Welcome by APA Chair

Sharing full emissions payback modelling for the carbon-positive New Student Housing at College of the Atlantic, this presentation will show several slides indicating how different payback models can be simply by changing the location in which the building is located, and thus, the emissions profile of emissions offset by renewable energy in order to achieve carbon positive by "x" year.

This can be wildly different—for example, the same building with low emissions in Maine has a payback of 63 years, in Massachusetts it would be about half that given the more intensive use of natural gas in energy production, and in West Virginia, about a quarter, given the use of coal.

BUT, one thing is totally consistent, without a #Passivhaus approach to thermal load reduction in design, the payback would have been NEVER in all locations tested, as the site would not have been large enough to support the renewables needed for the payback (and probably would have cost too much).

The lesson is, as always, conservation first, and then simply make sure the payback is well within the building lifespan with some margin for error.

Is it time for a shift in the certification process to ensure the technical aspects and accurate delivery of the Passivhaus standard and to account for cultural difference?

Over the past decade, living costs have surged significantly, with energy expenses increasing by a substantial margin. Amid these challenges, Passivhaus offers a beacon of hope, aligning with the urgent need for energy-efficient, sustainable homes.

Our passionate Passivhaus community is driving a swift adaptation of Australian construction methods, continuously expanding the list of suitable materials and products. However, the mainstream market is still dominated by volume builders who produce larger homes at significantly lower costs due to bulk purchasing agreements and narrow profit margins. This economic divide threatens to relegate Passivhaus to an elitist niche.

Yet, the most significant hurdle isn't cost; it's culture. Passivhaus demands precision, meticulous detailing, and unwavering commitment. In a culture often characterised by a laid-back attitude, this presents a significant challenge to a more mainstream update of the standard. Can we trust non-engaged builders running fine margins to adhere to the exacting Passivhaus standards, especially when speed and cost minimisation often take precedence?

A shift in the Passivhaus certification process, advocating for the presence of Passivhaus designers or certifiers during construction, will help to educate, train and ensure compliance. This may naturally increase consultant costs but is essential to maintain the highest standards and precision built into the ‘sub-conscious’ of the PH standard.

We propose that there is a need for the global Passivhaus community to evolve the certification process, addressing the cultural and practical challenges mentioned above. This shift can make Passivhaus an attainable and sustainable choice for a wider audience, rather than a niche for the privileged few.

The study aims to understand how such high-performance homes are used at different times of the day and week (e.g. times of cooking and cleaning, which rooms are used and when, and the frequency of opening windows and doors, etc).

I will also cover research on when occupants feel most comfortable in their homes and whether there are any indoor environment quality concerns owners might experience during a typical day or week since moving into their new Passivhaus that they did not expect.

In Australia, Passivhaus-certified buildings are an emerging building form, and studies of indoor environment quality in Australian Passivhaus-certified buildings are scarce. This research addresses the need to investigate indoor environment quality in Australian buildings that aim to meet Passivhaus standards.

This research project aims to evaluate how eleven Passivhaus’ are used at different times of the day and week and compare levels of satisfaction at different times of the day, season and year whilst also seeking greater clarity on occupant motivations and expectations of Passivhaus’ in Australia.

A great time to mingle with each other and speak to our sponsors and exhibitors.

Have you ever stopped in your tracks, wondering what you may be able to do with the information you have at your fingertips?

This presentation is intended to provide you with several tricks you can use as a Certified Passivhaus Designer to assist with NCC compliance, NatHERS comparisons and determined curiosity! Be prepared to enter the grey area… where grey matter thrives!

It is becoming much easier to use the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) to justify and inform other parties of the compliance and benefit of the outcomes attributed to a design. A particular interest is the use of a Performance Solution to prove effective design and compliance against the criteria in the NCC, part H601 (2022) and O2.6 (2019).

Our typical strategy implements a hierarchy of priorities being Deemed-to-Satisfy and Performance Solution to justify variation and finally a Performance Solution to demonstrate compliance.

The presentation aims to address all three paths and outline benefits and detriments. Drilling down into the PHPP data has been beneficial in creating other tools, particularly solar PV and battery calculations, window estimations and simplified reporting. These strategies have given the opportunity to prove the effectiveness of the Passivhaus Standard in Australia today.

Like any project, cost management is a cornerstone of project success, and Passivhaus is no different.

In the current market due to the lack of understanding of the full process and lack of qualified professionals, it is difficult for people to get this right. To get the cost right, one must engage with a professional team that understands the Passivhaus project cycle, from concept to sketch plan and PHPP modelling to the construction phase, project completion and finally certification.

Each of these has cost attributes that are over and above NCC processes. To deliver a Passivhaus project on budget, one must select the right team, a team that is qualified and understands the process and timing intimately—a team that understands the importance of selecting the right procurement methodology and use of appropriate contract terms. Without these, the cracks will show and projects will fall over. I was unfortunately involved with several projects where things didn’t go right.

Here are some examples of what could go wrong:

1. A client thought they were getting a Certified Passivhaus, they signed up for a lump sum contract. However, the house was built and it could not be certified as it failed on many fronts. The owners and builder are in litigation which is costing a fortune and will most likely end up in a lose-lose situation.

2. A designer designed a project with Passivhaus principles but did so without a concise specification or contract. Instead, they loosely made references to air tightness, high-performance windows, HRVs, etc. They then assisted the owner with selecting a builder that came in the cheapest. The builder commenced the project but rescinded the contract as they grossly underpriced the project.

TBC

ANMF House provides high-quality, affordable, short-stay accommodation for Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation members on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD. Above the retained heritage façades of the Central Club Hotel, the hotel projects vertically with a highly articulated saw-tooth façade. The building delivers 29 rooms over six floors, exclusively for ANMF members.

The Passivhaus Standard was targeted to dramatically reduce energy use, emissions and running costs, while a Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) structure, which is exposed throughout the interior, provides significant reductions of the project’s embodied carbon emissions. Designed as a place to “care for the carers”, the building is a nurturing space for our unsung heroes, with a focus on health, wellness, and a celebration of sustainable practices.

At Thrive 2024, the team aims to present the first year of operational data and compare it to the design prediction in the PHPP, with insights from the head contractor and the operator.

As part of ANMF’s ongoing sustainability commitments to reduce operational carbon, ANMF is extensively metered. Consequently, this data will be reviewed to gain an understanding of how the building and its components are performing against the consumption predicted by the PHPP as well as investigate any items that could be improved.

As ANMF hotel has only been operational for approximately 6 months, a full year of data is not available, but findings from the review will be available for the conference.

A case study of a developer and project that is delivering Passivhaus on a commercial scale for infill residential development.

Methodology:

1. Using a case study of C Street’s Echo Hawthorn project and general approach for future projects, C Street will demonstrate their approach to rolling out Passivhaus on a commercial scale.

2. We will qualitatively review the layer of complexity that Passivhaus adds on top of the standard development process on a general level. This will cover aspects of planning (landscape, heritage, amenity, open space, garden area, overlooking, BESS), design (performance solutions, design resolution, fire engineering, structural, services, design team skills), tendering (cost management, builder skills), finance and construction management.

3. We will briefly provide the market context around the challenges facing the industry in the last 3 years, during the time Echo Hawthorn launched, which have been amongst the toughest conditions for residential Build-to-Sell.

4. We will discuss in depth a handful of specific examples of problem-solving encountered on the Echo Hawthorn project based on a similar format to the high-level topics.

5. We will discuss the costs and breakdowns of Echo Hawthorn, and key project metrics.

6. We will discuss the sales rates achieved for Echo Hawthorn benchmarked to market.

7. We will discuss the intangible lessons and approaches that we found worked for us.

8. We will discuss our motivation for electing to pursue Passivhaus.

9. We will conclude with our take on the outlook for Passivhaus in the BTS residential sector and more broadly.

Kitchen cooktops are a major internally generated source of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds in residential Passivhaus projects. Recirculating rangehoods are currently used in at least 75% of Australian residential Passivhaus buildings due to their simplicity as they require no make-up air system and do not compromise the thermal or airtightness envelopes.

These rely on specific designs and components to capture grease and remove odours (to the best extent possible) and capture coarse particles but do not extract moisture, fine particulates, or volatile organic compounds from the airstream. It is the role of the HRV extract duct to remove these pollutants.

Externally venting rangehoods offer the benefit of directly extracting most, if not all, of the pollutants. However, this comes at additional cost and complexity as a make-up supply is required in airtight dwellings. This has an energy demand penalty as well as requiring careful detailing to maintain airtightness.

In this presentation we will discuss the options for rangehoods in residential projects, both recirculating and externally venting, and their relative costs and benefits. We will also present air quality data from fieldwork studies in completed residential projects to demonstrate the impact on indoor air quality.

This data will explore the impact of rangehood configuration, extraction flow rate and cooking temperature on indoor air quality. It will provide insight into the influence each parameter has on air quality and suggestions will be offered as to mitigations that maximise air quality while also achieving Passivhaus performance at a reasonable cost.

A great time to mingle with each other and speak to our sponsors and exhibitors.

Julia Bennett is an Architect who has worked in the UK on Passivhaus design and projects since 2011, and has worked in sustainable construction training for clients and delivery teams including main contractors, trades and design team professions. For many projects, once a 'certifiable' project has been designed, a whole set of other challenges arise moving into the build phase, staring with finding experienced - or at least willing - contractors and sub-contractors because there are simply not enough Passivhaus contractors. Julia will give an overview of some of the UK latest relevant practice and research that may be useful here in Australia, and explain some of the training and tools used in the UK network - and in her own projects - to support builders to build their skills and 'reduce the pain' in delivering completed certifiable construction.

As our world grapples with environmental concerns, Passivhaus, an energy-efficient building standard, stands out as a beacon of sustainability. Effectively communicating the sustainability of Passivhaus is crucial for fostering widespread adoption and driving positive environmental change. Having recently put into practice key learnings myself, I will share these communication strategies, drawing insights from experts Dan Kahan and Claire Wardle.

Kahan, a prominent researcher in science communication, emphasises the importance of cultural cognition in shaping people’s perceptions of sustainability. To effectively convey the sustainability of Passivhaus, communicators should tailor their messages to align with diverse cultural values and worldviews. This means framing Passivhaus benefits in ways that resonate with the values of different communities, whether it be cost savings, health benefits, or climate change mitigation.

Wardle, a leading authority on disinformation and information disorder, reminds us of the challenges presented by misinformation in the digital age. To communicate Passivhaus sustainability, it is essential to combat misinformation and provide accurate, reliable information through trusted channels. Fact-based content, engaging storytelling, and visual representations are key tools to counteract misinformation and foster understanding.

Communicating the sustainability of Passivhaus requires a nuanced approach that considers cultural cognition and combats misinformation. Using a mix of insights from Kahan and Wardle, we can influence others, allowing the gap between knowledge and action to become smaller, making Passivhaus a greater part of the Australian building sustainability solution.

What does a regenerative home look like? Does it look good or aim to BE good? The client’s brief was for a sustainable ‘off-grid’ home built from natural materials that could be resilient in its harsh rural environment.

During the early design stage discussions with our clients, the decision was made to pursue the Passivhaus standard as a means to reduce energy usage and make ‘off-grid’ more viable while also ensuring the health and comfort of the occupants throughout the cold winters and hot summers.

The thermal envelope of a Passivhaus separates the indoor environment from the external natural environment and there was a design to challenge this antithesis. How could the home and its occupants still feel this deep connection to nature whilst being inside? Within the cut-and-dry facts of building science, was there an opportunity for the more qualitative and intuitive principles of biophilic design? Architecture that could improve our innate connection to nature?

Through collaboration between members of the project and construction team, these questions were resolved in a beautiful synergy of ideas and realisations, enhancing architecture, innovative materials and reducing overall energy usage.

The result is a Certified Passivhaus Premium, off-grid, Biophilic Strawbale home. Our clients do think it’s a beautiful home to live in (and that is important!) but this home’s real beauty is more about what you can’t see. Its inner beauty. Its genuine ethical responsibility and care for people and the planet is what really makes it shine.

6:00 - 9:00pm THRIVE Evening Event - Hop Bar + Beer Garden

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