Performance and experiences with Austrian demonstration projects for lowest-energy houses (Passive Houses) in social housing

Abstract

The paper describes the experiences with passive houses that have been built and operated in Vienna during the last years. The first part of the paper is the description of the projects; the second part presents measurement results during the first years of operation regarding indoor climate and energy consumption. The third and main part describes the lessons learnt regarding the necessary accuracy of calculations in the design phase with special focus on solar shading, internal loads, thermal bridges, and the distribution losses of hot water and the heating systems.