Passive House

Passive House is a next generation affordable standard for energy efficiency and high performance housing.

A Passive House reduces energy consumption radically with only a modest increase in costs. The lifetime costs of ownership are significantly reduced. The goal is to reduce energy consumption by 80-90% and only increase the cost by 10-20%.

Although it might seem that the best features of a Passive House are its reduced energy consumption and low operating costs, comfort and health are its greatest benifits. Temperatures remain stable in a draft free environment. Fresh air is constantly being provided to every area of the home while stale air is exahusted. Over 85% of the energy in this exahust air is captured to re-warm the cold incoming air.

Life in a Passive House - is an interesting, short article about living in a Passive House (from Deutschland Magazin).  The article is now published on the Young Germany website with the title: A house with a two-euro monthly heating bill.