Alternative Technology Assn Forums

1. 

   proftournesol
   Member

   The value in a Zehnder isn't in a cheap purchase price, it's in what it saves you in energy costs. Going through the expensive exercise myself though, the Zehnder is only the start, if you need it to work properly then you also need to make your house airtight

   Posted Thursday 27 Jun 2013 @ 7:56:08 am from IP #
2. 

   AEaston
   Member

   Has anyone built a passive house in South East Queensland? Would appreciate feedback on cost/value of ERV systems ( do the benefits outweigh the initial costs and what are the initial costs.), pros and cons of ERVs for sub tropical climates, builders in SE Q who are willing to build passive houses, ...
   Thanks!

   Posted Wednesday 9 Oct 2013 @ 9:57:10 am from IP #
3. 

   StephenF
   Member

   I would question the benefit of a passive house in such a warm location, cooling rather than heating is an issue in Qld and there are some very low cost, energy efficient ways to cool compared to heating. Also humidity would be a major problem in a well sealed passive house. Just my un-educated opinion though.

   Posted Monday 14 Oct 2013 @ 11:54:51 pm from IP #
4. 

   Bushwalker
   Member

   StephenF, the underlying principal of the passivhaus is to minimise the energy requirements of the building.

   “A Passive House is a building, for which thermal comfort (ISO 7730) can be achieved solely by post-heating or post-cooling of the fresh air mass, which is required to achieve sufficient indoor air quality conditions – without the need for additional recirculation of air.”

   http://passipedia.passiv.de/passipedia_en/basics/passive_houses_in_different_climates/introduction

   "the definition of a Passive House basically consists of limiting the peak heating load to 10 W/m². In some climates that may be easy to achieve; in other, colder climates it may be more difficult. [..]
   And the same applies for cooling: Passive measures are to be chosen to reduce the peak cooling load: proper size and quality of windows and shading und the reduction of the internal heat loads by using highly energy efficient equipment."

   The theory is that the building efficiency more than makes up for the cost of the construction compared with conventional buildings.

   Posted Tuesday 15 Oct 2013 @ 12:24:05 am from IP #
5. 

   AEaston
   Member

   Bushwalker: Thanks for your response and for the link to passipedia website. A wealth of info there.

   Posted Tuesday 15 Oct 2013 @ 1:54:17 am from IP #
6. 

   Bushwalker
   Member

   AEaston, you are welcome. I only found it myself recently while researching energy efficiency improvements to our own home.

   Posted Tuesday 15 Oct 2013 @ 3:05:43 am from IP #

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