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Pas­siv­e House Plan­ning Pack­age (PHPP)

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The Pass­ive House Plan­ning Pack­age (PHPP) is an Ex­cel-based en­ergy bal­an­cing and plan­ning tool for en­ergy-ef­fi­cient new builds and ret­ro­fits. It provides the re­quired evid­en­ce for cer­ti­fic­a­tion to the Pass­ive House, En­erPHit ret­ro­fit or PHI Low En­ergy Build­ing stand­ard.

More spe­cif­ic­ally, the tool has been val­id­ated and proven to de­liv­er re­li­able res­ults for:

  • An­nu­al heat­ing de­mand [kWh/(m²a)] and max­im­um heat load [W/m²]
  • Sum­mer thermal com­fort with act­ive cool­ing: an­nu­al cool­ing de­mand [kWh/(m²a)] und max­im­um cool­ing load [W/m²]
  • Sum­mer thermal com­fort with pass­ive cool­ing: Fre­quency of over­heat­ing events [%]
  • An­nu­al primary en­ergy de­mand (PE and PER) for the whole build­ing [kWh/(m²a)]
  • Es­tim­ated an­nu­al gen­er­a­tion of re­new­able en­ergy [kWh/(m²­a)]

En­ergy bal­an­cing with the PHPP al­lows simple, dir­ect and, if re­quired, flex­ible data in­put.  In­ter­face tools, ap­plic­a­tions for ex­ten­ded en­ergy bal­an­cing and add-ons give you ad­di­tion­al op­tions.

A com­pre­hens­ive hand­book with im­port­ant in­form­a­tion and tips sup­ports you in cre­at­ing cor­rect en­ergy bal­ances.

As of ver­si­on 10.6, the PHPP mas­ter bundle in­cludes the beta ver­sion of easyPH. It con­sists of only 8 PHPP work­sheets and thus en­ables sim­pli­fied, rap­id bal­an­cing and cer­ti­fic­a­tion of single-fam­ily houses (max. 2 res­id­en­tial units, max. 1 vent­il­a­tion unit).

NEW PHPP 10.6: Updates

easyPH (beta)

The update to 10.6 includes easyPH (beta),a new tool based on the PHPP. It simplifies the certification of single-family houses and can be used for certification already.

Further information and examples

 

 

The Passive House Institute regularly offers training courses on energy balancing with the PHPP. Please consider subscribing to our training newsletter so as not to miss any course offers!

System requirements and type of licence

The PHPP is provided as an MS-Excel-Workbook in the xlsx/xlsm format. In order to use the tool, users require Microsoft Windows with Microsoft-Excel 2013 (or higher) or alternatively Excel for Mac 2016 (or higher). To the authors' knowledge, the PHPP tool can also be used with all current versions of OpenOffice or LibreOffice, however, without support for the implemented macros used for e.g. data imports. In general, depending on the platform used for displaying the workbook, its programming or general settings, there may be limitations to the functionality of the calculation tool or the macros supplied.

The PHPP tool is only available as a single licence, including an extensive handbook. With the purchase of this licence, users receive a registration number which they must use to register their licence of the PHPP. Only upon registering, they get access to the PHPP download, the online Flipbook of the handbook and any updates for the calculation tools, component and climate datasets as well as discounts on designPH or version upgrades for PHPP.

Buy PHPP

PHPP worldwide / in other languages

Add-on tools for the PHPP

Interface tools Additional tools for energy balancing Add-on tools

de­si­gn­PH

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The tool de­si­gn­PH com­ple­ments the Pass­ive House Plan­ning Pack­age (PHPP) very well since it of­fers:

  • A plug-in for the well-known mod­el­ling soft­ware Sketch­UP
  • Pro­ject data in­put and visu­al­isa­tion of the build­ing en­vel­ope in 3D
  • Au­to­mat­ic ana­lys­is and sim­pli­fied cal­cu­la­tion of the heat­ing en­ergy de­mand
  • Edit­ing and op­tim­isa­tion of the planned build­ing design in 3D
  • Ex­port of the geo­met­ric data of the build­ing en­vel­ope to PHPP

The cur­rent ver­sion de­si­gn­PH 2.0 guar­an­tees com­pat­ib­il­ity with PHPP 10. Fur­ther­more, it now auto­mat­ic­ally de­tects and de­term­ines the shad­ing para­met­ers dur­ing the 3D ana­lys­is. Hence, the shad­ing para­met­ers can now already be op­tim­ised in Sketch­UP. 

NEW designPH 2.0: Updates
  • New shading analysis based on 3D ray-tracing and Perez radiation model. Complex shading scenes can be analysed accurately and both winter and summer shading factors can be exported to PHPP.
  • New "Compare results" tab allows the key analysis results to be tracked and compared over time as the model evolves.
  • Assignment of user-defined Thermal Bridge component entries.
  • Additional ventilation inputs such as the ventilation strategy, MVHR unit selection, pressure test result and more.
  • Improved automatic naming and ordering of windows and surfaces.
  • Improved user interface
Compatibility

designPH 2.0 is currently compatible with the SketchUp desktop versions 2017-2021.

Buy designPH

 

 

bim2PH

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The tool bim2PH was de­ve­loped by the Pass­ive House In­sti­tu­te to en­able data in­put of ef­fi­ciency para­met­ers and in­form­a­tion for the en­ergy bal­ance cal­cu­la­tions via the 3D Bim soft­ware in­to the Pass­ive House Plan­ning Pack­age (PHPP). It uses a plat­form-in­de­pend­ent in­ter­face concept based on the IFC format as a data ex­change format.

The bim2PH con­vert­er was de­ve­loped un­der the um­brella of the European Buil­t2Spec pro­ject and is cur­rently com­pat­ible with IF­C2x3 and IF­C4.

More information

Working with project templates

The strength of the IFC format lies in its largely uniform structure, which has prevailed despite the various BIM software tools used in practice, although the converter also had to be optimised for each BIM application. The biggest challenge, however, is that neither the full range of efficiency parameters required for a reliable energy balance calculation can be entered in the BIM tools, nor are many of these properties available as parameters in the IFC files. For this reason, the data input is supplemented with project templates for the BIM tools in order to enter missing energy efficiency parameters in the building models.

 

The project templates can be provided for four BIM tools:

• Revit 2017
• Archicad 20
• Vectorworks 2018
• Rhinoceros 6 + VisualARQ v.2.1.050

These Passive House templates can either be applied to new models or to already existing BIM models. 

 

The bim2PH converter tool

In the BIM applications, building models need to be extended with these user-defined properties for areas or components to add the efficiency information required by the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP). The bim2PH converter can then interpret the IFC files saved from these models, identify and extract geometry information, default parameters and the custom parameters added by the Passive House templates. The bim2PH converter also provides a BIM viewer, a u-value editor and filter options to select objects to be exported to PHPP.

 

Exported PHPP input data

The bim2PH converter can identify the following parameters and transfer them into the PHPP:

  • Degree of longitude, latitude and altitude (location)
  • Geometry of building envelope surfaces
  • Thermal bridges
  • Window/door geometry
  • Orientation (of windows or walls/roofs)
  • Component properties (u-values of surfaces or windows, radiation properties)
  • Shading properties
  • Treated floor area (TFA)
  • Internal room volume

The bim2PH converter seizes the potential of the IFC format to eliminate redundancies during the data transfer, which reduces the planning effort and minimises mistakes. By enabling the direct transfer of the building models from BIM applications to the PHPP, it facilitates the design and certification of nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) and Passive Houses. With the introduction of BIM among planning and construction professionals, this bim2PH concept will also further promote the use of reliable efficiency design and quality assurance concepts.

Compatibility

The converter is available for Microsoft Windows. It exports data to the PHPP in metric as well as IP units. 

dis­trict­PH

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The dis­trict­PH tool is used to cre­ate en­ergy bal­ances for neigh­bour­hoods, i.e. for groups of build­ings up to en­tire city dis­tricts. Its par­tic­u­lar strength lies in the ana­lys­is of re­fur­bish­ment and de­vel­op­ment scen­ari­os for ex­ist­ing build­ings. Elec­tri­city and heat­ing net­works, re­new­able en­ergy, elec­tro­mo­bil­ity and pub­lic con­sumers are all taken in­to ac­count.

dis­trict­PH provides as­sist­ance with ques­tions re­gard­ing suit­able sup­ply op­tions and sens­ible design for ren­ov­a­tion sub­sidies. It also shows how a zero-en­ergy neigh­bour­hood can be achieved or how much en­ergy the neigh­bour­hood can ex­port in a giv­en situ­ation.

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This pro­ject has re­ceived fund­ing from the European Uni­on's Sev­enth Pro­gramme for re­search, tech­no­lo­gic­al de­vel­op­ment and de­mon­stra­tion un­der grand agree­ment No 609019. 

The sole re­spons­ib­il­ity for the con­tent of this web­site lies with the au­thors. It does not ne­ces­sar­ily re­flect the opin­ion of the European Uni­on.
Neither the EACI nor the European Com­mis­sion ac­cept re­spons­ib­il­ity for any use of the in­form­a­tion con­tained therein.

Further information

Here you can find further information on the methodological basis of the tool as well as useful examples. 

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to get in touch at districtph@passiv.de

The districtPH tool was developed under the framework of the Sinfonia project which received funding from the European Union. 

Compatibility

The districtPH tool requires Microsoft-Excel 2013 or higher.

Dyn­bil

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Dyn­bil is a tool for dy­nam­ic hy­gro­therm­al build­ing sim­u­la­tion. It has the ad­vant­age that its al­gorithms are very close to the un­der­ly­ing phys­ic­al prin­ciples. In ad­di­tion, it of­fers high time res­ol­u­tion and can dis­play tem­per­at­ures that vary over time and space. With Dyn­bil, sol­ar en­ergy gains, heat stor­age, in­tern­al heat loads, vent­il­a­tion pro­cesses and more can be ana­lysed with a time res­ol­u­tion of one hour or less. In ad­di­tion to the clas­sic field of ap­plic­a­tion of build­ing sim­u­la­tion mod­el­ling, the pre­dic­tion of tem­per­at­ures and heat­ing/cool­ing loads, the pro­gramme also cal­cu­lates the air hu­mid­ity and mois­ture stor­age in build­ing com­pon­ents.

Dyn­bil is not avail­able for pur­chase. However, you can com­mis­sion a sim­u­la­tion with Dyn­bil for your pro­ject from the Pass­ive House In­sti­tu­te.

Request simulation modelling

En­bil

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En­bil is a free on­line tool that that al­lows those in­ter­es­ted in ren­ov­at­ing (even without any pri­or know­ledge) to cre­ate an ini­tial en­ergy bal­ance for their home. They are then presen­ted with a series of meas­ures that can re­duce the cal­cu­lated heat­ing en­ergy con­sump­tion. En­bil ev­al­u­ates both the en­ergy im­pact and the eco­nom­ic ef­fi­ciency of the vari­ous meas­ures. Those who wish to carry out ini­tial mod­ern­isa­tion meas­ures them­selves can find in­form­a­tion on the re­com­men­ded im­ple­ment­a­tion in nu­mer­ous DIY guides.

Of course, the En­bil tool does not re­place in­di­vidu­al ad­vice from ex­per­i­en­ced ex­perts. In­stead, the on­line tool is in­ten­ded to be a quick, re­li­able ori­ent­a­tion aid on the pos­sib­il­it­ies and po­ten­tial of vari­ous mod­ern­isa­tion meas­ures. The res­ults of the En­bil ana­lys­is then provide the ideal basis for a per­son­al en­ergy con­sul­ta­tion. Plan­ning con­sult­ants can quickly and eas­ily trans­fer the ana­lys­is data to the PHPP plan­ning tool, en­abling them to use it for their com­pre­hens­ive, pro­fes­sion­al en­ergy audit.

To date, En­bil is only avail­able in Ger­man!

Use Enbil in German (free of charge)

The Pass­ive House Plan­ning Pack­age (PHPP) tool is sup­ple­men­ted by a wide range of mostly free add-on tools that fur­ther sim­pli­fy the plan­ning pro­cess. For ex­ample, they provide guidelines for the struc­tur­al design of the build­ing en­vel­ope or the vent­il­a­tion sys­tem, ev­al­u­ate the photo­vol­ta­ic self-con­sump­tion po­ten­tial of a build­ing, or of­fer the op­tion to ev­al­u­ate and com­pare in­di­vidu­al ma­ter­i­als in terms of their man­u­fac­tur­ing en­ergy and as­so­ci­ated CO2 emis­sions.

Take a look at the over­view – the list of add-on tools is long!

Add-on tools

Do you have any ques­tions or com­ments? The tool de­vel­op­ment team will be happy to as­sist you dir­ec­tly by email at tools@passiv.de or by tele­phone on (+49) 6151 82699-0.