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0 pointsDoreenMichele3y ago0 comments

You are correct that they are viewed as different systems and tend to rely on different strategies:

https://ecokit.us/passive-solar-design-vs-passive-house/#:~:....

To me, it's almost a matter of semantics.

In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.[1]

The key to designing a passive solar building is to best take advantage of the local climate performing an accurate site analysis.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_solar_building_desig...

I think of passive solar as the umbrella term for such strategies. My understanding is passive house comes from a German project. It shouldn't surprise anyone that strategies which work well in Germany differ from strategies that work in warmer climates.

There are also traditional building approaches in Middle Eastern deserts that keep the entire city at bearable temperatures. They historically built on a plateau, oriented streets to be cooled by prevailing winds etc.

Both in Mexico and Iran, they have passive air exchange systems that help cool homes. Stairwells in Victorian American homes have similar features and likely served a similar purpose and were probably not merely ostentatious.

If you know a better umbrella term for this approach, I'm open to suggestions.

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boulos3y ago

> My understanding is passive house comes from a German project. It shouldn't surprise anyone that strategies which work well in Germany differ from strategies that work in warmer climates.

It actually started in North America around the time of the oil embargo as a mechanism to reduce energy costs. (See the history section of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house). Once that shock passed, people went back to not caring.

Even at the time, and still today, most write ups are focused on harsh climates like New England or Canada in Winter, because it's harder. It's also the case that in milder climates, the cost to make your home passive has historically been higher than just paying the subsidized bills (and/or requires capital). So most of the US hasn't cared (again) until recently.

DoreenMicheleOP3y ago

Your own source indicates it was being called passive solar energy design in the 1970s and indicates Passivhaus Institut was founded in Germany in 1996.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passivhaus-Institut

As someone who has followed such things for decades, it is my personal recollection that this German project is the root source of the expression Passive House. Most passivhaus buildings are in Germany and Austria and everything your source says suggests to me that passivhaus falls firmly under the umbrella term passive solar design.

So I stand by what I said unless someone can find a better source that somehow actually rebuts my understanding that passivhaus is a German project that popularized the term passive house and construction techniques associated with it, but it is simply a subset of the general concept of passive solar energy design.

jesseendahl3y ago

If you Google “passive solar vs. passivhaus” you will find a lot of results.

This one is the first result which explains the difference in terms: https://www.whitepebbleinteriors.com.au/the-difference-betwe...

I believe passivhaus as a term did originally arise/derive from solar house, but since then the terms have come to mean very different things. I wouldn’t say that solar house is still considered an umbrella term for passivhaus nowadays.

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schiffern3y ago

Early American "superinsulated houses" (the term-of-art at the time) used 12+ inches of foam, but often forgot about humidity and ventilation. As a result, many early examples became mushroom food.

Modern passive houses use HRV/ERV technology, so they achieve high efficiency while avoiding moisture and mold.

As usual, it's the early adopters that find the problems.

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