Indoor climate challenge

People spend 90% of their time indoors, but less than 30% of the building mass contributes to or provides a healthy indoor climate. Humans need comfortable conditions including thermal conditions, fresh air and daylight when they are indoors. These factors have a positive effect on our health and well-being as well as our ability to perform.

Indoor climate Design (design strategy)

An Active House is designed to focus on health and is spacious in more than one sense. The orientation of the building is optimised to create healthy indoor comfort and windows are strategically placed to optimise daylight conditions. Intelligent control systems operate heating, ventilation and light systems, control the building envelope, windows and shadings, ensuring flexible adjustment for an optimum indoor climate, both on hot summer days and in cold winters. Responding to the weather outside and the needs of the occupants, the controls provide the right quality and amount of daylight as well as fresh air from the outside to circulate without causing draughts.

Daylight levels are defined by the function of the individual rooms and considerably higher compared with the majority of contemporary buildings. Interaction between mechanical and natural ventilation (hybrid ventilation) contributes to a comfortable and healthy indoor climate.

The materials used support the well-being of its occupants and have a positive impact on comfort and indoor climate.

Evaluation and key factors

Evaluation of an Active House includes an overall evaluation of the indoor climate, which primarily includes daylight levels, sunlight admission and risk of glare, access to fresh air from the outside, quality of the air and comfortable temperatures during both summer and winter. Materials are evaluated based on their impact on the indoor climate.

Key factors:

• Daylight levels, sunlight admission and risk of glare
• Indoor air quality and access to clean and fresh air from the outside   
• Thermal comfort levels in the heating and cooling season
• Spatial design that supports a comfortable indoor climate
• Materials impact on indoor climate