Dr Sturrock is indeed correct when he says that supplying heating though ventilation systems is nothing new. The fundamental principles of PassivHaus design are nothing new either: reduce the demand and then meet that demand using a smaller, more compact heating system. However, these principles are often forgotten. There is no technical reason why the housing industry cannot achieve higher levels of performance, and the PassivHaus principles offer one way of achieving this without housing developers incurring excessive build costs as we move to low/zero-carbon housing.

It is possible for energy saving technologies, such as heat pump MVHR systems, to be modelled in SAP2005 via the Appendix Q route (which provides a method to allow for the benefits of new energy-saving technologies that are not included in the published SAP specification). However this is reliant upon funding being available to model these technologies and the development of a heat pump MVHR accreditation scheme within the low-carbon buildings programme.

Gavin Hodgson, BRE

Source

Building Sustainable Design