Reconnecting with nature
First single-family Passive House in LT
First single-family Passive House (LT-PH3) in Lithuania, certified by the Passive House Institute
In 2014, single-family houses in Lithuania were built with a heating demand of up to 198 kWh/m2a, while we designed and built a house with a demand of 15! Monitoring since 2015 has shown that the heating and comfort parameters simulated during the design process are in line with the measured ones. 10 years later, the house is more than 4 times more energy efficient than the A++ energy efficiency class houses built in Lithuania today and is a perfect example of affordable comfortable housing.
Lithuania
National
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
2015-10-30
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
As an individual
One of the project's main goals was to build an affordable single-family house in the Lithuanian climate zone that would be light years ahead of the houses being built at the time in terms of comfort, energy efficiency, sustainability and environmental friendliness. It would provide a practical test of how much such a house costs to build, what challenges the market faces in building such a house, and whether our design parameters align with the performance. A single-dwelling house can play an important educational role. Children grow up here, and their understanding of the world, their life habits, and each family member's invaluable personal experience are formed. We realised that the target group for this project would be vast. Still, when we talk about a single-family house, we are talking about a very individual space that reflects our qualities, extends our possibilities, and grows with us. Many people build single-family houses once in their lifetime and do not have the right education or the capacity to acquire the critical mass of knowledge needed to make the right decisions. We realised that we needed a specific design algorithm, which, combined with a methodical, inclusive education, would allow us to develop a comprehensive Design Brief at the very beginning of the project, a kind of constitution that the architect would be obliged to follow. The digital modelling should then be used to assess the solutions' aesthetics, cost and energy efficiency, and to make the right decisions that are within the financial means of the future occupant. In this project, we have designed and built an affordable house, investigated its running costs and comfort, and ensured that they are broadly aligned with the design. On this basis, we can now more confidently model climate and building use scenarios at the design stage.
Single-family dwelling house
Affordable housing
Sustainable housing
Immersive education
Comfort criteria
While familiar to all, the concept of sustainability continues to evolve and cover new areas of our lives. Our project had more than one objective in terms of sustainability. We wanted to create a house that would accommodate the family's growth and future changes in its use and the changing climate and maintain the highest level of comfort in the long term. We developed the project by using a unique algorithm to identify and assess the needs of the future inhabitants and by using numerical modelling and simulations to determine the efficiency, quality and cost of the solution and the interactions between the elements and systems of the house. We aimed to use local, high quality, environmentally friendly, yet affordable building materials and efficient engineering equipment that could ensure long-term reliable service, which would not need to be replaced soon, and all the furniture installed in the house is made in Lithuania. Even a very energy-efficient house can be uncomfortable, so the project paid special attention to the analysis of comfort criteria and their assessment in the context of the needs of a particular family. The house includes waste separation, water, lighting and electricity-saving systems and schemes. Monitoring studies have been carried out, operating costs have been determined, and opportunities to improve the efficiency of the building have been assessed. The project has assessed the education of the occupants of this house during its lifetime and the growth of comfort needs in the future. As a result of all these actions, we have a situation in which, during the 10 years of operation of the house, its planned model of use has remained unchanged, not a single building element or engineering installation has been replaced, and the level of understanding and satisfaction of its inhabitants has only increased. All these actions and the results achieved make this an exceptional project.
The aesthetics and design of a building are often the only things on the minds of its future occupants. One of the objectives of this project was to combine the aesthetics of the building under construction with the quality of life of its future inhabitants and to make the house more environmentally friendly, economical and comfortable through aesthetics and design. The aim was to identify the influence of the different designs of the building elements on the parameters of their interaction and the regularities of that interaction and to consider them as a whole system. The architectural and design measures were intended to address several challenges that affect the comfort level of the building. The south orientation of the building and the corresponding layout of the rooms determined the design of its utility and recreation yards. All the central life, both inside the building and outdoors around it, takes place on the sunny, cosy south side, while the utility and ancillary activities take place on the dark, shaded north side. The compactness of the building increased its affordability; the white colour of the façade reduced solar heat gain and made the building more environmentally friendly in a warming climate. The external blinds and canopies have helped to control overheating indoors.
In contrast, the canopies have provided additional rain protection for the occupants and a cosy seating area without obstructing the beautiful view of the internal recreation yard. The project is a perfect example of how a small plot of land, without many compositional possibilities, can be used to design an aesthetically pleasing, modern, environmentally friendly building. In this family-dwelling house, the aesthetic choices made knowingly lead to a high quality of people's living experience in the context of long-term operation and the building's resilience to the effects of climate change.
In contrast, the canopies have provided additional rain protection for the occupants and a cosy seating area without obstructing the beautiful view of the internal recreation yard. The project is a perfect example of how a small plot of land, without many compositional possibilities, can be used to design an aesthetically pleasing, modern, environmentally friendly building. In this family-dwelling house, the aesthetic choices made knowingly lead to a high quality of people's living experience in the context of long-term operation and the building's resilience to the effects of climate change.
Creating an affordable house project requires an algorithm that accurately identifies individual needs, a process that does not overwhelm but involves and educates the future occupants of the house, who are often once-in-a-lifetime. It also requires tools to understand the relationship between the different elements of the house and their impact on the energy efficiency and comfort of the building in the context of their affordability. All people have different financial capabilities, priorities and perceptions of what is affordable and what is not, what is cheap and what is expensive. These evaluations are strongly influenced, and often changed, by the education of future homeowners. The algorithm used to develop this project has accurately identified the needs of the future occupants today and in the future, and the use of the Passive House Design Package (PHPP) has allowed the project to be evaluated in the context of the changing use of the building and the climate change, and to test the cost-effectiveness of each element separately in terms of its impact on the energy efficiency and comfort of the building. In Lithuania and beyond, the algorithm for designing a single-family house based on digital building modelling is not mandatory. It is rarely carried out voluntarily, making this project an excellent example. It allowed a young family to create an affordable home with the highest comfort level. The construction cost was €750/m2, and the heating and hot water cost did not exceed €315/year. The monitoring of the building between 2015 and 2020 showed that its indoor air temperature did not exceed three degrees on 95 % of the year without air conditioning. This algorithm can be applied in any climate zone for families of all needs and abilities and is an excellent example for all market players. We aim to translate the scheme into national legislation in Lithuania, adding critical new parts to the project
Most people design and build single-family homes once in their lifetime. All people are unique in terms of their financial possibilities, understanding of comfort, preferences, education, and lifestyle. This project achieved the highest level of involvement of the future occupants in the design and decision-making process. They were involved in all phases of the project, they understood the cost and impact of the decisions to be taken on the building's energy efficiency and comfort through a digital model, and they evaluated these decisions in the context of their economic feasibility and the family's financial capacity. The whole process has led to a significant increase in the education of the future inhabitants of the house, the affordability of the house, and the future energy-efficient use of the already-built house. Their involvement in the house-building process and their increased awareness of the importance of the quality of the energy-efficient construction of the house resulted in the fact that, having failed to find suitably qualified craftsmen for the sealing of the house and having been trained by the technologist of the supplier of the sealing tapes, they glued the sealing tapes themselves, with their own hands, and achieved almost three times higher than the required level of the house's airtightness. The involvement of the residents in the design process has led to the sustainability of the solutions that have been chosen, and not a single solution has been changed during the ten years of the house's life, which has led to a high level of long-term satisfaction among its residents. Through their involvement, the occupants of this house have become experts, ambassadors and educators of energy-efficient and sustainable buildings. The content of this project has been the subject of presentations at Lithuanian and international conferences, as well as training seminars for architects and future residents of single-family houses.
This project is an excellent example of international cooperation between various private companies and organisations, as well as institutes and universities. The project was led by architect Rimvydas Adomaitis, a certified Passive House designer from Lithuanian UAB PARYŽIUS; the Passive House part was supervised by the German engineering company Kraus Energiekonzept, certified by the German company B.TEC, and carried out by the German Passive House Institute (PHI). UAB PARYŽIUS and Lithuanian companies UAB Axioma Servisas and UAB Dorteksa monitored the building. The research part of this project is carried out at the Lithuanian Energy Institute and Kaunas University of Technology by architect Rimvydas Adomaitis, a PhD student in the field of thermal engineering. The Passive House standard, developed in Germany and well-known worldwide, is slowly gaining popularity in Lithuania. Thanks to this international cooperation, Lithuania's first single-family Passive House was built in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. In 2014, when Lithuania was building single-family houses with a heating demand of up to 136 kWh/m2a, we designed and built a home with a 15 kWh/m2a heating demand. It has become a perfect example of how, with the right design and construction, you can create a highly comfortable, sustainable and attractive building with the same materials at a very affordable price. This is still its mission today. Even the most energy-efficient house can be uncomfortable. Monitoring since 2015 has shown that the heating and comfort parameters modelled during the design process are broadly in line with those measured. After 10 years, this house is still more than 4 times more energy efficient than the A++ energy performance class houses being built in Lithuania today. It demonstrates the horizons we should be aiming for to reduce the construction industry's impact on nature.
The Passive House project involved designers, architects, structural engineers, HVAC engineers, Passive House designers, PHPP modellers, thermal bridging calculators, contractors for all parts of the building, installers of engineering systems, thermal bridging assemblies, leak-proofing materials technologists and suppliers, building leakage measurement and certification engineers, and others from more than 25 different disciplines. For all of them, the design, construction and installation of this building was a considerable challenge. At that time, nobody in Lithuania had the experience to design such buildings, to build them exactly to the project, and to take care of the heat loss and comfort of the building. Thanks to the enthusiasm, willingness to learn and dedication of all these professionals, this project became a rallying point that did not end when it was built. As we started to research and publicise the results, we realised that once it was built, it was not the end of the story but only the beginning. In the interaction process of all these professionals, we saw how, in an energy-efficient and comfortable house, all the systems and elements of the building work together, how they are interconnected, and how they interact with each other. It became clear that we do not build buildings for energy efficiency but for comfort. However, a comfortable building will always be energy efficient. Since then, I have compared the comfort of a building to the immunity of a human being. Everyone involved in the project realised that focusing only on the beauty of a building or only on energy efficiency will not create a comfortable building. To be healthy, you must balance and combine all the parts that make up immunity. The same goes for the comfort of a house. This emerging understanding has become a central added value of this multidisciplinary collaborative process.
In 2013-2015, B energy performance class houses were designed and built in Lithuania, with a heating demand of up to 136 kWh/m2a. That year, we designed and constructed Lithuania's first Passive single-family house in Vilnius (LT-PH3) with a 15 kWh/m2a heating demand. During the development of this project, parts of the project were developed that are still missing from the Lithuanian design legislation today. After 10 years of operation, this innovative building is still more than four times more efficient than the highest energy efficiency class A++ houses currently under construction in Lithuania. With an affordable budget, it is a model for the house of the future. Unfortunately, only five such houses are certified in Lithuania, and the reasons for this slow growth are very diverse. These include a lack of competence of market players, bureaucratic red tape in the public sector and a low-quality legislative framework, a lack of educational opportunities and quality, insufficient publicity of these good practices, and others. Unfortunately, there is not a single building in Lithuania today where official monitoring data could be used to improve the national certification system and validate the certification results. According to the Lithuanian official statistics portal, out of 13 min. M2 of residential building area built in Lithuania in 2014-2024, 10 million belong to single-family houses. The single-dwelling house is a significant cell of the city and state residential building stock, significantly influencing the overall energy efficiency and environmental performance of buildings in Lithuania. The New European Bauhaus initiative is very respectable and helps to draw attention to values such as quality of experience, sustainability, and relationship with nature and the planet.
The project includes the following phases: (I) design, construction, and certification of a sustainable, energy-efficient building; (II) long-term monitoring of its engineering systems and comfort parameters; and (III) research to determine the compliance of the designed building parameters with those measured during operation and publicise the results of this research in the form of conferences and seminars.
In Phase (I), the building design was developed according to the German Passive House Standard, using the Passive House Design Package (PHPP) and the Lithuanian national certification system NRG sert certification programme. In Phase (II), the building's electricity consumption for heating and hot water and outdoor and indoor air temperatures were measured in 2015 - 2020. In Phase (III), the monitoring results were evaluated and verified with PHPP and Swegon ESBO Light simulation software. The findings were presented at international conferences in Lithuania and Austria in 2023-2024 and published in conference proceedings and the MDPI/Sustainability scientific journal.
In Phase (I), the building design was developed according to the German Passive House Standard, using the Passive House Design Package (PHPP) and the Lithuanian national certification system NRG sert certification programme. In Phase (II), the building's electricity consumption for heating and hot water and outdoor and indoor air temperatures were measured in 2015 - 2020. In Phase (III), the monitoring results were evaluated and verified with PHPP and Swegon ESBO Light simulation software. The findings were presented at international conferences in Lithuania and Austria in 2023-2024 and published in conference proceedings and the MDPI/Sustainability scientific journal.
This algorithm for designing a single-family dwelling can be applied in any climate zone for families of all needs and abilities and is an excellent example for all market players. One of its main advantages is the individual, systematic and methodical attention to the future owner of the single-family house, his needs and those of his family, resulting in a sustainable, comfortable, environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and comfortable house adapted to the specific climate zone and resilient to climate change, in line with the architectural and functional traditions of the country or locality. Children who grow up in such a house will know about fresh air, temperature, acoustic and humidity comfort, and other parameters of a comfortable house. They will be able to identify from the outside a house that is energy-efficient and a house that is not, a house that is friendly to nature and a house that is just painted green.
Climate change is happening, and we do not just hear about it in weather forecasts; we also see its consequences through our windows. The challenge for humanity is no longer to stop the change but at least adapt to it. The global Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps with a precedent resolution of 1 km for current (1980-2016) and projected future (2071-2100) conditions, considering climate change, also predict noticeable changes in Lithuania and other countries. In Lithuania, all three climate zones are projected to have warm temperatures and hot summers in addition to each other, instead of just one, in fifty years. Unfortunately, today in Lithuania and beyond, houses are being designed for a climate that has long existed, changed, and changed every day. What kind of homes should we create today so that, in 100 years, they will still be energy-efficient, comfortable, sustainable and environmentally friendly? Our developed algorithm for designing a single-family house, based on the best practices of the German Passive House Institute for Passive House Design, responds to these global challenges and other equally critical local challenges. Only today, by improving our modelling tools based on monitoring and research, will we be able to design and build the future's climate-friendly homes and face a boldly changing world with more confidence.
Within the framework of this project, we have succeeded in creating an energy-efficient, comfortable, sustainable and, more importantly, affordable house, as well as an algorithm for building it. The monitoring has confirmed that the parameters modelled during the design process align with the measured ones, which allows us to be more confident in modelling future scenarios and to adapt the building to a wide range of conditions without sacrificing the desired comfort. The owners of this building have been enjoying the benefits and comfort of living in it for ten years and are true educators and ambassadors of sustainability. This building of the future is an excellent example of the path we need to take. It shows how much more we still need to do in educating the public, training design and construction professionals, improving modelling tools and design algorithms, and chasing a changing nature.
