An environmental expert has lauded the Passivhaus approach, which could be covered on some renewable energy courses.
Marketing manager at the Green Building Store Chayley Collis explained that the technique was developed in Germany about 20 years ago and is applied more and more to the construction of new properties.
He described how the main aims are to keep the house insulated and air tight, avoid losing heat from inside through materials, aim to introduce as much heat into the home as possible and ventilate the interior using a mechanical system.
Technicians on renewable energy courses may already be familiar with the Passivhaus system.
Comparing the philosophy with the situation in the UK, Mr Collis said: "At the moment we have got the Code for Sustainable Homes which is [from] the government and we don't feel that it is as effective as Passivhaus."
The co-founders of the approach were Lund University's Professor Bo Adamson from Sweden and Wolfgang Feist, from the German Institut fur Wohnen und Umwelt.
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