Electrification is the buzzword du jour for decarbonization, and it’s pushing policymakers to rethink how they structure everything, from local codes, to energy models, to how they incentive programs focused on high performance buildings. Passive House has always provided a more careful accounting of ‘source energy,’ looking closely at which fuels power which appliances and HVAC equipment, noting that not all source energy is equal. This presentation will delve into how the international Passive House standard is structured to support both electrification and decarbonization. We’ll dig into the back end of the Primary Energy Renewables framework, seeing how these apply across a few regions. Lastly, we’ll look at how these renewable source energy factors work using a specific project as an example. Learning
Objectives: How do electric grids differ across the U.S.? Why do regional grids have different renewable energy capacities? What is an electric utilization factor? How does the Passive House energy model (PHPP) calculate electric energy use by local region, by season and by specific appliance use to make grid decarbonization easier?
Presented by Bronwyn Barry, The Passive House Network Board Chair & Dylan Martello, Steven Winter Associates Senior Building Systems Consultant