Chifley Passive House: Two years of performance data Harley Truong1 and Andrew Garvie2 November 2016 1H3Space, www.h3space.com.au,
[email protected] BEng, BSc (Mathematics), Certified Passive House Designer 2
[email protected] BSc Honours (Physics), PhD (Physics) Abstract Three years ago, the first wave of certified Passive House residences were built in Australia. Half of these houses were built in Canberra where the climate has long cold winters and dry hot summers, the ideal place for high performance buildings. This paper focuses on one certified Passive House in Canberra and presents two years of collected performance data. It reinforces the notion that Passive House principles are universally applicable, in particular to non-European climates. It also adds to the growing body of knowledge of what works in the Australian context and what doesn't. The solar-passive attributes of the house like thermal mass and cross flow ventilation were assets. Temperature and humidity data show the indoor environment stayed mostly within comfortable ranges despite needing virtually no heating in winter and no cooling in summer. Indoor air quality data show the effectiveness of the mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (MVHR) system in moderating CO2 and moisture levels even with the windows closed. The overall energy use of the house was 64% less than other similar households and the actual energy use was 13% better than predicted, thus cementing Passive House as the premier comfort and energy efficiency standard. 1. Background Despite there being six certified Passive Houses in Australia, there is still little performance data on them.