4 ms·

Reminds me of my home here in Germany. I guess it’s not as sophisticated as the architects where more concerned with energy savings then fresh air. Means in the

Reminds me of my home here in Germany. I guess it’s not as sophisticated as the architects where more concerned with energy savings then fresh air. Means in the early years we had to vent the house manually a lot. I friend of mine renovated his house and installed on top an automated air refresh system. I wish my house had the same. What I mean specifically is that around 2010ish the energy footprint started to be become more and more important. Currently the building codes here are so crazy that building a new house demands quite the upfront costs.

nielsbot 2y ago
Pretty sure the passive house "movement" started in Germany? Looks like this type of passive house was a Swedish/German innovation: > The passive house standard originated from a conversation in May 1988 between Bo Adamson of Lund University, in Sweden, and Wolfgang Feist of the Institut für Wohnen und Umwelt (Institute for Housing and Environment), in Darmstadt, Germany.[13] Their concept was developed through a number of research projects with financial assistance from the German state of Hesse.[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#History
- larusso 2y ago
  See didn’t know that :). Only that we are crazy in Germany not to put any ACs etc into our houses. I mean I don’t complain about my heating system. My house uses water based floor heating. I love it. Newest trend is to put it in the ceiling because the floor radiation tends to reach only the legs or some people feel it that way. But the summers can be rough.
  - Ballas 2y ago
    The latest trend is to change your underfloor heating to a air-to-water heatpump system. In theory that can be used to heat and cool. They can also achieve very high SCOP values, meaning you need less energy. Air-to-air heatpumps (aircons that can heat and cool) have the downside that in heating, they disturb the boundary layer around a person, so the perceived temperature is lower. They also have a much more limited SCOP range - mostly because the delta temperature has to be higher. Edit: I forgot to mention - in some countries installing a heatpump that can also cool does not qualify for government subsidies - so many of them don't have that feature. This seems like a really short-sighted decision IMO.
    - larusso 2y ago
      Yes your last edit is also a thing that baffles me. Heat pumps abilities are mainly advertised with heating applications. That they can run in reverse is too often missing.
      - nielsbot 2y ago
        I exclusively think of it in the reverse: An A/C that can also heat your home.
    - _nalply 2y ago
      One problem of cooling floors this way is moisture. You'll get wet floors if you also don't use traditional air conditioning.
      - woleium 2y ago
        a system with a dew point sensor prevents this, but it does limit the effectiveness
      - Ballas 2y ago
        Yes, but as long as you keep it above the dew point, it's not an issue. You also don't want to cool it below that for another reason - it's unpleasant to walk on. The idea is that you design it so that you have adequate energy transfer with a minimum temperature delta. Then you don't have to go below dew point and the heat pump can run at a higher SCOP/SEER.
stephen_g 2y ago
That doesn't sound like Passive House design, having proper ventilation is a huge part of the methodology (basically always using mechanical heat or energy recovery ventilation). Trying to seal a house to save energy but not having mechanical ventilation is just poor design.
- larusso 2y ago
  I didn’t say it is one. Parts remind me. Triple glazing and the stuff.
varjag 2y ago
Most passive house designs suffer from that.
dghughes 2y ago
You guys in Germany have those crazy automated metal shutters on some homes. They would have been a good thing in LA I think (I'm not in LA) or in any fire zone, maybe? I've read many homes burned because windows shattered from heat which then allowed the embers and fire to ignite furniture.
- yurishimo 2y ago
  The shutters are actually pretty common , even not motorized ones. Not sure what the availability is in the US, but purchase and installation in NL is under €1000.

nielsbot 2y ago

Pretty sure the passive house "movement" started in Germany? Looks like this type of passive house was a Swedish/German innovation: > The passive house standard originated from a conversation in May 1988 between Bo Adamson of Lund University, in Sweden, and Wolfgang Feist of the Institut für Wohnen und Umwelt (Institute for Housing and Environment), in Darmstadt, Germany.[13] Their concept was developed through a number of research projects with financial assistance from the German state of Hesse.[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house#History

larusso 2y ago
See didn’t know that :). Only that we are crazy in Germany not to put any ACs etc into our houses. I mean I don’t complain about my heating system. My house uses water based floor heating. I love it. Newest trend is to put it in the ceiling because the floor radiation tends to reach only the legs or some people feel it that way. But the summers can be rough.
- Ballas 2y ago
  The latest trend is to change your underfloor heating to a air-to-water heatpump system. In theory that can be used to heat and cool. They can also achieve very high SCOP values, meaning you need less energy. Air-to-air heatpumps (aircons that can heat and cool) have the downside that in heating, they disturb the boundary layer around a person, so the perceived temperature is lower. They also have a much more limited SCOP range - mostly because the delta temperature has to be higher. Edit: I forgot to mention - in some countries installing a heatpump that can also cool does not qualify for government subsidies - so many of them don't have that feature. This seems like a really short-sighted decision IMO.
  - larusso 2y ago
    Yes your last edit is also a thing that baffles me. Heat pumps abilities are mainly advertised with heating applications. That they can run in reverse is too often missing.
    - nielsbot 2y ago
      I exclusively think of it in the reverse: An A/C that can also heat your home.
  - _nalply 2y ago
    One problem of cooling floors this way is moisture. You'll get wet floors if you also don't use traditional air conditioning.
    - woleium 2y ago
      a system with a dew point sensor prevents this, but it does limit the effectiveness
    - Ballas 2y ago
      Yes, but as long as you keep it above the dew point, it's not an issue. You also don't want to cool it below that for another reason - it's unpleasant to walk on. The idea is that you design it so that you have adequate energy transfer with a minimum temperature delta. Then you don't have to go below dew point and the heat pump can run at a higher SCOP/SEER.

stephen_g 2y ago

That doesn't sound like Passive House design, having proper ventilation is a huge part of the methodology (basically always using mechanical heat or energy recovery ventilation). Trying to seal a house to save energy but not having mechanical ventilation is just poor design.

larusso 2y ago
I didn’t say it is one. Parts remind me. Triple glazing and the stuff.

varjag 2y ago

Most passive house designs suffer from that.

dghughes 2y ago

You guys in Germany have those crazy automated metal shutters on some homes. They would have been a good thing in LA I think (I'm not in LA) or in any fire zone, maybe? I've read many homes burned because windows shattered from heat which then allowed the embers and fire to ignite furniture.

yurishimo 2y ago
The shutters are actually pretty common , even not motorized ones. Not sure what the availability is in the US, but purchase and installation in NL is under €1000.