Passive vs. zero-energy house

Once the decision to build a house is made, the next step is to analyze various projects. We wonder what our house should look like, what is important to us, what technologies we will use. It also turns out that current trends in construction have changed a lot over the past few years. The best construction companies offer not only functional solutions, but also those that protect our environment. A good example is passive or zero-energy houses, which have an innovative approach to saving energy in the modern world.

Table of contents

• Passive house vs. zero-energy house, or what is the difference between a passive house and a zero-energy house?
• Zero-energy house vs. passive house

Passive house vs. zero-energy house, or what is the difference between a passive house and a zero-energy house?

Passive house – is designed taking into account factors such as terrain and geographical location. It is a simple, compact body, devoid of architectural ornaments, whose characteristic feature is that it does not need the use of traditional heating. A passive house focuses on the use of passive energy sources in the form of solar heat, heat recovered from ventilated air, electrical appliances, and even the household members themselves. They are most often built in the technology of prefabricated frame buildings. The most important feature is that the energy demand does not exceed 15 kWh/m2 per year, which is up to 8 times less than in the case of traditional houses. A passive house does not use radiators or underfloor heating, and the layout of the rooms is designed to achieve the highest possible passive solar gains. The rooms in which we stay during the day should be facing south, because this is how we achieve the longest exposure to sunlight. The ideal northern wall of the house is windowless.

Zero-energy house – the only acceptable option for supplying energy from the outside in zero-energy houses are renewable energy sources, which include: heat pumps, wind turbines, solar panels or biomass. The balance of energy produced and consumed in such a house is zero, which means that the building consumes as much energy as it produces. It is built according to two basic principles:
– reducing energy demand to a minimum,
– generating sufficient or more energy, which we use every day throughout the calendar year.

Designs of such houses are created for customers for whom ecology and the idea of less waste are of particular importance. Having such a house, we are also independent of external energy suppliers, which is of particular importance in the face of rising energy charges. Household members also gain full maintenance-free, which means that, for example, the temperature of rooms or hot water can be set using an app on a smartphone. A zero-energy house also provides clean air and, importantly, optimal air humidity, so that it provides us with the most comfortable living conditions.

Zero-energy house vs. passive house

The main difference is that a zero-energy house does not use external energy sources at all, such as electricity from the grid, for example. It is worth noting that both solutions meet the new WT 2021 technical conditions in force since January. These regulations tighten the requirements for the non-renewable energy needs of buildings. Currently, the Ep coefficient for a single-family house can be a maximum of 70 kWh/m2 per year. Both solutions provide low maintenance costs, which makes interest in construction in both technologies more and more popular. The value of such houses will also be higher from year to year.