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Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Optimal thermal comfort requires the heat loss of the
human body to be in BALANCE with its heat production.
This is similar to the relationship between an activity
(exercising, skiing...) and clothes - our second skin.
Heat
Production
Heat Loss
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
o air temperature
o the temperature of the surrounding
surfaces ( the ”mean radiant temperature")
o air speed and turbulence
o humidity of the air
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
This chart illustrates the summer and winter comfort zones
relative to temperature and humidity
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
To feel good, a range of combinations create a comfort field in which:
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Maintaining this comfort field is the domain
of these two important building systems:
o BUILDING ENVELOPE
which includes the walls, floors, and roof or ceilings
that enclose the building, and any penetrations of
that enclosure for doors, windows, chimneys, vents,
etc. plus the accumulated air leakage created by
gaps in the structure
o MECHANICAL SYSTEMS
that provide supplemental heating, sometimes
cooling, and any controlled ventilation.
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Shortcomings in the building envelope often require us to
tolerate conditions outside the comfort field.
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
We seek control over these conditions thru the use
of mechanical systems like boilers and furnaces.
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
… with the turn of a dial
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
To overcome our discomfort
we may rely (at a cost) on
additional fans, heaters,
humidifiers, etc. to establish
a local comfort zone
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
By making integrated improvements to the building envelope and
mechanical systems we can provide a more dependable comfort field.
This is an illustration
of Passive House
strategies
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
These are the strategies and effects that we rely on
to create the conditions that assure thermal comfort
STRATEGIES EFFECT
Maximize insulation levels Retard the transfer of heat (including
losses to ground)
Eliminate thermal bridges Retard the transfer of heat (thru solid
materials)
Dramatically reduce air leaks Retard the transfer of heat and
moisture (thru air leakage)
Install Net Gain Windows Gain more energy than is lost thru glass
Orient the building to capture solar Maximize ability to gain energy without
energy and shade to prevent the risk of overheating
overheating
Use natural ventilation to cool Reduce the need for mechanical cooling
Use heat recovery ventilation Assure a constant and controlled rate
of fresh air while recovering energy
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants
BUILDINGS & THERMAL COMFORT
MAKE
SENSE
Designers & Builders of FUTURE FRIENDLY HOMES • Certified Passive House Consultants