feel comfortable and warm, because the heat recovery ventilation system does keeps the warmth in your house, by exchanging the warm, moist air, with cool fresh air from outside, through a heat exchanger, so very little heat is lost- so you are not paying to reheat you house every time you open the window- like you do in a building code standard house.
So open the windows all you like, on a hot summers day or cold winters night, but your house doesn’t need them open for you to breath health, fresh warm air. No heat (and your$$$$for energy bills) needs to be lost by throwing all those $$$$ out the window every time you open it , to get fresh air. Passive house just doesn’t have ‘uncontrolled ventilation’, (where all the cracks and gaps in construction in your home let in varied amounts of air depending which way the wind blows….and how strong the wind is..)
The passive house has the best ‘windows’ ever!!-open them when you want to, not when you need to!!You can have HUGE opening doors, no problem, like this one in Auckland, to create indoor outdoor flow.
Image1, architecture now.https://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/passive-house/Glendowie ,NZ first passive house
The relative humidity which we humans operate at our optimal health is 40-60%RH, which is maintained in a passive house, so that many virus, mould spores etc do not have the opportunity to thrive. Our New Zealand climate has quite high relative humidity quite often, and this encourages mould growth if not well ventilated, a normal window does nothing to help create optimal relative humidity.
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