Our Systems
and Products:
Passiv Haus from NBT
The PASSIV HAUS concept was first developed by Professors Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist in 1988. The first PASSIV HAUS buildings were built in Darmstadt in 1990 and the PASSIV HAUS Institute was founded in 1996. Since that time around 15,000 PASSIV HAUS buildings have been built worldwide, most of them in Germany and Austria.
There are now a number of other PASSIV HAUS Standards such as Minergie-P in Switzerland.
The definition of a PASSIV HAUS is "a building in which thermal comfort is guaranteed solely by re-heating (or re-cooling) the fresh air that is required for satisfactory air quality"; The principle of the PASSIV HAUS is a building with no heating system except for the heat recovery through the ventilation unit. If built correctly the buildings are robust, healthy and cost effective.
To achieve a PASSIV HAUS strict design guidelines must be followed in relation to:
- Compact design
- High levels of insulation
- Minimal thermal bridging
- Highly insulating window
- Very high standards of airtightness
- High quality mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR)
An NBT PASSIV HAUS achieves the PASSIV HAUS standard with the following additional benefts:
- Full technical design and site support from NBT
- Full component advice and supply if required
- Healthy, non-polluting, ecological materials
- Huge amounts of carbon sequestration in the materials
As buildings become more energy efficient, the embodied energy and embodied carbon become relatively more significant. NBT PASSIVHAUS (say 100 m2 footprint) with NBT PAVATEX systems will lock up over 10 tonnes of CO2 eq, in the woodfibre boards alone, and over 30 tonnes of CO2 eq. including the timber structure.
In contrast synthetic insulations will emit between 1.3 and 2.5 kg of CO2 eq. for every kg of product used and a standard masonry building will emit over 40 tonnes of CO2 eq. in total. Please see page14 of the technical guide for information about the information on the composition and ecology of Pavatex Woodfibre boards.
You can download the Passiv Haus manual below. It is intended to guide both client and practitioner (architect, builder etc) through the specification, design and detailing of a PassivHaus, using NBT Pavatex systems.
In addition, NBT and Pavatex have many years and numerous buildings experience of working to the Passiv Haus standard. Please contact your local NBT representative if you have a specific project - they will be able to initially advise, and put you in touch with our Passiv Haus technical team.
Please note that the download is 2.7mb in size.
Passiv Haus Technical Manual Download
Pavatex Timber Frame Techical Manual - Download
