First Passive Houses in Greece and Turkey now certified
A complex of terraced houses and an environmental education centre are the first buildings to fulfil the criteria of the Passive House Standard in Greece and Turkey. The specific challenges for energy efficient construction in regions with a warm climate will be presented based on these and other projects at the International Passive House Conference 2016 in Darmstadt this April.
The international Passive House Standard is achieved through a good level of thermal insulation, climatically optimised Passive House windows, an airtight building envelope, an appropriate ventilation system, and thermal bridge free design. A strategy against overheating in summer is also essential, particularly in countries with a warm climate.
The Human Resources Centre in the Turkish city of Gaziantep has light-coloured walls and green roofs offer protection against too much sun. Depending on the time of year, the supply air of the ventilation system is preheated or precooled with the aid of a ground heat exchanger. The energy demand of the building is largely covered by a photovoltaic system in the garden. The Passive House building has a total area of just under 310 square metres and includes a small auditorium as well as other rooms for educational purposes. Development of the building took place in cooperation between local architects and partners in Germany.
The first Passive House project in Greece is located at the edge of the coastal port city of Volos. The three terraced houses built by the local engineering firm X-G lab+development have a total area of 477 square metres. As calculated with the design tool PHPP, the heating demand is 12 kWh/(m²a) and the cooling demand is 6 kWh/(m²a).
Solutions for energy efficient construction in warm climate zones will be one of the focal points at the 20th International Passive House Conference, taking place on April 22-23, 2016 in Darmstadt. In addition to the examples in Greece and Turkey, a series of other projects will also be presented in a special lecture session, including the world’s first public library in Passive House Standard which is located in Villamediana de Iregua, Spain.