Architect FRANCES POWERsays that passive house principles work for new and second-hand houses - and will dramatically cut energy consumption

IT'S OFTEN said these days that we live in "uncertain times". The tiresome phrase implies that we don't know what the future holds for us. But we know very well what is in store for us.

The climate is changing; the ice caps are melting; and sea levels may rise by as much as six metres over the coming decades, unless we sharply reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. We know too that our present rate of consumption of energy and natural resources is unsustainable.

We need to reduce our impact on the environment, quickly and imaginatively. Buildings are a good place to start: we spend most of our lives in them, and buildings account for around 40 per cent of our energy consumption.

Around 20 years ago, Wolfgang Feist, a German construction physicist, began developing the concept of the "passive house". Passive houses are low-energy buildings, constructed to exacting environmental standards, employing safe and sustainable materials. They are cleaner, safer and cheaper to heat or cool than traditional buildings.

The people who work, learn and play in them are less likely to be exposed to interior pollutants such as dust, mould and carbon dioxide; they spend less on heating and cooling; and they tend to be more comfortable and productive than people in conventional buildings.

The passive house concept is applicable to any type of building, and most buildings can be retro-fitted to passive house standards.

Feist's work and theories have inspired architects and designers across the Continent. Since 1991 over 12,000 passive houses have been built in Europe. In Frankfurt, all public buildings will in future be built to passive house standards. More importantly perhaps, the European Parliament has proposed a binding requirement that all buildings requiring heating or cooling be constructed to passive house standards from 2011 onwards. Over 1,300 delegates attended the 13th International Passive House Conference in Frankfurt in April. It is not an overstatement to say that we Irish delegates were given a glimpse into the future direction of building and design in Ireland.

Passive buildings could provide some of the work our architects and building professionals, and construction industry needs. The construction of a passive building, or renovation of existing buildings to passive house standards, requires more thought and investment.

Depending on its size and complexity, a passive house project can take up to twice as long to plan as standard construction. Passive houses demand more from all participating in their planning and building, but are superior to, and more environmentally sustainable than, traditional buildings. The adoption of the passive housing standard to all building types would benefit the wider Irish economy in many ways.

The engagement of the construction industry in passive housing could drive the economy in a sustainable direction, and avoid a repetition of the recent construction boom that was built on a false premise of capital growth and toxic debt.

Sustainability does not mean having to do without, nor does sustainability mean that 100 per cent of our energy has to come from renewables. It could create sustainable employment in planning, research and development, and in low energy product production and export.

The German government scale of fees for architects and engineers permits the payment of additional fees for the increased work a passive building entails due to the high end lifecycle return for the end user.

Renovation of existing building stock to passive house standards would reduce our use of energy. The benefits this would bring are many and valuable. Money saved on energy could usefully be spent elsewhere. Fewer people would be affected by fuel poverty. Energy being the largest single price inflator, any fall in energy use would restrain price rises.

Our homes could even become net assets. We visited a home in a terraced apartment heated by a photovoltaic system on the roof in Darmstadt. Its annual heating bill - for 153sq m (1,650sq ft) - is €600.

The architect homeowner intends to sell his surplus electricity back to the grid after repaying his capital investment. In the future his home will provide him with an income from a renewable energy source.

If the Government was prepared to subsidise, thorough policy EU funding assistance, retrofitting of our building stock, to at least energy classes A+ standards, we could show European leadership in this area. If a small proportion of the €14 billion we have paid to bail out the banks was instead spent on retrofitting our building stock, energy bills would fall and the taxpayer would be the benefactor.

Climate change and ever-diminishing resources are the problems; passive housing may be one of the solutions. By embracing it we would be following the example of the ancient Romans, who believed that citizens should make do with less now in order that future generations would have a better life.

The words of one of the key speakers at the conference will linger with me for a long time. He likened the human race to aircraft passengers who, on boarding the place, hear their pilot tell them that the aircraft has a 90 per cent chance of crashing. Only the politicians can get us off, he added.

Will our children live poor, diminished lives as a result of our failure as people and professionals to heed the warnings and act?

Frances Power is MD of FPA Architects

www.fpa.ie; 01 6618579; 01 445 0142