CPD - Passive House Standards: Energy-Efficient Building Practices

Our Earth’s state is getting worse over time because of our activities. One thing that causes this is how we provide energy or electricity for our daily life. We burn coal in the power plant, which produces harmful gasses, so we can use electricity and energy. To prevent further damage, we are using other methods, such as passive house standards, to become more eco-friendly.

Those harmful gasses we create become a problem for ourselves and the Earth. They impact our surroundings, such as damage to soil, water, and air quality. These concerns can lead to climate change, which causes rising temperatures and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. Through passive house standards, we can reduce the damage by using less fossil fuels for our electricity and energy needs.

Understanding the passive house standards

The idea of ‘Passivhaus’ or passive house standards was created by Dr Wolfgang Feist, a German scientist, who wanted to improve the energy usage of buildings. He wanted to make a building that keeps heat inside with minimal thermal bridges and very low unwanted airflow in and out. Moreover, an air system that controls airflow and generates power passively through solar panels. Also, it can retain heat and does not require active forms of heating, such as radiators and gas fires.

The key reason why passive house standards are important is that modern buildings have fewer joints and cracks that affect the level of airtightness within the outer layer of a building. Plus, the lack of air circulation systems and windows makes it harder for fresh air to fill the rooms. Fresh air offers you not only a comfortable life but also positive health. Therefore, a proper ventilation system is the preferable answer to this problem.

In addition, many buildings are already using this method to improve their eco-friendliness. For example, apartments, office blocks, schools, and nurseries. This can also be used for modern and traditional structures. Hence, any old buildings can be updated to achieve the passive house standards. 

What is the passive house standard in the UK?

There is a long list of requirements related to airtightness, energy efficiency, and building guidelines before passive house standards can be established. Many buildings already use other methods or systems, such as air or ground source heat pumps and solar PV systems. However, it doesn’t mean it meets the guidelines. Therefore, here are the requirements you need to achieve:

• A space heat demand of less than 15 kWh/m ² for a new building and 25 kWh/m ² for an old one.
• The air leak pressure test result is under 0.6 each at 50 Pa for a new building and under one each at 50 Pa for a retrofit.
• Using energy at a rate of less than 120 kWh/m ², including heating, hot water, lighting, cooking, appliances, and air conditioning.
• The frequency of overheating during the summer is below 10%, which is how many times the temperature of the house exceeds 25°C.

Course Description

The CPD - Passive House Standards: Energy-Efficient Building Practices course helps the participants to understand more about this eco-friendly method. It offers them the knowledge and skills to create structures that use less energy while maintaining high comfort levels. In doing so, the learners will receive the key learning outcomes such as:

1. Understanding the basics of passive house design
2. Learning how to use it for efficient energy use 
3. Knowing the role of thermal bridge-free building
4. Studying the building's airtightness
5. Using renewable energy systems for building projects

In doing so, the participants will be ready to use the skills and knowledge of passive house standards in their projects.They can create comfortable buildings that are long-lasting and eco-friendly. Lastly, they can become more valuable in the market with the information of this approach.

Learning Plan

From this course, the participants can use the basic principles of passive house standards, such as thermal insulation, preventing air leaks, and materials that help save energy. As a result, they will understand how to save energy use and understand how thermal bridge-free can help to keep the heat. Throughout this training, they will learn about:

• Introduction to passive house standards
• Energy efficiency principles
• Thermal bridge-free building and airtightness
• Combining renewable energy and passive solar design
• Case studies and real-world application

For this reason, the participants will have the theoretical background and practical tools to use passive house standards confidently in their projects.To achieve this, they have to follow presentations, interactive questions, and other activities for a better learning experience. By the end of the course, the participants will receive a certificate of completion.

Entry Criteria

The CPD - Passive House Standards: Energy-Efficient Building Practices course is suitable for construction workers, architects, sustainability consultants, and property developers. However, anyone who is interested in this training without any background can join this. We encourage you to have a basic understanding of building design, construction, or engineering for a better experience.

Reasons why you need to learn about passive house standards

In 2023, the total energy use in homes in the UK costs around a quarter of the total power. Most of them were used for heating, hot water, appliances, lighting, and cooking. As a result, they consume 125.0 metric tonnes of oil equivalent. The government wants to lower the number of usage in order to achieve a zero footprint by the year 2050. 

Hence, knowing the passive house standards is important since people need to stop relying on coal, oil, and gas. Learning this matter allows you to become more aware of creating a comfortable home with low energy usage. Here are other reasons why this information is important for the future:

Energy efficiency and cost savings

This method is designed for better energy usage because it needs very little heating or cooling. With extra layers to trap heat, airtight buildings, and advanced windows, you can keep heat in during winter and out during summer. In doing so, it will reduce your energy bills for homeowners or building owners.

Eco-friendly

Buildings are responsible for about 40% of global energy use. It means that they create a large portion of harmful gasses. Passive house standards will help to cut down those emissions which are the main cause of climate change. In addition, this method uses eco-friendly materials to reduce the impact on the environment.

Improved indoor comfort and air quality

You always need a comfortable house to live in. This method provides you with consistent indoor temperatures, which means there won’t be cold drafts or overheating inside of your home. The ventilation system removes stale air and brings in fresh air. Also, since the building is airtight, this will prevent dust, pollution, and noise from entering your home.

Career growth

Today, sustainability is the key focus in the building industry. Thus, there is going to be a high demand for experts in passive house standards. Any workers, such as architects, engineers, builders, and consultants, with this knowledge can stand out in the industry. This will help to provide better job opportunities.

Improve your sustainability knowledge with CCM

Since we need to take care of the Earth, we need to use eco-friendly solutions like passive house standards. Minimising the reliance on energy sources, such as power stations that use coal, releases harmful gases that lead to climate change can be beneficial. We need to reduce energy consumption and create eco-friendly buildings for a better quality of life.

The College of Contract Management offers you the CPD - Passive House Standards: Energy-Efficient Building Practices course. It provides you with information about energy-efficient design, building without heat loss points, and how to use renewable energy. Moreover, you need to learn more about this method because it has strict requirements regarding airtightness, energy efficiency, and stopping buildings from getting too hot. In doing so, you can create an energy efficient eco-friendly structure.

Learning about passive house standards is not only about lowering your energy bills but also contributing to a better future. In particular, this expertise is in demand, and people with knowledge of eco-friendly buildings will have greater career opportunities. In addition, it creates healthier, more efficient, and good for the environment. Therefore, you can create a more long-lasting and eco-friendly future.

In the meantime, the CPD - Passive House Standards: Energy-Efficient Building Practices course is still unavailable. We will inform you through the course site if there are any updates.  However, we would like to offer you other interesting courses that are available on this site. Also, if you have any questions, you can always ask the CCM team through email. Your happiness is our top priority.