Best Practice: The First Residential Passive House in Southern China

Abstract

With over 20 years of experience in the field, Peter Ruge Architekten (Germany) focuses on sustainable architectural and urban design. In 2013, the firm completed their first Residential Passive House, BRUCK, in Southern China. The project is located in Changxing, Zhejiang Province, near Taihu Lake. Together with the architects and engineers from Landsea Europe, and in cooperation with Doctor Wolfgang Feist and engineers from the German Passivhaus Institute (PHI), it establishes new standards of sustainability through techniques that seek to improve the building’s operation over time and has achieved an important architectural milestone. With over 95 percent energy reduction over a conventional Chinese residential building, this is the first house of its kind to be realized in China's damp, warm, southern climate. The introduction of the Passive House standards to the Chinese housing market is an example of successful implementation of sustainable design that will considerably reduce energy consumption and improve environmental conditions in the future.

Keywords

Passive House / Southern China / Residential Building / Pioneering Construction / Sustainable Design Methods / Ecological Development

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press