Austria takes a 'passive'-aggressive approach to housing
By Emma Brewin
Russia and Ukraine's gas standoff over the winter had most of Central and Eastern Europe looking nervously eastward, so it's no surprise that increasing numbers of households in the region are beginning to take domestic energy efficiency seriously. Cold continental winters mean that a large proportion of national carbon emissions come from home energy consumption, so the reduction of domestic energy requirements has become a regional political priority too. Yet the sheer scale of the socialist legacy of poor-quality, energy inefficient housing is proving a significant barrier to change for many CEE governments.
One country in the region at least, seems to be leading the way when it comes to mainstreaming domestic energy efficiency. Austria not only currently produces one out of every three solar panels used in the European Union — including those adorning the European Commission building in Brussels — but ranks eighth worldwide in provision of solar energy facilities. It also comes second only to Germany in its adoption of passive house technology, a construction standard tipped to be a key solution to Europe's inevitable future energy dilemmas.
The science behind passive housing is remarkably simple: combining energy efficiency, heat exchange systems and maximised use of natural energy sources, such as solar heating, through clever design to dramatically reduce and even negate the need to actively heat or cool buildings. Super-insulated passive houses are able to use the 'fresh air' heating concept; heat from outgoing, warm and stale air is transferred to incoming fresh air by means of a special ventilator without any mixing of the two streams, thus re-using thermal energy that would otherwise be wasted. The resulting savings speak for themselves; passive houses save on average 80 percent of the heating costs of a conventional building, requiring just 10 to 20 kWh/m²/a (depending on climate), which adds up to a monthly bill of around EUR 10 to EUR 25.
The passive model can apparently also be adapted to different houses and locations as an energy 'standard,' as opposed to a set design. This flexibility has so far enabled successful application of the technology in a wide range of building projects all over Austria; Vienna already boasts over 1,000 passive buildings. The range of passive projects being implemented by the Central European Passivhaus-Institut meanwhile is diverse, to say the least. Three Austrian army barracks recently got the green treatment, for example, whereas the remote Schiestl-Haus mountain hut (situated 2,100m above sea level in the Hochschwab mountain range, Styria) is a pilot project testing the applicability of the passive standard and use of solar panels in inaccessible locations.
Yet despite the fact that national policy is beginning to mainstream alternative technologies, the majority of individuals still require coaxing out of their traditional housing habits. Most builders too have also been slow to adapt to the energy efficient alternatives to traditional construction techniques and materials that are now available, either for lack of information or fear of increased overheads. However, Central and Eastern Europeans mustn't ignore the uncertainty of their energy future, and individual domestic changes — as well as national infrastructural ones — will before long become a necessity. Why not get started with these simple tips?
