This house was built in 2008 in Kiev, Ukraine. It’s a three-storey building with heated basement and attic. It has been built for a family of 6 persons but it can host other one or two people for a total of 8 people.
Overall performance
The overall energy consumption of Passive House Kiev is 11285 kWh per year (simulated data).
Cost and effectiveness
The overall costs amounted to UAH (Ukrainian Hryvnia) 3,068,400 (€277,997), of which UAH 2,339,900 (€ 211,995) for building envelope and UAH 728,500 (€66,002) for building services. Compared to a newly built conventional house in Ukraine, the additional investment cost is approx. €47,300.
It’s been calculated that the static payback time of the investment is 19 years (this calculation method does not take into account the time value of money). The dynamic payback time (which does take into account the time value of money) is 30 years.
Building basics
| Year of completion |
2008 |
| Number of units |
2 |
| Number of occupants |
6 people |
| Elevation |
179 m |
Building areas
The house has a square plan with some overhangs. The compact shape allows maximising the efficient use of the small plot of land and better thermal performances. Despite the cold climate, there are three South-facing terraces and, as you can read in the architect’s website, they are the family favourite places. The terraces are the natural extensions of the small garden. The house articulates on four levels with 11 main living spaces including a children playroom, a library and a small swimming pool. Each floors is on three levels to maximise the use of the relatively small volume.
Interiors are spacious, luminous and cheerful with a lot of colours, different from room to room. On the outside the red inserts in the otherwise white facade break the monotony of the white and the simplicity of the square shape, giving the building a certain “movement”.
Special features
The house’s characteristic that immediately stands out is the clever use of space: useful space is exploited to the last centimetre. The careful design maximises solar gains and takes advantage of good orientation. The house plan is squared, very compact in shape and it is aligned with the land boundaries but the roof is “rotated” from the plan so that the roof pitches are perfectly oriented according to the cardinal directions. This allows the best possible orientation of solar panels on roof. There are three service systems which work together to deliver heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water: solar collectors, a ground source heat pump and a MVHR system.
Sources
Passivhaus Institut (2012):
Tetyana Ernst, Gebaute Passivhaus Projekte www.bigee.net/en/s/qesw3w
Tetyana Ernst, 2011a. Energy prices.
Tetyana Ernst, 2011b. Passive House Kiev-work progress.
The house has a masonry construction. The basement wall is made of 30 cm concrete blocks, externally insulated with 22 cm foam glass and internally finished with 3 cm clay plaster. From the first floor up, there is a 3cm external insulation of cellular glass, other 24 cm foam glass insulation to protect a 25 cm brick layer, finished on the inside with clay plaster.
The ground floor is made of 12 cm lightweight concrete towards the ground. Between it and the above 10 cm foam glass insulation there is a bitumen seal. Above the insulation there is a 27 cm concrete slab, 10 cm air cavity, 12 cm wooden beams. The structure is further insulated with 8 cm cellular glass layer and it’s finished with a floating floor.
The roof is ventilated. It is finished on the outside with ceramic tyles and protected by a water barrier underneath. The air cavity is 4 cm thick. The roof is insulated with 5cm XPS (extruded polystyrene) above rafters and 20 cm XPS through them.
| Type of construction |
Middle |
| A/V ratio |
0.64 -1 |
| Average U-value of building |
0.160 W/m2K |
| Thermal bridging |
Detailing for thermal bridge free design was carried out according to Passivhaus criteria. |
| Air tightness |
Certified pressure test (blower door) |
| Air tightness value |
0.60 1/h |
| Shading |
Fixed external shading elements |
Basement floor
| U-value |
0.176 W/m2K |
| Total thickness |
83.25 cm |
| Total area |
91.5 m2 |
| Material |
Thickness |
Thermal conductivity λ |
| Lightweight concrete |
12.00 cm |
1.000 W/mK |
| Bitumen seal |
0.00 cm |
1.000 W/mK |
| Foam glass |
10.00 cm |
0.045 W/mK |
| Concrete |
27.00 cm |
1.400 W/mK |
| Air cavity |
10.00 cm |
0.024 W/mK |
| Wooden beams |
12.00 cm |
0.200 W/mK |
| XPS Insulation |
8.00 cm |
0.035 W/mK |
| Floating floor screed |
4.00 cm |
0.200 W/mK |
| Linoleum |
0.25 cm |
0.200 W/mK |
(From outside to inside)
Basement walls
| U-value |
0.194 W/m2K |
| Total thickness |
55.00 cm |
| Total area |
74 m2 |
| Material |
Thickness |
Thermal conductivity λ |
| Foam glass |
22.00 cm |
0.045 W/mK |
| Concrete |
30.00 cm |
1.400 W/mK |
| Clay interior plaster |
3.00 cm |
0.200 W/mK |
(From outside to inside)
External walls
| U-value |
0.165 W/m2K |
| Total thickness |
55.00 cm |
| Total area |
240 m2 |
| Material |
Thickness |
Thermal conductivity λ |
| Thermal insulation plaster |
3.00 cm |
0.100 W/mK |
| Foam glass |
24.00 cm |
0.045 W/mK |
| Brick masonry |
25.00 cm |
0.500 W/mK |
| Clay interior plaster |
3.00 cm |
0.200 W/mK |
(From outside to inside)
Windows
| U-value window |
None W/m2K |
| Total area |
65 m2 |
| Glass infill |
Argon |
| Coating/Tint |
n.n. |
| Solar heat gain coefficient |
0.51 |
| U-value glass |
0.60 W/m2K |
| U-value window frame |
0.81 W/m2K |
Passive strategies
Compact shape
Careful orientation
Passive solar heat gains in winter
Shading with fixed external elements in summer to avoid over-heating (roof and terraces overhangs)
Heating and domestic hot water are provided by solar panels and ground source heat pump. Cooling is passive through the geothermal probe of the heat pump and pre-cooling of air through MVHR system. Heating and cooling are distributed in the rooms through the same steeI elements.
| Indoor design temperature summer |
20 °C |
| Indoor design temperature winter |
20 °C |
Heating system
On the South-facing roof there are 22 m2 solar panels that provide energy for both heating and hot water. Their contribution to the heating system is around 50% of the heating needs. They are flat plate solar collectors.
The rest of the heating need is covered by heating produced through a geothermal heat pump. Four boreholes were made, each 86 m deep.
The heat is distributed in the rooms via radiating elements positioned in both floors and walls. Linking under-floor heating to the geothermal heat pump is a very efficient way to utilize the energy produced because temperature needed is low (around 30°C).
A part of the heat is recovered through the ventilation system
1 individual heating system installed:
| Type |
Heat pump (ground to water) |
| Heating capacity |
10.00 |
| Centralised/decentralised |
Centralized |
| Energy source |
Electricity |
| Distribution system |
Water |
Cooling system
Cooling is provided via the ground source heat pump used in reverse-cycle mode. Coolth is distributed through water that circulates in the same radiators elements that distribute the heating.
1 individual cooling system installed:
| Type |
Heat pump (ground to water) |
| Cooling capacity |
4.00 kWth |
| Annual final energy consumption |
1213 kWh/year |
| Centralised/decentralised |
Centralized |
| Energy source |
Electricity |
| Distribution system |
Air |
Hot water system
The domestic hot water provision is linked to the heating system. What is not provided via solar hot water system is substantiated via the ground source heat pump which contributes approximately15%.
1 individual hot water system installed:
| Type |
Heat pump (ground to water) |
| Hot water capacity |
6.00 kWth |
| Annual final energy consumption |
2962 kWh/year |
| Centralised/decentralised |
Centralized |
| Storage tank |
0.16 m3 |
| Solar thermal collector |
plate |
| Aperture size |
22.0 |
| Orientation |
180 |
| Energy source |
Electricity |
Ventilation system
To provide ventilation a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery is used. The system uses two different heat exchangers: one for the swimming pool and one for the rest of the house. The air is pre-heated due to the warm condenser coil of the GSHP.
The MVHR system can be used also to help cooling the inside temperature, using the system in summer by-pass mode
1 individual ventilation system installed:
| Type |
Mechanical |
| Annual final energy consumption |
2261 kWh/year |
| Centralised/decentralised |
Centralized |
| Heating recovery ratio |
88 |
| Energy source |
Electricity |
| Primary energy consumption |
11285.00 kWh/year |
| Primary energy consumption (ref. building) |
251486.00 kWh/year |
| Specific primary energy consumption |
34.30 kWh/m2/year |
| Specific primary energy consumption (ref. building) |
786.20 kWh/m2/year |
Differentiated specific primary energy demand and production
Accumulated specific primary energy demand and production
The overall costs amounted to UAH (Ukrainian Hryvnia) 3,068,400 (€277,997), of which UAH 2,339,900 (€ 211,995) for building envelope and UAH 728,500 (€66,002) for building services. Compared to a newly built conventional house in Ukraine, the additional investment cost is approx. €47,300.
It’s been calculated that the static payback time of the investment is 19 years (this calculation method does not take into account the time value of money). The dynamic payback time (which does take into account the time value of money) is 30 years.
| Envelope costs |
211995 EUR |
| Systems costs |
66002 EUR |
| Total investment costs |
277997 EUR |
| Cost: |
847.60 EUR/m2 |
| Total differentiated annual costs |
17212 EUR |
| Specific differentiated annual costs |
52.50 EUR |
| Yearly energy costs |
221 EUR/year |
| Static payback time |
19 years |
| Dynamic payback time |
30 years |
Investment cost
Absolute building investment costs
Specific building investment cost
Annual Costs
Absolute annual costs
Specific annual cost
Assumptions
| Local Currency |
UEH |
| Currency rate to EUR |
0.09100 (Feb. 3, 2011) |
Energy prices
| Electricity |
0.0200 EUR/kWh |
| Gas |
0.0800 EUR/kWh |
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