Copyright (c) 2010 Michail Kozlov

The concept of passive house is getting popularity as more and more people are trying to reduce energy consumption of their house as far as possible. Energy consumption of a room can be slashed down to almost 90% in a passive house, which is something that very few people can afford to ignore. Compared to traditional houses, passive house does not consume huge amount of energy for keeping the temperature of a room stable. You can maximize energy efficiency and minimize energy consumption by transforming your house into a passive house. Previously the technique of passive house was mainly applied to residential buildings, but with the growing consciousness over energy conservation, this technique is now widely implemented in different types of properties such as kindergartens, schools, buildings etc. Besides new buildings, old buildings are also adopting this technique to reduce their monthly electricity bills as much as possible. The demand of energy efficient house is spiraling up continuously as the source of traditional source of energy is fast depleting and as the cost of the traditional source of energy such as gas, oil etc is increasing rapidly. This trend has forced many people to opt for viable alternative. Though the concept of energy efficient house is nothing new, the development of new and sophisticated technology has perfected and refined the concept to some extent. Now, the term passive house does not simply refer to an energy efficient room rather it also encompasses other aspects such as eco-friendly etc.

Not every energy efficient house can be a passive home. Houses should fulfill the following requirements before being touted as passive homes. 120 kWh/m² per year is the maximum limit of energy consumption in passive homes. Annual heating demand of a passive home should not be more than 15 kWh/m² per year and annual cooling demand should not be more than 4746 btu/ft² per year. As technology is slowing making inroads in making homes energy efficient, the cost of building passive homes has decreased to some extent, but still passive homes are a bit expansive than traditional buildings. But given its long term benefits, you can easily overlook this flipside of passive homes. But thanks to new design and the stiff competition in the market, the cost of building passive homes has reduced significantly from the past. Passive homes have a unique advantage over convention buildings. Because of their energy efficiency, passive homes are a big hit among prospective customers in the real estate industry. And therefore, it means if you can get good return from your passive home in time of urgency. Now what's more do you want from your home?

Passive windows play significant roll in controlling or adjusting the temperature of a room. Passive windows minimize solar gain when it is not required and maximize solar gain when it is required and thereby maintaining an ideal condition in rooms. Passive windows should be made of those materials that meet the requirements of Passive House. Passive windows should be placed in a passive room in such a way that can ensure maximum passive solar gain. By ensuring maximum passive solar gain, passive windows help to reduce energy consumption to a bare minimum. However, when it comes to energy consumption, solar gain stands second to its other advantages. Passive windows are usually manufactured with high R-values that help them to meet the requirements of the Passivhaus standard. Warm edge, low-emissivity coatings, solar heat-gain coefficient etc are some of its unique features that are unlikely to be found in any other types of windows.

Passive houses are mainly heated by passive solar gain, but at the same time, internal heat is also preserved for minimizing energy consumption. Besides controlling the temperature of a room, passive house technique can ensure fresh airflow in a room, which will have an overall positive impact on the environment of the house. Passive house, which has become synonymous with the term "Eco home", generally, comes with a number of features that are unique of its own. To ensure fresh flow of air, different parameters are tested in an Eco home. Air can become excessively dry or the presence of CO2 in air can increase drastically which can lead to suffocation. In some cases, humidity can take a nosedive and this can make your stay uncomfortable in your home. Interior furnishing often plays a significantly important role in this regard. By incorporating a mechanical venting system in your home's interior furnishing, you can enhance the overall ambience of your rooms. It is desirable that the change of temperature in an Eco home takes gradually and not abruptly. After switching off heating and ventilation system of your rooms, an Eco home starts losing temperature less than 0.5 °C per hour and it gets stabilized when the indoor temperature reaches 15 °C. Opening doors or windows of an Eco home has a very insignificant effect on the overall temperature of the room as the temperature normalizes within few seconds.

Proper installation of solar panels is certainly one of the most crucial tasks that should be done with utmost care and precaution to ensure better outcome at the end. Solar panels should be installed a place where they can get maximum sunlight without facing least interruption. If you can manage to do it properly, you can reduce energy consumption of your house as much as 50%. However, the initial cost of solar panel installation is slightly costlier than the traditional way of generating energy but in the long run, it will prove much more cost effective. Solar energy is undoubtedly one of the few available alternative energy sources that can be installed in a room without compromising with its look, As government is offering subsidies on solar panel installation, you should get them installed in your rooms for reducing electricity bill and to enhance energy efficiency of your rooms.