HPH279 : A beginner's guide to building terminology – with Lee Fordham from Architype

Understanding Passive House Standards and its Criteria

Passive House is a standard developed in Germany 30 years ago to reduce the performance gap between a building's designed and actual performance. The goal is to achieve a more comfortable and energy-efficient building through better construction quality and evidence-based design. Architects use Passive House planning package (PHPP) to design buildings that meet the Passive House criteria, and contractors follow the design information to construct the building. Mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) is a common component used in Passive House to extract used air from rooms, transfer its heat to fresh air from outside, and provide pre-warmed fresh air to each room. Foundations, such as strip footings or other types depending on the ground conditions, transfer the load from the building to the ground. U-value is a measure of thermal resistance, indicating how thermally conductive a component or structure is. Lower U-values indicate better insulation. Airtightness aims to eliminate drafts and ensure the internal environment is comfortable and controlled. Custom build refers to a building process where a developer provides pre-designed options, allowing customers to choose from a range of personalized features. Solar shading and breezel are methods used to control solar heat gain in a building, with horizontal elements like roof overhangs or external canopies providing shading in summer and allowing heat gain in winter. Architectural drawings include plans (bird's-eye view), elevations (front-facing views), sections (sliced view of the building), and details (in-depth instructions layer by layer). Renewables encompass various technologies like photovoltaics, wind turbines, hydro, and more, which generate energy. Finally, rooft parts include the eaves (overhang on the roof's edge), soffit (underside of the eaves), ridge (top point where two roofs meet), verge (side edge of the roof), parapet (wall above a flat roof), and trusses (structural members forming the roof framework).