Title of Working Group

SESSION I

The First Passive House in Portugal

Joo Marcelino, Joo Gavio Homegrid Av. 25 de Abril n 27, 3 AC/X, 3830 - 044 lhavo, Portugal E-mail: homegrid@sapo.pt, www.homegrid.pt

Introduction

Homegrid is developing two single-family houses which are the first Passive House buildings in Portugal. They are located in lhavo, a town located in the centre-north coast of Portugal, which climate is in a transition range from the Oceanic Climate and the Mediterranean Climate. Both houses were designed to be high energy-efficient with an A+ classification according to Portuguese regulation. The adaptation to Passive House standards began after our presence at the 15th Passive House Conference, when the construction was already starting. Besides the Passive House standards, Homegrid created a new concept applied to one of the houses, the wefi building - water, food and energy almost independent building. The Passive House certification is the key point to achieve the required low energy demand.

Figure 1: 3D exterior view and construction site view (in February 2012)

Become a Passive House

Building envelope One of the major concerns in the adaptation to Passive House standards was the building envelope. We focus great part of our work in the creation of a continuous insulation layer and the increase of its thickness. The goal was to almost nullify the thermal bridges and improve the U-values of the envelope solutions roof, floor slab, structural foundations, external wall and windows. The windows solutions had the leading role in the global envelope performance.

Hannover 2012

SESSION I

Title of Working Group

Envelope
External wall

Constructive solutions
Initial solution (20 mm plaster, 250 mm concrete block, 80 mm EPS) Improved solution (20 mm plaster, 250 mm thermal block, 100 mm EPS)

U-value W/(mK)
0,350 0,262 0,302 0,221

Roof

Initial solution (20 mm plaster, 200 mm fungiform slab, 100 mm XPS) Improved solution (20 mm plaster, 200 mm fungiform slab, 150 mm XPS)

Table 1: comparison of U-values of both initial and improved solutions of some envelope parts

Improvements had been made in the U-values of the glass and aluminium frame, the spacers and the blind box. The window position was optimized but still far from an ideal solution. We couldnt set the windows position in the insulation layer of the external wall, due to the blinds type. Ventilation system To achieve the air renovation requirements of 0.4 h-1 an active heat recovery unit was provided for extracting hot, humid air from kitchens, bathrooms. Dust particles, moisture and smells are thus removed from the dwelling, ensuring a comfortable indoor climate. In winter the energy recovered is used to provide domestic hot water and to heat the incoming air. In summer the energy contained in the incoming air is utilised for water heating before the cooled air is used to ventilate the dwelling. Each house has 223 m2 of treated floor area and 671 m3 of enclosed volume. We will need 96 m of 75 mm pipes and 30m of 160 mm pipes. The pipes will be in PVC in accordance with EN 1329. The system must be in equilibrium between the insuflation and Figure 2: Vertical section - initial and extraction. We will have 9 extractions/ insufflations improved windows solution achieved with 75 mm pipes that will transport a maximum of 30 m3/h of air. Pipes in the heated zone were installed within the walls and in false ceilings created for that purpose. We didnt introduce pipes in the slab. Regardless the ventilation system used, our advice is to begin the passive house project only after finding an expert in this area that will allow an exact definition of the requirements: type and diameter of pipes for each division, localization of the central unit, air discharge/ intake pipes and verify the access for maintenance and annual cleaning.

Future work

We will monitor temperature and humidity inside the house during two years. We will analyse the costs of this construction, so far we estimate additional costs of 5 %. We will present the results for future analysis and improvements according to our working method. 2 Hannover 2012