LichtAktiv Haus

- a model for climate renovation

Paper for Passive House Nordic Conference 2013

16.10.2013

Inge Mette Pretzmann, VELUX Group

Mikkel Skott Olsen, Active House Alliance
Lone Feifer, VELUX Group
Overview of presentation
Tomorrow´s buildings today
Introduction to Model Home 2020
The Active House principles & indicators
LichtAktiv Haus case: a climate renovation

What do the monitoring results show?

Does the natural ventilation function as single
principle for air exchange?
How does minimum footprint and maximum
livability work in practice?

Conclusions
Papers published
Further information

2
The experiments for 2020
- the MODEL HOME programme

One experiment is better than a thousand expert assumptions

Villum Kann Rasmussen, Founder of VELUX

Six 1-to-1 experiments

that demonstrate 2020 regulations,
based on the Active House principles

All projects are monitored

in use, to gain learnings and experiences
Active House principles
- the holistic approach

• Active House is a vision of

buildings that create
healthier and more
comfortable lives for their
occupants without negative
impact on the climate –
moving us towards a
cleaner, healthier and safer
world.
Active House radar
- the holistic approach

– Active House principles

• Comfort
– Daylight
– Thermal environment
– Indoor air quality
• Energy
– Energy demand
– Energy supply
– Primary energy
performance
• Environment
– Environmental load
– Freshwater
consumption
– Sustainable
Construction
VELUX products and solutions
- key aspects of sustainability
All-seasons focus on  TXT
Winter AND summer comfort
Natural ventilation
Primary source of ventilation
Chimney effect
High daylight quality
Factor, not percentage
Strategically placed windows
User control
Manual override
Security
Energy efficiency by design
Dynamic sun screening
Use of Energy Balance

6
5 Active Houses in Europe
Cases Home for Life Sunlight-house Maison Air et CarbonLight LichtAktiv
Lumiere Homes Haus
HFL SLH MAL CLH LAH
Country Denmark Austria France Great Britain Germany

City Aarhus Vienna Paris Kettering Hamburg

Storeys 1,5 2,5 1,5 3 3

Exterior
m2 190 304 233 117 189
ISO 9836
Type OFH OFH OFH DFH DFH/R

Window area m2 AART Juri Troy Nomade HTA Architects Katharina Fey
Architects Architects Architects / Ostermann
& Architekten
engineers
Occupants (o) Esbensen Danube Cardonnel HTA HLS Technik
Engineers University Ingenieure
Energy demand
kWh/m2/y

Interior
Energy production
kWh/m2/y
63 63 65 87 108

Orientation by ridge E-W NW-SE SW-NE N-S N-S/

E-W

u-value ext. walls .1 .13 .12 .11 .16

u-value windows 1 .76 1.2 1.6 1.1

7
g-value windows .57 .46 .6 .57 .49
5 Active Houses in Europe
Cases Home for Life Sunlight-house Maison Air et CarbonLight LichtAktiv
Lumiere Homes Haus
HFL SLH MAL CLH LAH
Country DK A F GB D

City Aarhus Vienna Paris Kettering Hamburg

Storeys 1,5 2,5 1,5 3 3

m2 190 304 233 117 189

ISO 9836
Type OFH OFH OFH DFH DFH/R

Window area m2 85 101 46 32 92

Occupants (o) 4 4 4 4 4

Energy demand 37 43 45 87 94
kWh/m2/y
Energy production 63 63 65 87 108
kWh/m2/y
Orientation by ridge E-W NW-SE SW-NE N-S N-S/
E-W
u-value ext. walls .1 .13 .12 .11 .16

u-value windows 1 .76 1.2 1.6 1.1

g-value windows .57 .46 .6 .57 .49 8

Real families in real homes
Cases Home for Life Sunlight-house Maison Air et CarbonLight LichtAktiv
Lumiere Homes Haus
HFL SLH MAL CLH LAH
Country Esbensen Danube University, Cardonnel HTA Architects TU Braunschweig
Monitoring Krems Ingenieure
City Engineering College University of Graz Ecole des Mines HU Berlin TU Darmstadt, HU
Berlin. IBA
Storeys 1,5 2,5 1,5 3 3
Exterior
m2 190 304 233 117 189
ISO 9836
Type OFH OFH OFH DFH DFH/R

Livability
Window area m2 85 101 46 32 92

Occupants (o) 4 4 4 4 4

Energy demand 37 43 45 87 94
kWh/m2/y
Energy production 63 63 65 87 108
kWh/m2/y
Interior
Orientation by ridge E-W NW-SE SW-NE N-S N-S/
E-W

u-value ext. walls .1 .13 .12 .11 .16

u-value windows 1 .76 1.2 1.6 1.1

g-value windows .57 .46 .6 .57 .49

9
Point of departure for LichtAktiv Haus
1954 Settler´s House
Double house for 4 families + stable for house animals
13 mio Settler House-types in Germany

10
Location of LichtAktiv Haus,
a partner-project of the IBA Hamburg
LichtAktiv Haus
2010 LichtAktiv Haus
Renovation step 1 & 3
2 families + pets

12
Components of Monitoring

„Quantitative“ „Qualitative“ „Research“

Technical Monitoring Psycho-Social „What else can we
Monitoring learn from the
project?“
„How does the house „How is the personal
perform in practice comfort and Practice oriented
compared to the wellbeing in the experiment, relevant for
prognoses of energy house?“ education
generation and TU Darmstadt)
consumption?“
Urban Development
(IBA Hamburg)

Effect of Daylight
Scientific consultancy by Scientific consultancy by distribution
TU-Braunschweig, HU Berlin, Prof. Wegener (Büro Andres,
Prof. Fisch Lichtplanung)

two years of Living Experiment in LichtAktiv Haus

Energy generation

 Solar thermal
energy

 solar gains

 Solar Complete

 Photovoltaics
Energy consumption
scenarios
Calculated by
HL Technik
LichtAktiv Haus
- prognosis and reality Y1

Radar calculations done by Oliver Rosebrock, TU Braunschweig; Joost

Hartwig, TU Darmstadt, Thorbjørn Asmussen, VELUX
Technical Monitoring,
Electricity Consumption, normalised
electricity consumption [kWh/a]

measured Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: EnEV calculation

Values adjustment climate adjustment room adjustment COP
factor (1,05) temp. (20°C) (assumption 2,3)

installation engineering household

EnEV comparison and conclusion
The figure shows that the heating consumption in 2012 is lower than the EnEV
calculation. This indicates that the quality of the climatic envelope is as good as
expected, and that the ventilation loss produced through natural
ventilation with no heat recovery does not lead to excessive heating
losses [Wilken T., Jahresbericht 2012, Monitoring LichtAktiv Haus 2013]
Energy Performance

19
LAH
Atmospheric Indoor Climate, Y2
Measured atmospheric indoor climate according to EN 15251
Psycho-Social Monitoring,
General Concept
The Humboldt University Berlin chose a
multi-dimensional model according to
Rosenberg/Hovland (1966) to evaluate
the „human – home“ interaction
three-component view of attitudes
affective : feelings and perceptions
cognitive: information and knowledge
conative: behaviours and behavioural intentions

all attitudes are expressed verbally and

non verbally.
all attitudes are measureable.
the attitudes will change continuously in
time due to new impressions and
experiences, therefore measurements
have to be repeated.
after a while, the number of new
impressions decreases, so a relatively
constant perception of livability in a new
home can be determined
LichtAktiv Haus
Development of a qualitative method
Tracking and maintaining users experience
LAH
Thermal Indoor Climate
Sensors / Perception
Outlook for the second year
2013-2014
Optimising of the technical system, esp. control technique
Implementation of geothermal energy to increase the solar
coverage ratio
Implementation of e-mobility, monitoring of charging and
consumption data
extension of the monitoring to march 2014, to check the
optimisations in an additional heating period
Cooperation Partners
Conclusions in paper
The results after the first year show a high
correlation between theoretical assumptions and
actual performance.
The test family finds the comfortable indoor climate
and the abundance of natural light and fresh air in
the home a very positive experience.
The thermal comfort and the indoor air quality is
rated and documented as high – even when the
users influence it for individual needs.
The energy performance meets the expectation
whereas the energy consumption of the heating
system is higher than the calculated values; this is
under regulation and expected to be due to
calibration / teething problems.
The experiment to use renewable energy from a
large fenestration area in combination with solar
collectors and cells is working well.
The experiment is a model for climate renovations,
to be used and replicated in parts, or as a whole, as
solutions for how to enable the potential of the
existing building stock with a high livability factor
and a minimal impact.
Papers published
CISBAT 2011
INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF THE FIRST EUROPEAN MODELHOME
2020 : HOME FOR LIFE

Indoor Air 2011

Measurements of indoor environmental quality and energy performance of
6 European zero carbon houses – a case study from the first house

PLEA 2011
Holistic Evaluation of Sustainable Buildings through a Symbiosis of
Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment Methods
Hybrid ventilation as an energy efficient solution for low energy residential
buildings

AIVC 2012
STRATEGIES FOR CONTROLLING THERMAL COMFORT IN A DANISH LOW
ENERGY BUILDING: SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND RESULTS FROM 2
YEARS OF MEASUREMENTS

CIBSE 2012
Building Management Systems - Improving building performance without
limiting the occupants

CLIMA 2013
Thermal Comfort in two European Active Houses: Analysis of the Effects of
Solar Shading and Ventilative Cooling

PLEA 2013
Livability across Europe in 5 Active Houses

AIVC 2013
General conclusions
Tomorrows buildings are here today
we can build and renovate houses that
fulfil 2020 targets with the products,
knowledge and approach of today.
Why wait?

Unity in principles, variety in reality

fenestration area, orientation, size,
specifications, compactness can differ
widely, without a risk to the
sustainable proposition.

Livability is the target

sustainable measures, parameters,
technologies and calculations should
subordinate to the quality of life, work
and play
Read and view more
Model Home demonstration projects,
newsletter, blogs:
www.velux.com/sustainable_living

Active House newsletter & community:

www.activehouse.info

Film on daylight and climate renovation

with users and researchers:
http://press.velux.com/Stories/climate-
renovation-demands-daylight/s/ce000d9a-
84e6-4d65-980f-5471b8b543a1
Tomorrows Buildings. Today.
Contact info:
Lone Feifer
VELUX A/S
Ådalsvej 99, 2970 Hørsholm
Lone.Feifer@velux.com