Passive Solar Windows Cost

While passive house cost premium estimates from experienced builders vary from 7 15 it is debatable whether this is actually a premium.

Passive solar windows cost.

The share of the home s heating load that the passive solar design can meet is called the passive solar fraction and depends on the area of glazing and the amount of thermal mass. Zola created the first passive house window znc to be certified by both phius and phi and has led the north american high performance window industry since the inception of the passive house movement here. 5 factors of passive house cost to consider. Research shows that including passive solar options increases the cost of a new build by between 0 and 3.

When sharp introduced their solar windows back in 2013 they estimated the cost to be around 2 000 per square meter equal to about 11 square feet. On a home costing 250 000 to build that means at most 7 500 extra. You might be thinking wow that seems like a lot of money. Also the knowledge of passive house detailing within the zola company is worth a lot of that difference.

One of the ways that passive solar design can add zero extra upfront costs is by refining the window sizes and placement. A passive solar home collects heat as the sun shines through south facing windows and retains it in materials that store heat known as thermal mass. That s quite a lot of money but the returns on that extra investment can be astronomical. Passive house certified components including windows and heat recovery ventilation systems help builders and designers meet the passive house standard.

Perhaps a better perspective on passive house cost is to view passive house design as an opportunity for a return on that investment over time. By decreasing the windows on the non south sides of the home we can stay balanced in costs and can decrease year round thermal losses while increasing needed solar gain. The loewen double pane window is a 20 savings 9 600 but it performs less than half as well so it doesn t seem worth the savings. Zola has supplied more us passive house projects than any other window manufacturer.

In simple terms a passive solar home collects heat as the sun shines through south facing windows and retains it in materials that store heat known as thermal mass. Passive house window options. Certified passive house buildings now account for 2 million square feet of building space in north america representing a threefold increase over 2015 according to a study by the pembina. To really dig deep into solar windows costs let s take a look at sharp s offering which we actually have some cost info for.