Passivhaus standard as a social housing model in the UK: Barriers and opportunities

Zhao, Jing

Abstract

The reliance on fossil fuels and the high amount of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions remain to be the most critical barriers for the European region to achieve its net-zero targets. Energy used in the household sector contributes to more than a quarter of the total energy consumption. High energy demand and poor housing quality also lead to other issues such as fuel poverty and residents’ ill health, preventing the UK from reaching key objectives set in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The social housing sector, in particular, is in urgent need of an upgrade in both the quantity and quality of new build and existing homes that could also deliver a significant carbon reduction in energy use. The Passivhaus standard provides a potential solution to the above issues, offering design strategies that benefit the health and wellbeing of end-users, reduce fuel poverty, and minimise energy consumption. Yet the social, technical and economic barriers to more widely implementing this low-energy building methodology are still under-explored. This chapter reviews previous research and practice of Passivhaus projects in the UK and explores Passivhaus methodology from the perspectives of social housing providers, the design and construction team, and the end-users behaviour and experience. By doing so, it identifies the barriers and opportunities and summarises guidelines and mitigating strategies in key procurement, design, construction and operational stages of implementing Passivhaus as social housing model, in accordance with the RIBA Plan of Work 2020.

• Online Publication Date: Apr 12, 2023
• Publication Date: Apr 12, 2023
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 13, 2025
• Publisher: Springer
• Series Title: Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives (IUNSDGRP)
• Series ISSN: 2731-5576; 2731-5584
• Edition: 1st
• Book Title: SDGs in the European Region
• Chapter Number: 22
• ISBN: 978-3-030-91261-1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91261-1_87-1
• Keywords: Passivhaus; SDG's; Sustainable Development Goals; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Consumption; Research; Innovation; Capacity-building; Production Patterns; Lifestyle; Environment Impact; Behaviour; Natural resources and energy economics; Green D
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10536396
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-91261-1_87-1
• Related Public URLs: https://www.springer.com/series/16878
• Contract Date: Sep 1, 2022