DOES PASSIVHAUS MEAN HIGHER FIRE HAZARD?

摘要

The concept of Passive House or Passivhaus (PH) refers to the present highest energy standard forbuildings, with a promise to spare up to 90 % of heating (or cooling) energy compared to commonbuildings. Therefore, with the soaring prices of oil and the rising willingness (or requirement) to reduceour ecological footprint, it is not surprising to observe a fast growing demand for such houses.In order to be certified, a PH must meet strict requirements for air tightness and thermal insulation so thatenergy losses are as low as possible. The difficulty to achieve the required level of performance in partexplains the limited number of PH so far. However, while the member states are implementing theEuropean Directive on Energy Performance of Building, it is expected for instance that by 2015, 100 % ofthe new buildings in Brussels will be PH!The fire hazards possibly associated with PHs have recently raised questions amongst the fire communityin Belgium (chiefly the fire brigades). In an attempt to answer those questions, ISSeP and University ofMons are conducting a study whose main objective is to determine to which extent the characteristics ofPHs (mainly the air tightness, thermal insulation and forced / controlled ventilation) affect the fire spreadand smoke propagation. The project1 “Passive House and fire = Inferno?” (its acronym PHI suggests thatventilation is a key factor) compares PH and conventional house in terms of fire hazards for the dwellersand the fire brigades, with some emphasis on possible occurrence of backdraft or flashover.