Research Brief: Can Passive House and Zero-energy Building Standards Promise a Low-carbon Future?

Abstract

Passive house (PH) and zero-energy building (ZEB) standards aim to reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprints of buildings. The PH concept implies a low energy consumption achieved through passive technology such as insulation and energy-efficient HVAC systems. A ZEB is an energy-efficient building that gen­erates enough renewable energy to offset or even exceed the energy it consumes from the grid. Previous research has shown higher embodied energy and costs for PH and ZEB compared to conventional buildings. To date, very few projects have shown that a PH could be done within a budget comparable to similar standard homes, which calls into question the economic viability of PH. However, most analyses were done using comparisons of individual designs for specific scenarios, making it difficult to draw broad conclusions. We conducted an analysis comparing a wide range of conventional, PH, and ZEB designs in order to have a better understanding of the economic and environmental trade-offs of these strategies.