Passivhaus at the Green Rethink Summit
The Green Rethink Conference, Photo Credit: The Architect's Journal
A large spectrum of topics was covered at the event from holistic planning and policies to individual green skyscrapers and sustainable suburbia. The jam packed schedule squeezed in a few international Passivhaus case studies, and how the EnerPHit standard may help achieve UK Government Targets.
Sabine Leribaux of Architects Associés delivered a presentation on Passivhaus, referencing some interesting projects in Belgium which included a Passivhaus Office (pictured below). The case studies exampled how architectural design was not compromised to the Passivhaus standard. Sabine says:
‘Architectural quality is about what a building has to offer and what it has to share. The approach should not be limited to a dash of dazzling photovoltaics or to a sprinkling of a few eco-oriented materials. Passivhaus remains a wonderful tool, but is no more no less than that. It serves a bigger picture called energy efficiency, which is itself a principle anchored in fundamental human rights. Why is it that because we live in our comfortable western world we have a right to a mammoth environmental footprint?’
Aeropolis II, Passivhaus Office, Brussels
Lynne Sullivan of SustainableBYdesign discussed UK Government's carbon reduction targets and how the Passivhaus standard will help to achieve them.
‘This government has not retracted its climate change reduction targets. By 2019 all buildings including existing should be near to zero-energy. This means that they should need barely any energy in their operation. They have to be pretty much passive. The UK objective is for a 50 per cent carbon reduction below 1990 levels by 2020. The Liberal Democrats’ pledge to retrofit all homes to Enerphit standard and make all new homes Passivhaus will take a massive cultural shift.’
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8th December 2013
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