Passive Design Principles
Exceeding best practice standards
Humans have been living in shelters, and later houses, for thousands of years. Ever since the first settlements, our living amenities and quality of life has improved.
Innovative engineering led to unlimited drinking water and electricity in our homes, to thermally improved building shells and easy to handle heating and cooling devices. But not only have our living standards improved, appliances and construction standards have also become increasingly efficient.
It‘s no doubt that what is described as ‘best practice’ construction standards today will be overhauled in the very near future. Council therefore encourages you to explore opportunities to exceed current industry standards, not only to lessen your impact on the environment now, but also to future-proof your asset and living amenities in the years to come.
Buildings have a lot in common with humans; in winter they get cold and in summer they get hot. While we respond to a changing climate in the way we dress, buildings are much more inert to these changes. Modern technical solutions seemed to deliver a solution to that problem.
The introduction of air-conditioning and artificial light allowed us to construct buildings in any climate zone with an arbitrary shape and facade and still maintain comfortable temperatures and light levels throughout the year. But only quite recently have we become aware that the use of excessive energy has come at a price.