Botti, A; (2017) Thermal comfort and overheating investigations on a large-scale Passivhaus affordable housing scheme. In: Brotas, L and Roaf, S and Nicol, F, (eds.) Design to Thrive: Proceedings of 33rd PLEA International Conference 2017, Volume III. (pp. pp. 3722-3729). NCEUB (Network for Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings)

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Abstract

The uptake of the Passivhaus standard has rapidly increased in the UK during the recent years, in line with the improvements in the energy efficiency standards for new dwellings. This paper builds upon a recently completed post-occupancy study for a Passivhaus-certified large-scale affordable housing development, specifically focusing on summer thermal comfort. Assumptions and predictions of overheating risk made at the design stage are analysed and compared with the indoor temperatures measured during summer 2015. In this study, interviews and questionnaires are overlaid with quantitative data in order to explore occupants’ comfort perception and improve the understanding of the inter-relationships between aspects of building design, occupant behaviour and the risk of overheating. The analyses showed a high frequency of overheating, diverging significantly from the estimates made using the PHPP tool. This is due to a combination of factors, such as higher internal heat gains arising from higher occupant density and usage of internal appliances and, in some cases, insufficient reliance on natural ventilation to purge excess heat. Given the difficulty in predicting in-use occupancy patterns at the design stage, a more robust design strategy is recommended, which could include measures to minimise summer overheating and future-proofing against a changing climate.

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