Passive Houses for different climate zones

• Passive Houses provide thermal comfort at minimum energy consumption and low cost.
• To date, Passive Houses have mainly been built in Germany and similar climates.
• We show that Passive Houses can be built in all types of climates.
• Space conditioning only by supply air appears possible in all climates.
• Architectural freedom is not limited by energy efficiency.

Passive Houses are buildings which provide comfortable indoor conditions at an extremely low heating and cooling load. The peak daily average heating and cooling loads are typically below 10 W/m2 and annual useful energy demands are below 15 kW h/(m2 a). The Passive House standard was originally developed in Germany. In this paper we show by hygro-thermal dynamic simulation that it is possible to realize residential Passive Houses in all of the world's relevant climate zones, represented here by Yekaterinburg, Tokyo, Shanghai, Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. The window quality, insulation levels, and mechanical services all depend on the climate as well as on the building's shape and orientation. The resulting annual energy demand for space conditioning of the Passive Houses is 75 to 95% lower than that of a traditionally insulated building of the same geometry. In humid climates like Shanghai or Singapore, special attention must be paid to humidity aspects. In climates which are hot and humid all year long, the total useful energy demand for sensible and latent cooling may exceed 70 kW h/(m2 a) even in a Passive House. Finally, it is shown that the architectural quality is not compromised by the Passive House requirements.