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A. Mahdavi, E. Doppelbauer, C. Pröglhöf:
"A comparative case study of passive and low-energy residential buildings";
Talk: 1st Central European Symposium on Building Physics, Krakau, Polen; 09-13-2010 - 09-15-2010; in: "Proceedings of the 1st Central European Symposium on Building Physics", D Gawin, T. Kisilewicz (ed.); Technical University of Lodz, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering, Poland, (2010), ISBN: 978-83-7283-367-9; 6 pages.

The present contribution includes a comparison of apartments in two residential blocks (Vienna,
Austria); one passive and the other one low-energy. These blocks were constructed simultaneously in the
same location and have similar building construction features and floor plans. The main difference between
the two (other than the higher thermal insulation level in the passive building) is the ventilation system: passive
buildings deploy controlled ventilation, whereas the low-energy buildings rely mostly on user-operated
natural (window) ventilation. Indoor environmental conditions (indoor air temperature, relative humidity, and
CO2 concentration) were measured in two units of each block over a period of five months. Additionally, the
buildings were compared in view of operation and embodied energy use, CO2 emissions, and construction
costs.