Steenbergs - Passive-energy Buildings

Bornholm’s passive-energy BRIGHT HOUSE is the result of collaboration involving several different players in Bornholm’s construction sector. The intention of instigator STEENBERGs TEGNESTUE ApS was to design a detached bungalow for the system-built-house market of maximum quality in terms of materials and architecture and to minimise the environmental impact.

PHPP – the German certification standards for passive-house construction – were the point of departure for developing and designing BRIGHT HOUSE. By optimising the use of passive heat from the sun, a geothermal heat pump system – combined with thicker layers of insulation and the use of energy-efficient windows – the amount of heat consumed by the house is dramatically reduced, which also reduces the house’s dependence on an external heat supply.

By adding on other sources of renewable energy, such as by incorporating solar cells and solar panels into the roof, BRIGHT HOUSE has the potential to be self-sufficient with energy and even supply surplus energy to neighbours. The first BRIGHT HOUSE is expected to be built in the course of 2010.

40% of the energy consumed in the EU is used for heating and cooling buildings. Passive-energy houses can drastically reduce this figure, and this visit presents STEENBERGs Tegnestue’s solution for developing a system-built passive-energy house.