PhD Project: Concepts of Passive Houses in Denmark.

For a long period, Denmark has been in a beneficial development. The building activity has been extremely high because of an economic growth which has led to higher demands by the average Dane for having an attractive and aesthetic house. If the concept of passive houses should be marketed and achieve a significant sale in Denmark, it is necessary to do a holistic approach. Besides energy savings and new structural solutions, also architecture, lifestyle and the future ways of living have to be integrated.

The goal is to develop designs and low-energy concept that are usable when designing COMFORT HOUSES (passive houses) in Denmark. This will primarily be done through studies of ten houses, THE COMFORT HOUSES, built like passive houses in Skibet by the city of Vejle and the studies of the underlying process. The work is done in cooperation with Saint-Gobain Isover A/S. [www.komforthusene.dk]

Among others, the studies include research of the architectural language, low-energy concept and the building technology. This means, for example, research of the influence of low-energy concepts and the building technology on the architectural expression. Therefore, it is also important to analyse the design and building processes to clarify whether a successful design process is reflected in the final quality of the building.

Finally the indoor climate and quality of life in the houses is studied not only by practical measurements of the physical indoor climate and energy consumption, but also by analyses of interviews with the residents of the different houses.

The news in this research is to study the user's opinion and perception of architecture and quality of life in low-energy buildings and that this knowledge is integrated into solutions of structure and energy as well as guidelines for concepts of passive house in a Danish context which has a future commercial potential.