Are Passivhaus buildings healthy?

Let's get the basics right first: air quality & thermal comfort

Alex Baines, The Design Buro

• Passivhaus is a necessity for the basis of an efficient & healthy building. The healthy outcomes of adopting a high-performance building approach is compelling.
• Prioritise getting the basics right: Airtightness, thermal-bridges & ventilation. This reduces condensation, mould, damp & improves indoor air-quality. 
• All buildings should adopt construction verification to ensure they perform as designed.

Passivhaus is not enough: material choices matter too

Chryssa Thoua, Architype/UCL

• It is important to remember that any ventilation strategy can fail.
• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is effected by Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) & persistent pollution from toxic finishing materials.

• Evidence shared from BUS surveys taken in Passivhaus & energy-efficient case studies.

Healthy buildings through Passivhaus & good design

Richard Dudzicki, RDA Architects

• Architecture does not have to be compromised by Passivhaus performance & quality. 
• PHPP provides a simple design tool to create comfortable buildings that perform better than typical UK building regulations.
• Good design equals knowing & working with the project limitations.Lessons shared from London Passivhaus schemes.

Health & well-being: more than building performance

Ed Wealend, Cundall/ WELL building standard

• There is more to a healthy building than thermal comfort & air quality. Light, acoustics, beauty to name a few other considerations.
• Although Passivhaus deals with IAQ, it fails to monitor VOC's & air filteration may not protect from polluting small particulates common in large cities.
• The WELL standard doesn’t address building performance itself; It presumes designers and engineers will resolve these issues.

Are Passivhaus buildings healthier than equivalent typical Building Regulation buildings?

YES (90%)

Is achieving Passivhaus sufficient to create a healthy building?

NO/ Don't know (85%)

Can Passivhaus help deliver a healthy building?

YES (80%)