ABSTRACT
Passive House is a standard and a scientific design tool that achieves exceptionally comfortable and healthy living and working conditions combined with low energy demand and minimal carbon emissions. The Passive House method has been successfully applied and tested across all European climates, the US, Canada and even in warm Asian climates where there is a cooling requirement. Passive House delivers much of its comfort and very low energy costs by means of insulation and draught-free construction. New houses at the time had indoor temperatures as low as freezing point during the winter, and Adamson was asked by the Chinese government to carry out research on passive houses with the aim of suggesting ways to improve the indoor winter temperatures of unheated Chinese buildings. The Passivhaus Institut in Germany has based the economic foundations of the Passive House standard on “capitalised costs” alternatively referred to as “lifetime costs”.
