Passive House Tours

The South Pacific Passive House Conference was held in Melbourne in early May. A great wrap up of the event itself can be found here.

For the many Australian attendees who had not experienced a Passive House before the site tours were a fantastic opportunity to see and sense first hand the benefits of a Passive House building.

Four properties were visited; three houses and a university administration building. Below is just a snapshot of the day……

House #1Almost certified Passive House…

A tilt and turn window acting as a door

Heat Recovery Ventilation system. Ducts and manifolds,

House #2

By Maxa Design. Built by CarbonLite

Great landscaping

Challenging the ‘passive houses are boring’ myth

The awarding of the PH Certification plaque

Ethanol fireplace. They don’t need the heat but they wanted the look…

House #3

Traditional looking cottage. Builders own home.

Note the glazing bars in the window. A lot of effort in a triple paned window.

They did do a real fireplace. Yes it was on, yes it was hot. Yes they had all the windows open.

French doors as cost effective option rather than lift and slide doors. Definitely suited the style of the house.

The glazing bar in detail.

Building #4

Monash University

A retrofit project that had to deal with the thermal bridge issues created by all this steel structure!

Beautiful south light into the open plan office area.