You know what is awesome? Being able to maintain a comfortable temperature inside a house all throughout four seasons- spring, summer, autumn, and winter, without utilizing an active cooling or heating system. Let me introduce you to such an innovative system that not only allows residents to save up to 80%~90% of heating costs, but also provides a clean indoor air quality— a "Passive House" system. 

 

Passive house is very well-insulated and is virtually air-tight. During winter, these very well-insulated walls help windows, doors, and heat recovery ventilator all work in harmony to keep cold air out of the house. In summer, shading devices installed in these houses prevent intense sunlight penetrate through windows, resulting in drop in internal temperature. Residents can also open and adjust vents and doors to cool their homes. With these very well developed internal structures and systems, Passive House provides comfortable and ideal environment for people! 

 

However, let me point this out! I am not here to criticize the current residential houses or even urge people to shift their residential houses to Passive Houses. In fact, I will also like to tout at the fact that although residential houses that are built after 2000 are 30% larger than the older residential houses, they use only 2% more energy than the older ones. This statistics definitely shows positive and energy-efficient aspects of modern residential houses however, passive houses can be more promising as it not only saves much more energy, but can also reduce climate change and global warming.

 

Some may hypothesize or even assume that residents in Passive Houses will have to sacrifice designs, convenience, or spaces inside the house! But this argument remains invalid. In fact, Park Passive House, located in Seattle, Washington, consumes 80% less energy than similar-sized houses, but still provides very much comfort and space to the residents. It is three-story building, with 2,000 square-feet. It consists of four bedrooms, three restrooms, a large kitchen, children's playing area, living room, and a dining room. 

 

However, with enormous saving in energy costs along with comforts provided follows a relatively large cost to construct a Passive House. Building a Passive House costs 30% higher than building conventional houses, which may discourage prospective residents to build Passive Houses. Also, in United States, there are only 90 Passive Houses. This can be attributed to a series of strict tests, performed by Passive House Institute US, in which prospective builders of Passive Houses need to go through. Passive Houses are required to show the same energy efficiency, regardless of the weathers or states they are located at.

 

Nevertheless, the Passive House Institute US is now trying to revise their strict requirements- building Passive Houses in a particular state in U.S. can be built with different standards in other parts in the U.S.

 

However unlike U.S., Europe holds approximately 65,000 Passive Houses! This number shows that many countries are trying to achieve energy efficiency and are making a huge progress in reducing their carbon footprints, a great news that should be shared with many people! 

 

Here are some pictures of Passive Houses. The first picture demonstrates the well-insulated system of a Passive House. The second picture shows Seattle?s Park Passive House, one of 90 Passive Houses in United States that I mentioned earlier in my report.