Passive voice of comfort

Vadim Alexeev Many of us have the content of a country house is associated with high costs. It would seem that one thing - to maintain a comfortable environment in the apartment, and quite another - daily heat thoroughly two-storey cottage. But do not rush to conclusions. If we are talking about so-called passive, or, more correctly, energopassivnom, house, the cost of gas or wood can be avoided. And not at the expense of comfort, but rather the contrary. The word "passive" in the Russian language, usually used with negative connotations. Called passive man-slacker or a bad title of a journal article. However, with regard to home-town is different. Do you need to actively cottage (note) exchanges heat with the environment? In winter, gave him, and in summer too hot? Hardly. So in a passive house is constantly maintained for human comfort temperature and humidity (regardless of whether the wind is raging in the street, knocks the snow melts from the heat or asphalt). How does this effect is achieved? To get started back on 21 years ago. First energopassivnye house appeared in 1987. Their founder and ideologist - Dr. Wolfgang Feist, the founder of the Institute of passive houses in the German city of Darmstadt. First, these homes were built in Germany and later in Scandinavia, famous for a rational approach to energy use. Not so long ago began to use a unique technology in Russia. It is true that widespread cost houses so far prevented some of the stereotypes of consciousness of buyers. In a country that is one of the world's leading oil producer, people are not used to save heat. And the designers and builders are not thinking about how to make them the objects of heat-erected - that's slipping on a daily basis thousands of kilowatts of power from the houses on the street. Nationally, it's huge losses, but also for every owner of such indulgence turns into additional costs, and because prices are rising from year to year So what does this genius came up with Wolfgang Feist? He invented a passive house is a system in which each component (absolutely everyone, from the materials used and the ending location of homes relative to the sides of light) is working to save energy. Bottom and top is well known that the maximum heat loss in houses have the roof and foundation. So, on the roof of a passive house in the winter snow does not melt, that is, heat does not leave the house and not a "warm outside." No less than the foundation of the building's energy. Will not go into the peculiarities of its devices (more so that the details still kept secret masters of technology). We only note that even in severe frosts, when the ground is frozen is not a centimeter or two, the foundation of passive cottage "his (ie the heat) does not give away, but" foreign "(ie, cold) is not gaining." Heat loss from a passive house is usually less than 15-25 kW / sq. m per year (for comparison: in a brick house Stalinist buildings - 250-350 kW / sq. m per year!), and the need for small house heating occurs only at temperatures below zero outside. In this case, use low-powered heaters or air conditioners (heat pump) for the minimum temperature regulation. At the request of consumer engineering equipment of one or more passive house may include additional energy sources: fireplaces, furnaces, heat pumps, solar collectors for water heating, solar panels, wind power plants. The full life support passive house area of ??130 square meters. m to a total of 6 kW of electricity, and for the home area of ??160 square meters. m need 8 kW (this will be enough for a boiler, cooker, washing machine, etc.). In principle, the passive house can be built in an open field where there are no gas and district heating. The only drawback in this case is the lack of communication with neighbors and increased risk of penetration. Therefore more passive houses are part of the cottage settlements (there are villages, completely built up such homes). And energopassivnym may not only be detached cottage, but also a few semi-detached residential sections - townhouse. In this case, the energy efficiency of buildings is further enhanced because of its common walls with neighboring units. During a power outage passive house cools down by one degree a day when the outdoor temperature is -15 ° C. It is promoted primarily heat storage, the role which operates the massive load-bearing walls, concrete slab floor of the first floor and floor slabs. Lean wall addition to well thought out from a constructive point of view of the roof and foundation, the volatile home also always use a high sealed and reinforced insulation walling - simply put, the walls. This not only serves the economy, but also creates a home for real comfort. In a passive house is never a draft. The fact that "wild winds" begin to walk at a high temperature difference and air walls. In the passive the same house, this difference is less than 0,7 ? C, so the vibrations of the air expelled. In addition, the walls and floors are always warm to the touch, so no need to arrange a system of "underground" heat, difficult to install and repair, and is very energy intensive. Speaking of the walls. In a passive house, they can be made of sandwich panels, stone and brick. Still, the best-proven aerated (the manufacture of load-bearing structures used, of course, reinforced concrete). This lightweight, easy to use in the construction material is an excellent heat storage. How through the earth One of our readers may already be thinking: well, the passive house does not heat to go nowhere and not let the cold in the room. But in this case the cottage turns out a kind of thermos - a comfortable living in it? However, the greenhouse effect in such a house is not and can not be. Mandatory element of energy-efficient home is forced-air ventilation with heat recovery. This system provides heat in winter and in summer the necessary coolness. We explain the working principle of such a ventilation system. In winter, cold air enters the air duct located under the ground, there is heated by the heat of the earth, and then served in a special device - heat exchanger. In the recuperator exhaust warm air out of the house gives off heat is removed and fresh on the street. As a result, the house served fresh air heated to about 17 ° C. In the summer the opposite is true: hot air streets, walking in an underground duct, chilled out there from contact with the ground to the same 17 degrees. So in a passive house is constantly maintained comfortable. Passive and smart is important that modern equipment, in addition to heat recovery, can improve the hygienic characteristics of air as a result of disinfection and ozonation. In addition, modern ventilation systems are equipped with automatic control, regulate temperature and air flow, and in the absence of people in the room move to economical operation. Improving predictive factor of a passive house can compare him with the so-called "smart home", which regulates the automatic operation of all engineering systems in accordance with the specified parameters, and the remote control. Still confuse "smart house" with a passive house is not worth it. It is no secret that equipping the cottage complex and expensive electronics, able to robotize all processes that can afford only the very rich. While a passive house is completely accessible so-called middle class. Currently, a house area of ??100 square meters. m cost the price of a studio apartment somewhere on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. By the way, as mentioned earlier in this article, many of our fellow citizens refuse to move out of town because of the high cost of the cottage. A passive house in operation no more than a city apartment. Better off with zero natural question: can we do energopassivnym already built house? In principle yes, but it will require significant investment. After all, the passive house was originally designed so that each of its "cog" worked to achieve this goal - saving energy and providing a comfortable living environment. Optimize and bring to a condition "ordinary cottage design is difficult and sometimes impossible. It is advisable to immediately order a firm specializing in construction energopassivnyh house, a cottage on a turnkey basis. In this case, as a rule, the consumer can choose from a number of model projects. Passive house on the individual "standards" - the acquisition, accessible only to very wealthy people. At first glance, the possibility of a passive house "work" seems to self-sustaining fiction. But it is not. Think: Is it a small power can give the sun, wind, earth? In fact, in a passive house is nothing revolutionary - it simply rationally used what nature gives us. And as efficiently as possible and without prejudice as to person, and for nature.