Passive house in Kittsee on your own skin

The energetically certified passive house in Kittsee, Austria is accessible to all interested parties in this modern and energy-efficient style of living. The construction process of this reference building has been documented for professional use.



The highest level of quality in both the design and construction of the house is guaranteed not only by the certification of the entire building but also by the individual details carried out by the Institute for Passive Houses in Darmstadt, Germany. Interested parties already have the opportunity to spend a few days in the house, during which they can experience full-fledged living in a passive house and familiarize themselves with its various elements, such as heat recovery ventilation. Measurements are already taking place in the house, including blower door tests, surface temperature monitoring of building structures, evaluation of construction details, thermographic and thermal imaging measurements, moisture measurements, electromagnetic radiation in the interior and exterior, and also radioactivity measurements.

The building's foundation is designed on a flat reinforced concrete base 25 cm thick, resting on a 50 cm layer of compacted expanded glass. The load-bearing system consists of external perimeter walls and internal load-bearing walls. The exterior walls are made of Ytong blocks P2 – 400 and Isover TF profi thermal insulation with a thickness of 30 cm, forming a diffusion-open and at the same time airtight construction.

“At university, I became acquainted with the building material Ytong through a competition. Later, I was looking for a material that would allow for the quick construction of a passive house and offered a modular system from which a whole house could be built. That’s why I chose Ytong, which has excellent thermal insulation properties in all directions as well as a complete range: lintels, ceilings, roofs, stairs, interior walls. Moreover, it is very lightweight,” explains Martin Duchoň from the Slovak Green Studio, why he decided to use Ytong as the building material. “Buildings made of Ytong also show excellent results in blower door tests. They are therefore airtight,” he adds.

The test passive house is located in the Austrian border area, in the municipality of Kittsee, which is just a few kilometers from Bratislava. It is situated in a zone of standalone family houses and is built in accordance with the requirements of contemporary architecture – neither disrupting the surrounding environment in shape nor mass. It is designed for permanent living for four or five people, ensuring not only comfortable living but also the possibility of relaxation. More information can be found on the website www.pasivnydom.info.

DETAILS ABOUT THE BUILDING
Building Name: EPD Kittsee
Plot Area: 451 m2
House Footprint: 9.0 × 11.1 m
Total Usable Area: 142.4 m2
Projected Specific Heat Requirement for Heating: 11 kWh/m2 per year (according to the PHPP – PassivHaus Projectierung Paket)
Specific Heat Requirement for Heating at n50 = 0.185/h: 10 kWh/m2 per year (according to PHPP)
Building Airtightness (Blower-Door Test): n50 = 0.185/h
Specific Requirement for Primary Energy: 77 kWh/(m2 a)
Heat Loss at n50 = 0.185/h: 11W/m2
Thermal Load at n50 = 0.185/h: 7 W/m2
Costs for Shell Construction: 1,400 €/m2 (foundation slab, construction, project, building permit)
Estimated Heating Costs: 180 € (electricity and heat)
Architectural Design of Exterior and Interior: Ing. Martin Duchoň, greenstudios.r.o
Construction Company: Drevstav Slovakia s.r.o and greenstudios.r.o

USED MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION, THERMAL-TECHNICAL
Construction: Masonry construction from aerated concrete with a diffusion-open structure

Foundation Slab: Reinforced concrete slab 250 mm thick on compacted expanded glass 500 mm thick, U = 0.104 W/m2.K
– structure from the interior: laminate flooring 8 mm, cement screed 70 mm, PE foil, 100 mm insulation Isover EPS 100S, waterproofing weber.tec superflex 10, 250 mm reinforced concrete slab, 50mm base concrete, 500 mm of compacted expanded glass

Facade with External Insulation: thickness of exterior walls 565 mm,
U = 0.098 W/m2.K
– structure from the interior: thin-layer plaster 5 mm, YTONG P2-400 thickness 250 mm, Isover TF profi insulation thickness 120 mm, Isover TF profi insulation thickness 180 mm, thin-layer silicate plaster on adhesive approximately 2 mm thick.

Upper Floor Ceiling: Ceiling thickness at the upper floor 500 mm, U = 0.075 W/m2.K
– structure from the interior: drywall 15 mm, air gap 60 mm, Isover Unirol plus 400 mm, OSB 3 th. 22 mm, Isover Unirol plus 100 mm, wooden cladding 20 mm

Roof: Hipped roof, roofing material for low-slope roofs BRAMAC max 7

Windows: certified wooden windows for passive houses Makrowin 88 G2, Ug = 0.68 W/m2.K, g = 0.62 W/(m2K), Uf = 0.76 W/(m2K)

Entrance Doors: wooden Makrowin, Ud = 0.8 W/m2.K

Heating and Ventilation: Nilan VP 18 compact K – supply and exhaust air through the facade, heated and cooled via an air heat pump, air ducts, heat recovery, electric heating (heatwlov 2kW + bioethanol stove 3kW)

Hot Water Preparation: Nilan VP 18 compact K, integrated hot water tank 180 l