The World-S First Passive House, Darmstadt-Kranichstein, Germany

The worlds first Passive House, Darmstadt-Kranichstein, Germany [ ]
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http://passipedia.org/examples/residential_buildings/single_-_family_...
S uther view f the Passive H use i Dar stadt ra ichstei

ph t graph W fga g Feist
.
In the mid-1980s the low-energy building was already a legally required energy standard for new buildings in Sweden
and Denmark. Even at that time, the further development of the principles of low-energy housing was being
considered, i.e. excellent insulation, prevention of thermal bridges, airtightness, insulated glazing and controlled
ventilation. Based on these considerations,
by the author during a
research period at the University of Lund/Sweden, together with the host, Professor Bo Adamson (specialising in
building construction). Bo Adamson continued to further pursue this development with the author until his retirement.
The photograph shows the two together with Robert Hastings, one of the pioneering American architects, during an
evening event at the 2nd International Passive House Conference in 1998 in Duesseldorf.
[Feist 1993] . In this paper, all the characteristics of building components which determine the energy consumption of buildings, were
systematically varied and optimised in relation to efficiency, expense and living quality. As an example,
shows the influence of window size and glazing quality.
Fig 1 Si u ati resu ts at the begi i g here is a ca cu ati

f the depe de
ce f the heati g de a d
the si!e f the g a!ed s uth faci g wi d w areas i
a Passive H use with differe t g a!i g qua ities (fr
$Feist 1993' ) Its c ear that
trip e pa e w e g a!i g is ecessary f r fav urab e e ergy ba a ces (see
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Types f g a!i g a d their specific va ues) (b tt

curve) Dr -rt a s. with
VEG2A i Aache at that ti e. he ped us t btai this g a!i g f r the first bui
di g pr 4ect. the Passive H use i Dar stadt ra ichstei Si ce the . this type
f g a!i g has bec e c
y avai ab e
the ar5et
see Types f g a!i g a d their specific va ues
Otherwise it would be possible to reduce the heating energy requirement to zero by using inefficient electrical devices, for example, which create high internal
gains. How high the available internal heat gains really are, was disputed even back then with the completed Passive House, carefully measured results finally became available,
namely around 2 W/m [AkkP 5] . In spite of this, even after standardisation, calculations are still carried out using values that are far too optimistic (over 5 W/m).
To prepare the construction of the first Passive Houses in Hessen

. The minister of economics at that time, Alfred Schmidt, showed great interest in the development.
The Research Group monitored
other things:
, the results of which were incorporated directly into the construction of the first Passive House at Kranichstein; among
alternative architectural drafts were prepared,

the efficiency of ventilation heat recovery units was improved,
ventilation regulations were developed based on air quality guidelines,
new specially insulated window frames and shutters were developed,
construction details for the connection of building components were designed,
solar heating technologies and a concept for heat recovery from waste water were developed.
. Four private
clients formed the Passive House Developers Society and commissioned the architects Professor Bott/ Ridder/
Westermeyer for designing a row of four houses with each accommodation unit having a floor area of 156m. For this
first prototype of a Passive House, a series of
were further developed, the forerunners of which
had already been successfully used in low-energy houses [Feist 1988] .
Only by combining all of these measures it was possible to achieve the ambitious objective of an exceedingly small
heating load - however, this combination was not very economical at the time because these components had to be
manufactured individually and therefore they were expensive. The additional costs in comparison with those of a
conventional construction were offset by the Hessian Department of the Environment by 50%. During construction in
1991, the house was equipped with highly precise data monitoring devices in order to check the achievement of the
objectives.
The emphasis of these Passive House measures was on the

subsequently built Passive Houses.
are the decisive components. This still applies for
Besides these measures

solar collectors for the provision of domestic hot water
and a subsoil heat exchanger for preheating the fresh air were used.
The house has extremely good thermal insulation, which has functioned outstandingly since the house was occupied 15 years ago.
Grass roof: Humus, non-woven filter, root protective membrane, 50 mm formaldehyde-free chip board;
Wooden light-weight beam (I-beam of wood, stud link of hardboard), counter lathing, sealing with
polyethylene sheeting bonded without jointing, gypsum plasterboard 12.5 mm, wood-chip wallpaper,
emulsion paint coating, entire cavity (445 mm) filled with
.
0.1
Fabric reinforced mineral render;

275 mm of expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) (installed in two layers at that time, 150+125 mm);
175 mm sand-lime brick masonry;
15 mm continuous interior gypsum plastering; wood-chip wallpaper, emulsion paint coating
0.14
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Surface finish on fibreglass fabric;

250 mm polystyrene insulation boards;
160 mm concrete;
40 mm polystyrene acoustic insulation;
50 mm cement floor finish;
8-15 mm of parquet, adhesive;
sealing solvent-free
0.13
Triple-pane low-e glazing with Krypton filling: Ug-value 0.7 W/(mK).

Wooden window with polyurethane foam insulated framework
(CO2-foamed, HCFC free, handcrafted)
0.7
Counterflow air-to-air heat exchanger;

Located in the cellar (approx. 9C in the winter),
carefully sealed and thermally insulated,
the first one to use electronically commutated DC fans.
heat
recovery
rate approx.
80%
[Peper
A subsequent measurement of the airtightness in October 2001, for example, gave
2005] . Thermographic images show that the building components actually are free of thermal bridges. Documentation of the construction with numerous site photos can be
found in the Conference Proceedings of the first International Passive House Conference [PHTag 1996] . A description with initial measured results was published in the paper
Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein [Feist 1997c] .
The hot water is heated using solar vacuum tube collectors (5.3 m per household or 1.4 m per person).
Natural gas is used for secondary heating. The flat-collector thermal system covers about 66% of the consumption in the Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein.
Because the provision of domestic hot water represents the greatest energy requirement of this house, an efficient domestic hot water system is of great importance. The
heat distribution and circulation pipes have therefore been placed inside the thermal envelope and are well insulated.
A Passive House can only function with a

, because the average annual ventilation heat losses are 35 kWh
per square meter of floor space, this is more than twice the Passive House heating demand. This was already known due to the investigations during the preparatory research
project.
Thus in Kranichstein a balanced supply air and exhaust air ventilation system with a highly efficient counterflow air-to-air heat exchanger was used - but it had to be specially
adapted for this purpose because at the time, the fans used had a very high electricity consumption.
In this project, DC fans with electronic commutators were used for the first time (known as EC motors).
During operation, a heat recovery rate of over 80% was measured after optimisation of the flow geometry.
This continuously operating comfort ventilation system provides a constant supply of fresh air to each accommodation unit.
At the lowest setting, 100 m/h of fresh air is supplied to the living and sleeping areas in each unit. This means, that with a four person household, the specific quantity of
fresh air would amount to 25 m per person per hour. The unit then operates constantly at this rate independent of the actual number of people in the building (for the
best as shown by experiments with complex ventilation controls that were not worth it). Users can, however, manually change the setting if the choose.
At the highest setting, between 160 and 185 m/h are supplied.
Exhaust air is drawn away from the humid rooms like the kitchen and bathrooms in corresponding quantities. Such high-efficiency ventilation systems had not been available
before the Passive House; it was only in 1997 that development by the Research Group for Cost-efficient Passive Houses was so far advanced that several manufacturers started
to produce serial units of this quality for the market. Today these units typically display the following characteristics:
heat recovery efficiency of over 80%,
electricity consumption of less than 0.4 Wh/m transferred air - see the certified units at http://www.passiv.de [http://www.passiv.de].
These ventilators in the Passive House functioned faultlessly for between 13 and 15 years, until they were replaced during the course of routine renovation work by newer
products from the same manufacturer.
The Passive House in Kranichstein was finished in October 1991 and has been inhabited by four families since then. The interior finish materials were selected to create as little
indoor air pollution as possible. The insulating materials are airtightly separated from the interior by continuous interior plaster or vapour retarders without any gaps as
appropriate from a building physics perspective. The good air quality was confirmed by a separate investigation within the context of a social science study, which objectified user
acceptance [Rohrmann 1994] .
Due to particularly well-insulating and airtight sliding shutters as temporary heat protection, it was even possible to operate one of the accommodation units as a zero-heatingenergy house without any heating in the years 1994 to 1996 [Feist 1995] .
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Cr ss secti
f the Passive H use i Dar stadt ra ichstei
The measurements in the Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein have confirmed that the electrical consumption for household appliances can be reduced to one third of its
current average value with presently available technology. The additional gas consumption for applications which require heating energy amounts to less than 15% [Ebel/Feist
1997] . These savings which were due to efficient technology alone have also remained consistent throughout the years.
For the first Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein we did not yet dare to omit the radiators. However, this and following projects proved that the
, so that the remaining heating could be easily supplied via the supply air system and
there was no need for a separate heat distribution system any longer.
These results correspond with the simulation but not with the current standard calculation procedures. This prompted us to systematically revise the heating load calculation
during a research project [Bisanz 1999] . The resulting, very simple procedure is now available as the Passive House Planning Package [PHPP] for designers, and proved itself also
in subsequent calculations using this tool for the Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein.
show the comparison between the heating energy balance
calculated in PHPP for a conventional building which barely meets the requirements of the EnEV valid since 2002, and the Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein. In each
case, an end-of-row house was used for calculations. The result for the house actually built is
which is very near to the average measured value.
Fig 2 This is h w a e d f terrace h use w u d be bui t

t day. based
the Ger a ati a regu ati s (E EV)
H wever. the ba a ce was ca cu ated usi g the PHPP
The heati g c su pti was 58 5Wh:( ;a)
Fig 3 This ba a ce was subseque t y ca cu ated f r the

Passive H use a ready bui t i 1991 i Dar stadt ra ich
stei usi g the PHPP (e d f r w h use) The resu t was
10 5 5Wh:( ;a). a va ue that is very c se t the actua
c su pti va ue
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The opportunity for accurate measurement of the temperatures and heat-flows in the Passive House in Darmstadt-was especially valuable for scientists. Together with a user
protocol on an hourly basis, it was possible to compare measured values of the house with the results of the dynamic simulation [Feist 1997a] . With this decisive model, various
approaches could be confirmed; e.g. the instationary thermal conduction processes could be reproduced in exact detail as well as the radiant heat in the rooms and the
temperature courses on glazing surfaces. For the first time, validated instationary dynamical building models for normally used residential buildings became available (
).
As of 2010, the same four families are still living in the first Passive House in Darmstadt Kranichstein and the measured space heating demand remains 10 kWh/(ma) (heated
living area or TFA). No large maintenance measures have yet been undertaken and all building services remain unchanged from their original configuration. The facade, roof and
windows remain unchanged.
Fig 4 Resu ts f the e ergy c su pti

easure e ts i the Passive H use i
Dar stadt ra ichstei ? t
y the heati g e ergy is drastica y reduced (by
ver 90% c pared t a A r a B ew bui di g f the sa e year). but a s the
gas c su pti f r d estic h t water (due t g d i su ati a d a s ar ther
a c ect r) a d h useh d e ectricity c su pti (usi g particu ar y efficie t
app ia ces. e g the A2 w E ergy Refrigerat rB by Gra . deve ped by C DEr
gard) (I ustrati
V Sariri PHI)
In 1995, Amory Lovins, the American energy efficiency pioneer [Lovins 1977], [Lovins, Weizscker 1995] visited the Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein. Lovins
contributed quite substantially to the transformation of the Passive House concept from a scientific experiment to a practical implementation. His comment was:
AD . this is t 4ust a scie tific experi e t This is the s uti
I a c vi ced B
Y u wi 4ust have t redesig the detai s i
rder t reduce the additi
a c sts a d that wi be p ssib e.
The excellent results formed the basis for the

in 1996, with which the widespread implementation of the Passive House
concept began. Within the Research Group methods for more simplified planning of Passive Houses were worked out, e.g. the PHPP, the Passive House Planning Package [AkkP
13], [PHPP] . Pilot projects with larger numbers of second generation Passive Houses were built and the development of Passive-House-suitable components was started. The
Research Group for Cost-efficient Passive Houses plays a key role in the exchange between building physics and building practice.
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Fig 5 Heasured resu ts f r the heati g utput i the Passive H use i Dar stadt
ra ichstei ? this did t exceed 7 4 W: ; at a y ti e. eve duri g the extre e y
c d wi ter f 1996:1997 (see a s $Feist 1997b' )
After the completion of the first four terraced houses and their occupation by tenants, it soon became clear from tests (pressurisation test, volume flow rate comparison) and
continuous monitoring (energy consumptions, temperatures) that the objectives actually had been achieved [Feist/Werner 1994]. For example, the heating consumption was
less than
in 1991/92, the first year of operation, which was only

in 1992/93, the second year of operation, this was only
on average in the following years
of the consumption in comparable ordinary homes,

of the consumption in comparable homes
These measured consumption values were so unbelievably low that, for many years afterwards, the total final energy consumption including household energy which was
measured as 32 kWh/(ma), was wrongly interpreted as the heating energy consumption of the Passive House in professional circles, because this appeared to be more plausible
according to the state of development at that time. However, the 32 kWh/(ma) included all of the energy consumption of the four terraced houses including household
electricity, electricity consumption in the basement and gas consumption for cooking and provision of domestic hot water. It is remarkable that the energy savings of 90% were
achieved solely by applying improved technology.
Datura gas f r heati g
easured va ues f r 1991 2006
The Passive House coped successfully with the icy cold winter of 1996/97, during which the designed standard external temperatures were considerably exceeded, causing
problems in relation to comfort in conventionally heated houses. Not only did the heating consumption remain below 11 kWh/(ma) (almost the same as the previous
consumption), but also all homes were equally warm [Feist 1997b] .
The first Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein had completely fulfilled the expectations placed in these prototypes. Now the focus shifted to whether the additional
construction costs due to individual production could be reduced or not. This led to the
.
Since the first Passive House prototypes in Kranichstein the

from over 50 000 Euros to
between 6 000 and 15 000 Euros per accommodation unit today less for a large apartment building and more for a single-family home. This means that today Passive Houses
are affordable for everyone. Thanks to the enormous
the Passive House is worthwhile, if an average future final energy price of 6 cents/kWh for heating oil or
that are now
natural gas is assumed. Currently, these fuels often cost more; there is no blank space for cost-effectiveness any more, and
available improve the situation even more. For example, the KfW Development Loan Corporation currently promotes the construction of Passive Houses with a low-interest
loan of 50 000 Euros.
Even without this funding, the construction of Passive Houses increased sharply over the last few years. About 300 accommodation units were completed by the end of 1999 in
Germany alone; by the end of 2000 there were 1000, and by 2006 between 6000 and 7000 had already been constructed. Second-generation Passive Houses also achieved the
extremely low projected energy consumption values [Feist 2000] ; documentation about this can be found here: Energy use measurement results.
But progress is not just based on quantity. Because of the
better while at the same time prices are falling. The
standard and not a special building method. Passive Houses have been built as
, the quality is getting

is also increasing: it has now become clear that the Passive House is a building
free-standing single-family homes,

as terraced houses
and as multi-storey buildings.
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Experience with non-residential buildings has also been gained: several office buildings, schools and kindergartens have been completed, and the Passive House factory building
in Zwingenberg started operating in May 2000.
What is important is that the occupants of the Passive Houses feel happy in their homes. Theory and practice are in agreement here; due to very good thermal insulation the
interior surface temperatures are high everywhere, even at freezing outdoor temperatures. Draughts and differing radiant temperatures are thus prevented (see: Thermal comfort).
This has been confirmed by measurements in built houses.
The feedback is extremely positive, statements such as: Awe have ever fe t c d hereB, Aif we decide t bui d agai . it w u d defi ite y be a Passive H useB, Awe have hard y
had t use the heati g A suffice to show the general tendency.
The su pr vides c
with radiati fr
(IR i age Feist)
siderab e heat (ther graphic i age f the i teri r.

the su ) C-HF-RT is para u t i the Passive H use
Saving energy has lost its stigma of being for ascetics only. It is possible to achieve the
environmental protection objectives by increasing prosperity and not by abstaining from comfort. In this day and age, this is the only opportunity for putting improvements into
practice. This also applies to other areas of energy use, e.g. in transportation. Improved efficiency without sacrificing travelling comfort: in the "Loremo"
[http://www.loremo.com/] project, a marketable solution is being developed using this approach.
It is pleasing that many architects, planners, product developers and property developers have applied the Passive House concept. If we can continue together to accelerate its
implementation and apply our experiences for the refurbishment of existing buildings as well, then we will be able to master the task of climate protection and contribute to a
fairer distribution of energy globally, as well as increase value creation in regions and thus create additional employment opportunities and most importantly enabling people
to live a comfortable and worthwhile life in prosperity, today and in the future. Sustainable growth is possible with the Passive House - as Mark Zimmermann outlined in detail at
the 9th Passive House Conference in 2005 in Ludwigshafen ([Zimmermann 2005] ).
C paris
f easured e ergy c su pti ( eft) with the e ergy ba a ce
ca cu ated by the Passive H use P a i g Pac5age (PHPP) f r the Passive H use
i Dar stadt ra ichstei F r the PHPP. see PHPP Ba a ces
Scientists, architects, engineers and other contributors from various disciplines played a part in making the Passive House in Darmstadt-Kranichstein a success. The author would
like to express thanks to all those involved. The preparation of the experimental construction was based on the results of many forerunner projects and on findings from building
physics, building engineering and systematic computer-assisted systems analysis.
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Energiebilanz und Temperaturverhalten; Protokollband Nr. 5 des Arbeitskreises kostengnstige Passivhuser, 1. Auflage, Passivhaus Institut, Darmstadt-1997
, Protocol Volume No. 5 of the Research Group for Cost-efficient Passive Houses, 1st Edition, Passive House Institute,
(
Darmstadt-1997) (PHI's list of publications)
Energiebilanzen mit dem Passivhaus Projektierungs Paket; Protokollband Nr. 13 des Arbeitskreises kostengnstige Passivhuser, 1. Auflage, Passivhaus Institut,
Darmstadt-1998
; Protocol Volume No. 13 of the Research Group for Cost-efficient Passive Houses, 1st Edition, Passive House
(
Institute, Darmstadt-1998) (PHI's list of publications)
(
publications)
Bisanz, C.: Heizlastauslegung im Niedrigenergie- und Passivhaus; Passivhaus Institut; Fachinformation PHI-1999/2; Eigenverlag; Darmstadt-1999.
; Passive House Institute; Technical Information PHI 1999/2; Darmstadt-1999) (PHI's list of
Witta Ebel und Wolfgang Feist: Ergebnisse zum Stromverbrauch im Passivhaus Darmstadt-Kranichstein in Stromsparen im Passivhaus; Protokollband
Nr. 7 zum Arbeitskreis Kostengnstige Passivhuser; PHI; Darmstadt, 1997.
in Saving electricity in the Passive House; Protocol Volume No. 7 of the Research
(
Group for Cost-efficient Passive Houses, Passive House Institute, Darmstadt-1997)
Forschungsprojekt Passive Huser; Projektziele - mit einem Kommentar des Autors zur 2. Auflage 1995, Institut Wohnen und Umwelt, Darmstadt, 1. Aufl. 1988, 2.
Aufl. 1995
; Project objectives with remarks by the author about the 2nd edition 1995, Institute for Housing and Environment, Darmstadt, 1st edition
(
1988, 2nd edition 1995)
Passivhuser in Mitteleuropa; Dissertation, Universitt Kassel, 1993

, Dissertation, University of Kassel 1993)
Wolfgang Feist und Johannes Werner: Gesamtenergiekennwert < 32 kWh/(ma); Bundesbaublatt 2/1994
, Bundesbaublatt 2/1994)
Wolfgang Feist (Hrsg.): Gedmmte Fensterlden im Passivhaus; Passivhaus-Bericht Nr. 9; Institut Wohnen und Umwelt; Darmstadt, 1995.
; Passive House Report No. 9; Institute for Housing and Environment, Darmstadt-1995)
Wolfgang Feist, Tobias Loga: Vergleich von Messung und Simulation in Energiebilanz und Temperaturverhalten; Protokollband Nr. 5 zum Arbeitskreis
Kostengnstige Passivhuser; PHI; Darmstadt, Januar 1997.
(
in Energy balance and temperature characteristics Protocol Volume No. 5 of the Research Group for Cost-efficient
Passive Houses, PHI, Darmstadt, January 1997)
Wolfgang Feist: Der Hrtetest: Passivhuser im strengen Winter 1996/97; GRE-Inform, 12/1997.
; GRE-Inform, 12/1997)
Wolfgang Feist: Passivhaus Darmstadt-Kranichstein - Planung, Bau, Ergebnisse, Fachinformation PHI 1997/4, 1. Auflage, 16 Seiten.
(Also available in English:
; Technical Information PHI 1997/4, 1st edition, 16 pages)
(PHI's list of publications)
Wolfgang Feist: Erfahrungen objektiv: Messergebnisse aus bewohnten Passivhusern; in: Tagungsband zur 4. Passivhaus Tagung. Passivhaus Dienstleistung
GmbH, 1. Auflage, Darmstadt-2000
(
; in the Conference Proceedings of the 4th Passive House Conference; Passive House Services
GmbH, 1st edition, Darmstadt-2000)
Amory Lovins,
Amory Lovins, E.-U. von Weizscker, L. Hunter Lovins: Faktor Vier; Doppelter Wohlstand - halbierter Naturverbrauch; Mnchen 1995
, Munich 1995)
; Harmonsworth 1977
Tagungsband der 1. Passivhaustagung, 1. Auflage, Passivhaus Institut, Darmstadt-1996

; 1st edition, Passive House Institute, Darmstadt-1996) (PHI's list of publications)
Peper, Sren; Kah, Oliver; Feist, Wolfgang: Zur Dauerhaftigkeit von Luftdichtheitskonzepten bei Passivhusern - Feldmessungen. Forschungsvorhaben im
Rahmen der nationalen Beteiligung an der Arbeitsgruppe 28 'Sustainable Solar Housing' der Internationalen Energie Agentur IEA, 1. Auflage, Passivhaus Institut,
Darmstadt-2005
. Research project in the context of the national participation in the task 28 'Sustainable solar
(
housing' of the International Energy Agency IEA, 1st Edition, Passive House Institute, Darmstadt-2005)
Feist, W.; Pfluger, R.; Kaufmann, B.; Schnieders, J.; Kah, O.: Passivhaus Projektierungs Paket 2004, Passivhaus Institut Darmstadt, 2004
, PHI, Darmstadt-2004) (Link to informations: PHPP Passive House Planning Package)
Bernd Rohrmann: Sozialwissenschaftliche Evaluation des Passivhauses in Darmstadt; Passivhaus-Bericht Nr. 11; Institut Wohnen und Umwelt; Darmstadt,
September 1994.
(
; Passive House report No. 11; Institute for Housing and Environment; Darmstadt, September 1994.)
Mark Zimmermann: Passivhaus und 2000-Watt-Gesellschaft - Welches sind die Herausforderungen einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung? im Tagungsband
der 9. Passivhaustagung, Ludwigshafen, PHI, Darmstadt-2005
(
in the Conference Volume of the 9th International Passive
House Conference, Ludwigshafen, PHI, Darmstadt-2005)
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The worlds first Passive House, Darmstadt-Kranichstein, Germany [ ]

S uther view f the Passive H use i Dar stadt ra ichstei

Fig 1 Si u ati resu ts at the begi i g here is a ca cu ati