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The Passivhaus or Passive House standard is a building system that came into being as an alternative to traditional construction, in line with the current social trend of efficiency and energy saving. It is based on an insulation, sealing and air renewal system developed in recent years and is a last-generation technique for energy saving and sustainability in the construction field.

The Passivhaus system, implemented and consolidated by architects and engineers in Europe and the United States, is a clear future alternative to construction and refurbishment which has traditionally been carried out in Spain. To give an idea of its importance, the Danish government will make its application mandatory to all edifications in its territory from 2020 on, while the European Parliament plans to implement it in its service buildings as of 2011.

The last-generation technology which materialises the Passivhaus standard’s energy saving is based on the following fundamental principles:

• Optimum building orientation and glazed façade surfaces so as to maximise energy gain for heating in cold seasons. Solar panelling for spaces, depending on the façade orientation, as protection during hot seasons.
• Continuous enveloping insulation layer, with thicknesses of 10 to 40 cm, depending on the location and specific needs.
• All of the building’s external elements must have excellent thermal insulation (U£ 0.15 W/m²K).
• Carpentry with high energy efficiency, with triple glazing and frames that eliminate thermal bridging, manufactured from materials with excellent thermal behaviour (U£ 0.80 W/m²K), and with solar gains of approximately 50%.
• Complete elimination of thermal bridges throughout the building, with special attention to the points of conflict.
• The sealing system of the building’s exterior enveloping (opposition to air penetration in the interior) must not have a value higher than 0.6 h-1 in the EN 13829 pressure test.
• The air renewal systems have to include a heat exchanger, which provides 90% of the caloric energy needed for the home. The remaining 10% of heat is obtained by solar sensors or by highly energy-efficient (i.e. low consumption) heat pumps.