User evaluation of the indoor climate of the first passive house school in Norway

• Published in: Energy efficiency Vol. 9; no. 5; pp. 965 - 980
• Main Authors: Thunshelle, Kari, Hauge, Åshild Lappegard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air quality; Building codes; Buildings; Case studies; Control systems; Day care centers; Economics and Management; Employees; Energy; Energy Efficiency; Energy Policy; Environment; Environmental Economics; Indoor air quality; Indoor environments; Original Article; Quality standards; Questionnaires; Reference materials; Renewable and Green Energy; School buildings; Schools; Studies; Sustainable Development; Temperature; Temperature control; Users; Ventilation; Work environment; Norway; ANE, Norway; Case study; Passive house; School; Questionnaire; Indoor climate
• ISSN: 1570-646X; 1570-6478
• DOI: 10.1007/s12053-015-9399-2

The indoor climate of the first passive house school in Norway was evaluated with the aid of a questionnaire (Örebro) with approximately 340 respondents, and three interview rounds with a total of 23 informants. The intention was to reveal whether the users experienced any problems or possibly better conditions than in a regular school building. The interviews showed that, overall, the users were satisfied with the building. The survey showed generally good results for the indoor climate. Questionnaire results were compared with reference material consisting of data for average school buildings. The indoor climate of Marienlyst School was better than the average for most of the symptoms of indoor air quality problems, for both pupils and teachers. The users did still experience some problems with the building, relating to the fine-tuning of the automatic systems: temperature control, solar control, static electricity, and pressure conditions in the building. The users also said they lacked information about the passive house concept, the building, and how to obtain optimal functionality of the automatic control systems. The reasons for the fine-tuning problems are discussed in relation to the passive house concept, and the problem indicators are probably not attributable to the concept.