Low energy definitions

There are many different terms for low energy buildings, yet no official international definitions exist. However, some countries have developed official national definitions of some of the terms. All definitions are targeted at new buildings.

Comparison between the various definitions across borders is difficult since each country has its own standards for calculating a building’s energy performance. For instance, some calculation methods include gross area while others are based on net area; some include energy consumption for lighting and ventilation in their definition of primary energy, others don’t; some take into consideration summer comfort and indoor climate in their calculations while others don’t; some include appliances while others don’t.

In a report by EuroACE, the different definitions and calculation methods have been scrutinised for the first time (EuroACE, the European Alliance of Companies for Energy Efficiency in Buildings: “European national strategies to move towards very low energy buildings”, 2008).

The report documents that there are many variations as to how to define low energy buildings and how to define the key factors to calculate a building’s energy performance.
The most commonly used terms include:

Passive house in Italy.

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Low energy definitions

There are many different terms for low energy buildings, yet no official international definitions exist. However, some countries have developed official national definitions of some of the terms. All definitions are targeted at new buildings.